Council to put £29m from reserves into Send budget

Devon County Council said it will spend £29m from its £100m reserves on its special educational needs and disabilities budget

Nearly £29m from a council's reserves will be spent to plug a hole in its special educational needs budget.

Devon County Council said it struck a deal with the government earlier this year for a £95m bailout to help tackle a deficit of more than £160m in its special educational needs and disabilities (Send) budget.

At the time, the council said it would use £20m of its reserves as part of plans to "bring the budget back into line".

However, the authority said it would now spend more than a quarter of its £100m reserves as part of a "safety valve agreement" with the Department for Education, along with an additional contribution of £6m during the financial year.

'Drive the savings'

The council said it was expected to overspend on its annual Send budget by more than £38m.

Under an agreement with the government, the council was only allowed to overspend by £31m, which means it needs to cut £7.4m from the service.

Angie Stewart, the council's director of finance, said there was a cross-council effort to "drive the savings and get us to budget".

"We are committed to that £31m [overspend limit]," she said.

"That means we need to put effort in to get there.

"If at the end of the financial year we're at £33m, then £2m would need to be made good by Devon."