Addressing dedicated schools grant (DSG) High Needs Block deficits has been a defining priority of my year as Society of County Treasurers (SCT) President, so it is genuinely pleasing to be able to write a positive article on this topic following the final local government finance settlement. SCT members' mean deficit is forecast to be £210m when the statutory override ends in April 2028, with a median of £179m.
Readers of The MJ may well be tired of my repeated articles and calls to address High Needs Block deficits. As a former Audit Wales value for money director, I remain firmly opposed to negative reserves and statutory overrides that undermine basic accounting principles simply to avoid confronting the unintended consequences of a well intentioned policy shift. As I have said many times, kicking financial cans down the road only allows problems to grow, making them more complex and costly to resolve later.
