West Berkshire Council has announced that schools in the area have voted in favour of a new proposal to redirect unused school funding.
This comes as schools have been carrying forward the portion of their government grant funding that has not been used, ensuring that it is there as a contingency. According to the council, some schools have seen their funding build-up tripled, rising from around £4 million, to £13 million, since 2015.
Having recognised that there are a number of pupils across the District that are in need of further support, 68% of schools voted to return the investment to the council so that they can direct it for use to support children with additional needs. This vote was carried out by the Schools Forum, which is representative of local schools.
This will only apply to funding that the school receives from the government, and not to investment that comes through fundraising, whilst only funding that is more than 10% of the surplus will be returned. By ensuring this, schools will still be able to keep more than they end up returning.
West Berkshire Council’s Executive Member for Children and Family Services, Cllr Heather Codling, said:
“This is a decision which was taken collectively by schools themselves to improve the provision of support and services to all children and young people in the district. It will only affect schools with significant and excessive funding which has not been committed to projects – it’s money sitting in accounts without appearing to provide any benefit for our young people. This move will allow for a fairer and more productive use of the money.”
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