Derbyshire County Council 'sat on millions' for special needs school places

Chesterfield Labour MP Toby Perkins raised the issue in the House of Commons

An MP has claimed Derbyshire County Council has millions of pounds "sat in the bank" left unspent for school spaces for children with special needs.

Chesterfield MP Toby Perkins made the comments during a House of Commons debate on the council's finances.

He said the council had received £17.5m since 2019, of which it had only spent £1.5m.

Councillor Alex Dale, cabinet member for education, said the majority of the funding was announced in 2022.

Derbyshire County Council said the allocation of SEND places could not be rushed

The Labour MP told fellow MPs that Derbyshire County Council had been responsible for "failures" to children with special educational needs (SEN) and they were "suffering massively".

His comments come as the authority consults on closing a number of care homes, adults and children's centres and respite breaks.

The council has a budget deficit of about £40 million.

Mr Perkins told the BBC: "The council is sat on millions in the bank unspent, that's not disputed.

"From what the council is saying, it seems like a lot work without any action - it's not a defence."

Councillor Alex Dale, cabinet member for education at Derbyshire County Council

Councillor Alex Dale, cabinet member for education, said the situation was "not easy" due to "geography" of the county. He also said there are "different demands in different areas" and the process "does take time".

"It's completely inaccurate to imply that we have held £17.5million of SEND capital funding since 2019. The vast majority of it [£13 million] was not announced by the Government until March 2022," he said.

"We are working very hard towards allocating this important funding, but it's money that can only be spent once so it needs to be based on a proper, high-quality sufficiency study to ensure we provide the right sort of places in the right areas to meet the demands we are facing.

"Rushing to make ill-thought through decisions around allocations would mean we'd fail to adequately meet the needs of Derbyshire children and ultimately cost the taxpayer far more in the long-term."

Mr Dale added some of the money was allocated alternative provision and units to support inclusion in mainstream schools.