YORK council is facing an education cut of £1.8 million next year, and some councillors are backing a national plea for a reprieve.

Chancellor Phillip Hammond is due to make his first Autumn Statement tomorrow, and local councils body the LGA is using it urge him to rethink a pending cut in education funding.

In May, the Government announced plans to force all schools to become academies, and cut the role of local councils in education.

As part of this, the Education Services Grant (ESG) given to local councils would be phased out.

The ESG pays for school improvement services, as well as things like welfare services and help for special needs pupils, and in York next year would be worth £1.8 million. The Government has dropped the forced academisation of schools, but the ESG is still set to be axed next year, meaning councils will be legally required to run services like school improvement without any agreed funding in place from central government.

York’s Lib Dem councillors have now backed warnings from the LGA that this cut will leave councils with little resource and could put education welfare, school improvement, admissions, early years, exam validation, recruitment and transport all at risk.

Reversing the cut would benefit both council-maintained schools and academies which get services from the council, the body said.

York’s Cllr Ashley Mason dubbed the situation a mess and said: “Local councils are facing a situation where our funding is set to be removed, but we will still provide vital services such as school improvement.

“The Government needs to clarify the position and ensure that we have the money we need to support schools in York.

He added: “School improvement work is crucial and the partnership between the council and local schools is one of the reasons why education standards in York are so high.

York Press:

“However, this work costs money and at the moment that money is due to disappear next year.

“This could lead to a drop in performance of schools in the city, and lead to forced academisation by the back door.

“On top of this, the Government is yet to put in place a fairer funding deal for our schools, and the city continues to receive less funding per pupil than other areas of the country.”