Lincolnshire County Council’s spending on schools is set to be £20 million over budget this year as leaders say the government needs to change the system.
The ballooning costs are mainly down to councils’ responsibilities for children with special education needs and disabilities (SEND).
School budgets are ring-fenced, so they can’t push an authority into effective bankruptcy in the same way normal deficits can.
A committee meeting on Thursday heard that huge spending on schools was now considered common among councils, and there was little they could do about it.
Chief executive Debbie Barnes said: “We are doing a lot of things locally which will improve outcomes, but this needs national reform – it’s not something we can solve on our own.”
The council has been investing in special schools to ensure they meet the needs of more children, and recently approved SEND hubs within several mainstream schools.
Coun Natalie Oliver, executive member for children’s services, told the meeting: “We are working at speed to create places children desperately need. We know how serious this national issue is, and are waiting with bated breath for news on reforms from the government.”
Michelle Grady, assistant director for finance, said: “This isn’t unusual, we are one of the last councils to go into a deficit. Some of the others are eye-watering.”
The schools budget includes special school placements, Educational Health Care (EHC) plans, and alternative provisions. The national schools deficit is expected to grow to £7 billion by 2027.
Coun Jimmy Brookes predicted: “Soon £20 million will seem like a drop in the ocean.”
Other parts of the council’s budget for 2025/26 are coming in around £1 million under budget.
l Meanwhile nurseries in Lincolnshire and Rutland are set to receive additional special educational needs training as part of a £5 million funding package.
Early years specialist Realise has launched the Special Educational Needs Co-Ordinators (SENCO) Skills Bootcamp for providers to sign up to.
Realise said the programme was in response to an increasing number of nursery-aged children with special educational needs (SEN) and a lack of trained staff to support them. The funding has been provided by Lincolnshire County Council in partnership with the Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) to deliver the training to staff working in nurseries in Lincolnshire and Rutland in 2025/26.
