County’s bill for education

Lincolnshire County Council has spent £2.4 million more than budgeted on schools in the last year. 
The Reform-led authority has blamed the previous Conservative administration for the rising costs. 
At a meeting last Friday (September 12) Coun Natalie Oliver, portfolio holder for children’s services, said the county council is working to provide a more cost-effective service. 
Coun Oliver said: “We inherited a big backlog from the previous administration where the schools budget had been overspent for the last three years. 
“We will ensure that every pound we spend will be value for money for people in Lincolnshire. 
“We’re putting a new strategy in place to support families and their children.”
The council expected to spend £12.5 million on schools, but ended up paying more than £14.9 million.
Coun Oliver told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the Special Educational Needs provision in the county is a priority.
In June, the county council received more than £7 million from the Department for Education to deliver more SEN hubs in schools. 
Coun Oliver said: “The SEN provision in Lincolnshire is also in need of reform. We will ensure that Lincolnshire children get the support they deserve. 
“The SEN system is underfunded and we will continue to make this case to the government. 
“We understand that this has been a challenge for lots of councils across the country, but we need to ensure that there’s funding in place to deliver our programme of improvements. 
“We’re looking at efficiency saving measures but not cuts. We’ve already delivered new SEN hubs in the county.
“We’re going to deliver a much more efficient programme to get those additional resources into schools.”