---

Schools: Finance

Answer

The Safety Valve programme targets the local authorities with the highest Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) deficits. The programme requires the local authorities involved to develop substantial plans for reform to their high needs systems, with support and challenge from the department, to rapidly place them on a sustainable footing. If the local authorities can demonstrate sufficiently that their DSG management plans create lasting sustainability and are effective for children and young people, including reaching an in-year balance as quickly as possible, then the department will enter into an agreement to hold the authority to account for delivery.

Through the agreements, the authorities are subsequently held to account for their reform and savings targets via regular reporting to the department. The department will help the local authorities with additional revenue funding over time to contribute to their historic deficits, but this is contingent on delivery of the reforms in the agreements.

Capital funding is a necessary feature of many local authorities’ DSG management plans, in cases where investment in local infrastructure will result in the availability of more appropriate provision and subsequent revenue savings. Local authorities with Safety Valve agreements are therefore invited to apply for additional high needs capital funding, to be provided as a one-off ‘top-up’ to their high needs provision capital allocations (HNPCA).

Out of the 34 local authorities that currently have Safety Valve agreements, we have allocated additional capital funding to 22. The funding allocated to these local authorities is set out below:

Local Authority	Additional capital funding allocated through the Safety Valve programme
Bury	£3,780,514
Hammersmith and Fulham	£1,220,814
Kingston upon Thames	£3,616,603
Richmond upon Thames	£3,851,165
Stoke-on-Trent	£7,530,904
Hillingdon	£6,962,000
Kirklees	£8,200,000
Merton	£8,270,367
Rotherham	£4,323,436
Surrey	£8,558,437
York	£3,000,000
Bolton	£9,903,319
Cambridgeshire	£11,290,000
Haringey	£7,000,000
Medway	£7,188,479
Southwark	£3,000,000
Bath and North East Somerset	£4,000,000
Bexley	£9,500,000
Blackpool	£6,153,346
North Somerset	£2,918,000
North Tyneside	£4,681,000
Wokingham	£6,332,300
Total	£131,280,684

The 12 local authorities that did not receive additional capital either did not apply or did not successfully demonstrate to the department that capital support was necessary to support their DSG management plans.

In order to receive additional capital funding, local authorities’ proposals must demonstrate how investment would align to the reform plans and savings targets in their Safety Valve agreements. Proposals also need to show how capital plans will meet identified gaps in provision and improve the local provision offer. Once funding is allocated, local authorities have appropriate flexibility to make sensible adjustments to their plans, reflecting that the statutory duty to provide sufficient school places remains with the local authority.

6 local authorities are currently in Safety Valve negotiations with the department and have also been invited to apply for capital funding. The outcome of those negotiations and any additional capital funding being allocated will be communicated to local authorities shortly, and additional capital funding will be paid to local authorities as part of their 2024/25 HNPCA allocations later this year.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

16446

Session

2023-24

Grouped for answer

Yes

Subjects

Finance Schools Dedicated schools grant

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.parliament.uk