York: Government error sees school budgets slashed by £1m

The Department for Education (DfE) admitted to the mistake that has resulted in more than £60 being lost per pupil at some schools in the York area.

York central MP Rachael Maskell branded the error as “yet another mistake by this Tory Government” while York Outer MP Julian Sturdy said it was an “unacceptable failing within the DfE”.

• Politicians react as 'outrageous' blunder slashes York school funding by £1m

Government data shows the picture is particularly bad for Naburn CE School which lost £91 per pupil and £3,749 in total in October compared with July.

Naburn CE School (Image: Google)

The loses remain high at larger schools including Archbishop Holgate's CE School which lost £61 per pupil and £91,831 in total and York High School which lost £65 per pupil and £47,735 in total.

The mistake was an underestimation of pupil numbers by DfE officials.

It means that the full £59.6 billion Core Schools Budget will still be delivered in full by the Government but the amount that each school receives per pupil will be less.

Andrew Daly, CEO of Pathfinder Multi Academy Trust, which Archbishop Holgate’s CE School is part of, said the funding cut was “far from ideal”.

Andrew Daly pictured with pupils at Archbishop Holgate's CE School in York (Image: Supplied)

“Like all schools across the country, we were expecting a 2.7 per cent increase in per pupil funding for the 2024/25 academic year which has now been revised to 1.9 per cent,” he told The Press.

“Whilst this is far from ideal given the ongoing challenges across the education system, we have robust budget and financial planning in place across the trust and will continue to carefully manage the resources we have to maximise the opportunities and quality of education for all pupils."

British civil servant Susan Acland-Hood, the Permanent Secretary at the Department for Education, apologised to Robin Walker MP, chair of the Education Select Committee, over the mistake in a letter sent on Friday, October 6.

The letter states that the Government would update the schools national funding formula (NFF) for 2024-25 after the error was discovered.

“The Secretary of State has asked me to conduct a formal review of the quality assurance process surrounding the calculation of the NFF, with independent scrutiny,” the letter states.

“Improvements have already been identified to ensure similar mistakes are not repeated in the future.

“The recalculation of funding does not affect the total amount we plan to spend in the Core Schools Budget in 2024-25 - which includes funding for mainstream schools, and funding for high needs.”

Ms Acland-Hood said the department recognised that “the correction of this error will be difficult for local authorities and frustrating for some school leaders” and said the DfE had “worked as quickly as possible to rectify the error”.

“I would want to express my sincere apologies that this error has occurred, and reassure you that rigorous measures are being put in place to ensure that it will not be repeated,” the letter adds.