West Berkshire Council sends auditor to check The Downs School books, as row over cash claw back continues

It has emerged that one of the schools being asked to give cash back to West Berkshire Council (WBC) is about to apply for Academy status.

The council is whipping back £2.4m from Brookfields’ £3.4m funds before it loses control.

The council, meanwhile, says it needs to reduce the £9m budget deficit in special needs education budgets in the district, although Brookfields is a special needs school.

The council says the money it is clawing back will be used to prop up what it terms ‘non-statutory’ services such as mental health support, emotional, health academied and early intervention work.

And says there is a £3m budget deficit this year across children’s services.

But West Berkshire Council is under more pressure to rethink its move.

Opposition councillors are calling for an emergency full council meeting to air the concerns and reverse the decisions, which have prompted The Downs School to seek legal advice on the move to reap £490,000 from £700,000 in its coffers.

It claims those funds were self generated, and had been allocated to build new toilet blocks.

But the council claims it has sent one of its auditors in to The Downs School to check its books.

“If this was money raised by charitable efforts, then why wasn’t it in a separate account?” asked council leader Jeff Brooks (Lib Dem, Thatcham).

Mr Brooks, and his children’s services portfolio lead Heather Codling (Lib Dem, Chieveley and Cold Ash) said the monies were being pulled back from unspent funds ‘to spend on children with special needs’.

They denied the move had been brought forward a year because of the impending Academy status of Brookfields.

And they refuted claims that staff in the children’s services department of the council were leaving in droves as “an exageration”, adding that new leadership teams were undergoing transformation programmes which “may not appeal to everyone”.

But the claw back move has infuriated the opposition.

“Schools financial planning has been plunged into chaos, requiring them to make in-year cuts to staff and school repairs and improvements,” said Tory group leader Ross Mackinnon (Con, Bradfield).

“Funds raised by schools’ parent teacher associations and other charitable fundraising activities face the dreadful situation where those funds, ostensibly raised for specific improvement projects, will now be needed to balance the day-to-day budget.

“This will be seen as a betrayal of trust and will almost certainly discourage parents and others from continuing their fundraising efforts in the future.”

Decisions on how to administer the WBC schools budget are delegated to headteachers via the council’s Schools Forum (SF).

In December 2023, SF was asked to consider a proposal by WBC to ‘claw back’ surpluses from several schools. The forum – made up of headteachers - agreed to a claw back, but starting from April 1, 2025.

But three months into the 2024-25 financial year, WBC threatened to appeal to the secretary of state for education against the SF decision unless SF reversed its December position and agreed to a claw back from April 2024.

“By strong arming headteachers into reversing their decision under threat of a worse outcome following an appeal to the secretary of state, the council has displayed a callous disregard for our schools and pupils,” said Mr Mackinnon.

“Waiting until the General Election campaign was under way before proceeding with their confiscation of school funds, hoping to slip it under the radar, is the very worst kind of cynical, venal politics.”