Cash reserves held by Northumberland's council-maintained schools more than halved over the last academic year, dropping from £4.7 million to £2.1 million in 2025/26, according to new figures presented to the county's schools' forum.
Significant Drop in Balances
The report described the decline as a "significant drop" following inflation and pay increases for staff. Education business manager Bruce Parvin told the forum: "It is indicative of the financial pressure schools feel they're under. Balances are declining significantly."
Council accountant Callum Street added: "We're being as proactive as we can, but fundamentally we can't just make more money."
Falling Pupil Numbers Exacerbate Crisis
Northumberland schools are also suffering due to falling pupil numbers, which means less funding from central government. The county has more than 12,000 surplus places due to low birth rates, particularly in rural areas. Alan Hardie, forum chairman and CEO of the Northumberland Church of England Academy Trust, said: "It's a double whammy in Northumberland, because as the overall number of pupils falls, we get a smaller cake from the Department for Education. Then if you're an individual school with falling numbers, you get a smaller slice of that smaller cake. I don't think it will be any surprise to see the maintained schools balances will be seen in academies as well."
SEND Budget Already Under Strain
The education department has already been dealing with significant overspends in special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) education. In 2024/25, the high needs block of the dedicated schools grant (DSG) overspent by £9.187 million. Mitigation measures have been carried out to reduce costs. Director of Education, SEND and Skills at the council David Street said this experience would help with mainstream challenges: "This has been our experience in the last three to four years with the high needs block. We were aware that any previous surpluses were disappearing and growth in our spending was going to outstrip the income. We are actually not in the position we could have been because of the mitigation. The High Needs Block is in deficit and it has increased over time, but we're well experienced as a group and as Northumberland as a whole in managing and mitigating really tough financial situations. We have done really well in the past with this and we will going forward. We will collectively support each other in stretching the money as far as we can."
