Government blunder means Bradford schools miss out on '£4.7m' of funding

One local Councillor believes the mistake could lead to the District’s biggest schools having to amend their upcoming budgets by up to £100,000 – and would lead to Bradford losing out on up to £4.6m.

And another Councillor says the funding error, which applies to school budgets for the next academic year, “could not have come at a worse time.”

Earlier this month the Department for Education apologised after an error by their officials meant schools would be awarded less funding for 2024/25 than they had been told they would receive as recently as July.

The mistake in calculating the National Funding Formula was down to an incorrect forecast in the number of pupils.

The error will mean schools will get £50 less per pupil in the coming year, and has lead to schools scrambling to re-calculate their budgets.

Councillor Jeanette Sunderland, Liberal Democrat Education Spokesperson in Bradford, has raised concerns that the reduced funding could mean parents might have to pick up the shortfall – needing to provide their children with items like stationary that would otherwise have been provided by the school.

Coun Sunderland (Idle and Thackley) said: “For some of our secondary schools who are experiencing the greatest losses they have probably budgeted for, and now have to amend budgets, by around £100,000.

“That is a huge amount of money at a time when schools are under intense pressure from increased costs of energy, equipment and repairs.

“The total cost of the error is that Bradford’s schools will receive £4.6 million less that the figure originally published in July.

“The Child Poverty Action Group have estimated that parents are having to contribute the around £40 per week to the cost of having a child in secondary school, so it would be unreasonable to ask parents to pay more.

“I have spoken to teachers who say that many children and turning up to school without the basic equipment to get the best out of lessons and increasingly teachers are having to put their hands in their own pockets to fund pens, pencils and glue. No-one should be asked to do that.”

A letter from Nick Gibb, Minister for Schools, was sent to all four teaching unions on Friday. It said: “The change followed an error by DfE officials.

“This has, of course, been a very unfortunate error, and comprehensive measures are being put in place to ensure that it is not repeated.”

Councillor Imran Khan, Executive for Education, Employment and Skills, said: “Every pound schools receive is important in supporting the education of our children and young people. This is particularly so in the current financial climate when schools are under enormous financial pressure.

“The Department for Education miscalculating school funding for 2024-25 could not have come at a worse time. This error has not just affected us in the Bradford district, but schools across the whole country.”