Secondary Education: Finance
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to reduce the number of local authority maintained secondary schools which are operating a deficit.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
School funding is increasing by £3.2 billion in 2025/26, compared to 2024/25, taking total core school budgets to over £64.8 billion this year.
The department offers various resources and guidance to help both maintained schools and academies to manage their finances more effectively. This includes best practice for budgeting and financial planning, support and mentoring for school business professionals and hands on support through school resource management advisers (SRMAs). SRMAs are practising sector experts who provide independent, expert and tailored advice on how schools can make best use of their revenue and capital resources.
Local authorities are responsible for overseeing the finances of maintained schools, the large majority of which are managing a surplus. The department’s guidance on schemes for financing schools states that local authorities have to licence any deficit in a maintained school and that there should be a plan to bring the school’s finances back into balance within three years.
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