YORK council chiefs are bidding to take Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles to the High Court over Government funding cuts.
City of York Council has joined other local authorities seeking a judicial review over a decision by Mr Pickles to cut £148 million from the revenue support grant, in relation to the funding of academy schools.
The authority said the cut equated to a loss of funding for York of £411,000 in 2011/12, rising to £736,000 in the following year.
A spokeswoman said even after savings had been made, the council would still be left with a shortfall of about £325,000, which would have to be made up by cuts to other services.
Council leader elect James Alexander said yesterday: “York is now calling for our share back to reverse some of the cuts in education.”
The spokeswoman said the Local Government finance settlement removed £148 million in 2011/12 and £265 million in 2012/13 in order to pay for academies’ central functions. “This has been deducted from Local Authorities on a pro-rata basis and is irrespective of how many academies are actually created in each local authority area,” she said. We currently estimate the savings the council will be able to make as a result of the fact that we will no longer have to provide the central education services for the two academies in the city is £86,000. When compared to the reduction to York’s Formula Grant of £411,000, this leaves a shortfall of about £325,000. This shortfall will have to be made up by cuts to other council services.
She said when a school transferred to academy status, the council lost the responsibility for funding it and the level of funding received by the council needed to be amended to reflect that.
She said any successful legal challenge was not expected to affect the level of funding being received by York’s two academy schools – Manor CE and Archbishop Holgate CE – in 2011/12.
A Government spokesman said: “The DfE and Department of Communities and Local Government are aware of the proposed judicial review.”
Council right to pursue claim
ANOTHER day, another cut and this time £400,000 from York’s revenue support grant. But all is not as clear as it seems. The Government insists the figure equates to the funding of York’s academy schools, Manor CE and Archbishop Holgate’s CE, which are now financed centrally rather than locally.
Perfectly fair, you might think. If City of York Council no longer pays for these schools, why then should this element of the grant continue?
It’s not that simple, says the council, which protests that even after taking the academy schools savings into account, there would still be a net shortfall in York’s formula grant of about £325,000.
And that, says a council spokesman, would mean more cutbacks on other services.
So now, along with other local authorities, the council is looking to take Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles to the High Court where they will fight the decision under Judicial Review.
Clearly, if the figures are correct and the sums really don’t add up, it is right for the council to pursue this claim.
The authority has suffered enough cuts in its central funding without any additional burden and we can only wish it well in its efforts to join any legitimate legal challenge.
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