EDUCATION for children with physical and learning disabilities in Sandwell will receive a major cash boost next year after the government increased funding by an extra £7 million.

But local authority bosses have said that while the borough will benefit, other neighbouring councils may still struggle to cope as they pay for past cuts in the high need service.

Chris Ward, chief education officer for Sandwell council, told a meeting of the borough’s Schools Forum the local authority it had been able to avoid major deficits by in-house savings in the past.

But he added other neighbouring authorities may not benefit from increased funding.

“A lot of local authorities have been overspending for a number of years and it has always taken an impact in the following year in their high needs block.

“They have been carrying that forward and basically it’s been growing every year because of that, “ he said.

“But here we have been able to keep our overspends very small in comparison to other authorities.

“Our increase this year is good news, it’s long overdue but it is really good news because it is expected to go on year-on-year and that means our teams can continue to support children. We can top up funding to schools so they can provide the resources.”  

Sandwell will see its budget for children with special educational needs and disabilities rise from £40.9m to £48.0m from April 2020.

But part of the increase will be swallowed up by a predicted overspend of £1.5 million in this financial year.

In September, Dudley Council announced its high needs service is expected to overrun by £5 million by March 2020.

And last week it said it was having to rethink plans after mainstream schools rejected a proposal to switch £1 million into education for children with disabilities.

The dismissal came as headteachers and governors reported a complete lack of trust in the borough’s Special Education Needs and Disabilities system.