A MAJOR shake-up of how education is managed in County Durham is being proposed by a council facing mounting school budget deficits and funding formula changes.

Durham County Council has not ruled out closures as an outcome of the review, but has cited shared headteachers, multi-academy trusts and federations among the more likely measures.

Government funding changes combined with cash flat Designated Schools Grant and falling admission numbers in recent years have led to some schools in County Durham operating at a loss.

Budget deficits were agreed with Durham County Council to avoid a negative impact on pupils but with the impending introduction of the National Funding Formula taking away local authority control and placing even more emphasis on pupil numbers, this is no longer sustainable.

This presents serious challenges to some schools in the county, especially those that are under-performing or in rural areas where pupil numbers are low and uncertain.

Next week, the council’s cabinet will be asked to give the go-ahead for a major review of schools across the county, but focusing initially on the Wolsingham, Wingate and Horden areas, where schools are experiencing the most significant financial challenges.

On March 31, there were 16 schools in the county with a deficit balance – four secondary schools, 11 primary schools and one nursery school. Six schools have been given permission to set a budget deficit in 2017/18, with Wellfield School in Wingate and Wolsingham School and Sixth Form in Weardale accounting for £4.3m of the estimated £5.3m deficit balance to be carried forward on March 31 next year.

The review will look into a range of options, including: shared management structures with one headteacher overseeing a number of schools; amalgamations; conversion to academies and free schools; the creation of federations- where schools work more closely together while maintained by the local authority; multi-academy trusts overseeing several academies; setting up through-schools, which provide primary and secondary education; and closures and part-closures.

If approved, the review would begin in Wingate and Wolsingham this month and across the county early next year.