Dedicated Schools Grant
The question
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the answer of 10 April 2026 to Question 113742 on Dedicated Schools Grant, how the writing off of deficits will be scored on the public sector accounts; and whether this will count as an increase in the PSBR.
Answered by Treasury
The High Needs Stability Grant is to compensate local authorities for historic spending incurred under the Dedicated Schools Grants statutory override. This spending has already taken place and has been recorded in the public sector accounts in the usual way. The effect of the grant is to transfer the financial responsibility for this historic spending from local government to central government.
Accordingly, the OBR’s March 2026 Economic and Fiscal Outlook confirmed that, while there is an impact on the Central Government Net Cash Requirement, there is no net impact on Public Sector Net Borrowing.
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