State schools in Brighton and Hove are to be handed millions of pounds of extra funding in the current financial year, according to an official report.
The 63 local authority maintained schools in Brighton and Hove are to receive £6 million extra in direct grant from the government, taking the total to £186 million.
And schools can expect even bigger increases next year and the year after, according to a Brighton and Hove City Council report.
The increase is partly down to the rise in the number of secondary school students in Brighton and Hove although primary school pupil numbers are falling.
Some of it is down to a government policy decision to increase schools funding after years of austerity.
Schools in Brighton and Hove can also expect about £3 million in covid funding – and possibly more – with some of it directed at helping children who have fallen behind since the coronavirus lockdown started.
The report will be presented to a “virtual” meeting of the council’s Children, Young People and Skills Committee this afternoon (Monday 14 September).
It highlights financial difficulties at 10 of the 63 maintained schools in Brighton and Hove – one fewer than a year ago.
Eight of 10 schools with deficits are primaries and two are secondaries. And eight of those 10 schools are expected to take three to five years to bring their finances back into balance.
Those facing the toughest time financially appear to be primaries with one form of entry.
But proposed changes to admission arrangements will cut the intake at three schools from two forms to one.
The three schools affected are Benfield, Moulsecoomb and West Blatchington.
The proposed change will almost certainly make Moulsecoomb less attractive to any potential academy sponsors.
