A LOCAL authority has "pressed" the government for fairer funding after a survey suggested there will be further reductions in school funding and increases to school debt.

Results from a funding survey of schools in the county, carried out by North Yorkshire County Council, suggested that over the next 18 months, 83 percent of secondary schools were 'expected to make' reductions in classroom support staff, a further 73 percent in learning resources and 63 percent reduction in teaching staff.

It is thought, secondary schools in the UK will be in deficit by 2021, with the average secondary school shortfall projected to be £439,000 in 2019, and rising to a shortfall of £648,000 by 2021 - the average primary school deficit, currently at £40,000 will rise to £72,000, over the same period.

North Yorkshire County Councillor Patrick Mulligan said: "The picture continues to worsen and for this reason we will continue to press the Government for fairer funding. The National Funding Formula has effectively downgraded the financial support provided to rural secondary schools. We will continue to work proactively with a range of individual schools to avoid deficits wherever possible and to develop robust recovery plans.”

North Yorkshire County Council is currently ranked 129th out of 149 local authorities, with an average of £4,954 given towards each secondary school pupil.

In the London Borough of Hackney, secondary schools are given around £7,873 per pupil, almost £3,000 more than in North Yorkshire's schools.

According to some schools, they said reductions in staffing and new financial challenges impacted on curriculum choices, investment to school buildings and breakfast and after-school clubs.

Over the past year, the council said it had submitted written and oral evidence of the challenges that schools face, to the Education Select Committee's Enquiry into School and College Funding.

The council also said it had called on the Department for Education to press home to government the increasing difficulties faced by schools. Cllr Mulligan added: "There is no one-size-fits-all approach to managing school finances."