AN EXTRA 120 school spaces for pupils with special educational needs across the district will be created early next year.

But funding the additional places could mean budgets cuts for schools.

A report by Bradford Council earlier this year revealed that spaces for 360 young people with special educational needs have to be found in the district by 2018 due to Bradford’s rising population and better and faster diagnosis of conditions.

Bradford Schools Forum was told creating the extra places, including the 120 “interim” spaces in January, would create a budget deficit of about £6 million.

Andrew Redding, schools finance officer at Bradford Council, told the forum that this deficit could be reduced if primary and secondary schools accepted a 1.5 per cent cut in money they receive from the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) – a pot of money used to fund schools in Bradford.

That reduction would generate about £4m in savings that could go towards the new special educational needs places.

Mr Redding said the council was spending £11m more on high needs places for children than it was two years ago.

He said changes in Government polices meant in future years it would be more difficult to move money from the DSG to the budgets of special needs places.

He said: “In future it will be incredibly challenging to find money for these places. There is an increase in the higher needs block, but no way to pay for additional places.

“We can get to a balanced budget, in 2017/18, but that will require reductions in primary and secondary school budgets.”

The forum, made up of representatives of primary, secondary, early years and special schools across the district, has given the go ahead for Bradford Council to look into funding the places by reducing funding for schools by 1.5 per cent.

A final decision will be made later this year.

Members were told that the biggest demand was for places for children with autism. Several schools had already approached the council about helping provide the new places.

Judith Kirk, assistant director of children’s services, said: “The schools have been fantastic about helping, we just need the capital for these places.”