Schools in Westminster face the prospect of losing thousands of pounds in funding due to an error by Conservative-led Westminster Council.

EBT is the ‘Education Banding Tool’ used by Westminster for allocating High needs funding for pupils with special educational needs. Schools were allocated funding based on this tool but due to errors made by the Council they are now clawing money back from local schools.

Many schools have already employed staff to support children with special educational needs based on the original allocation. They are now being penalised for mistakes made by Westminster.

Not all schools are happy with the EBT modelling tool itself. Some feel it has been imposed on them and point out other Local Authorities have already stopped using it.

According to an early estimate of funding reductions schools across the City are affected, from Hallfield Primary School (-£12,244) and St Saviours (-£40,965) in north Westminster, to Millbank (-£24,555) and Pimlico Primary (-£38,333) in South Westminster.

Labour MP Karen Buck said: “Schools like Gateway Academy stand to lose over £80,000 in funding.  At a time when we already know of the massive impact the pandemic has had on children and education, it’s outrageous Westminster is actually thinking of removing support. This is a mess of the Council’s making. Local Conservatives need to fix their mistake instead of stripping much needed funding from SEN children.”

 

Former Westminster Head Teacher and Labour candidate Angela Piddock said:“Why should schools and particularly SEN students end up paying the price for mismanagement by the local conservative council? This money pays for the vital support children with significant and complex Special Educational Needs require. Westminster needs to reverse these cuts and make sure the same errors never happen again.”