A NUMBER of schools in Dorset are unable to balance their books, according to the latest data from the Department for Education.

Of 117 schools maintained by the local authority, 19 ran a deficit budget in the 2016-2017 financial year.

That's 16 per cent of all state schools, excluding academies and free schools, which do not have to report their finances in the same way.

A school may run a deficit if it spends more than usual on large projects such as building works.

However, the National Audit Office, which scrutinises public spending, said in a report in 2016 that the increasing number of secondary schools in deficit across the country was a sign that they may be struggling financially.

If a school is unable to balance its books it must notify the local authority, which will generally offer a short-term loan. Headteachers will often have to cut back on staff and equipment to get back in the black.

In Dorset, the number of schools in deficit has increased in the last three years.

The figures show four more schools ran at a loss in the last financial year compared to the same period in 2014-2015.

Cllr Deborah Croney, Dorset County Council’s Cabinet member for economic growth, education, learning and skills said: “Although a number of Dorset schools are in deficit, it’s important to highlight that 84 per cent ended 2016-17 within budget."

She added: “There are many reasons why a school may fall into deficit, for example, real-term reductions in per-pupil funding, falling roll numbers, staff sickness or a higher number of pupils with special educational needs or disabilities.

“We offer tailored support to those schools in deficit by making sure they have a deficit recovery strategy. We also continue to be a member of f40 – a group of councils campaigning for better funding for education from the Government.”

The number of schools in deficit has also been increasing nationally. The most recent data shows nine per cent of all local authority maintained schools ran at a deficit, a figure which has almost doubled from five per cent in 2014-2015.

Schools are funded mainly through a grant from the Department for Education, which allocates funds to each local authority based on demographic factors such as pupil numbers, deprivation and additional language needs.

The local authority then decides how to divide the money between individual schools.

Dorset received £4,464 per pupil in the last financial year – up from £4,094 in 2014-2015.

But schools in England are facing a real-terms cut of 6.5 per cent between the current financial year and 2020, once inflation and rising pupil numbers are taken into account, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

The thinktank calculated this was the largest cut in school spending per pupil over a four-year period since the early 1980s.

Covering pension and national insurance contributions was the biggest struggle for schools, according to a 2017 survey by the National Association of Head Teachers.

"The increase in costs of over 5.5% every year with no resulting increase in school funding has been disastrous", the report found.

The NAHT also reported that almost three quarters of head teachers believed their school budgets would be 'untenable' by 2020.