Flintshire secondary school finances at ‘critical level’
Flintshire schools face mounting financial pressure as new figures show most of the county’s secondary schools are now in deficit and overall reserves have dropped by almost £3.7m in just 12 months.
Seven of the county’s 11 secondary schools ended the last financial year in the red, compared with just two the previous year.
Deficits in the sector now total £1.9m and the council has described secondary school finances as being at a “critical level.”
A report to Flintshire Council’s Governance and Audit Committee shows schools’ combined reserves fell by 89 per cent, from £4.1m in March 2024 to £454,000 a year later.
School reserves are the sums of money carried forward from one year to the next.
They arise when schools underspend or overspend their budget allocation, and can be used to fund projects, cover unexpected costs or smooth out future shortfalls.
A deficit means a school has spent more than its income and must seek council approval for a recovery plan.
Primary schools held £2.1m in reserves at the end of March 2025, a fall of just over £1m, while specialist schools held £255,000, a small reduction from the year before.
But the secondary sector recorded a deficit position of £1.925m, down from a surplus of £677,000 in 2024.
The report highlights the pressures driving the decline, including high inflation, the continued impact of the pandemic and increased demands linked to the Additional Learning Needs legislation.
Budget reductions, including the removal of £750,000 that had been set aside to support schools in financial difficulty, have also added strain.
Schools have already started cutting staff to balance their budgets.
Between April and August 2025, 12 voluntary teaching redundancies, 10 voluntary support staff redundancies and six compulsory redundancies were recorded, with further cuts expected during the year.
Other savings have come from not renewing fixed-term contracts, not replacing staff who leave, and reducing working hours.
Looking ahead, the council forecasts that school reserves could fall to a combined deficit of around £4.3m by March 2026, with secondary schools accounting for most of the shortfall.
The report warns that falling pupil numbers, particularly in the primary sector, will reduce school funding further. Declining birth rates in Flintshire mean both primary and secondary pupil numbers are expected to fall over the next three years, which could cut school budgets by an estimated £3.5m by 2029.
Council officers said this trend poses particular risks for smaller primary schools, where declining enrolment could undermine long-term sustainability.
The financial viability of schools is currently listed as a red risk on the council’s corporate risk register.
The report concludes that balancing budgets is becoming “increasingly difficult across all sectors” and warns that deficit balances are likely to grow further in the short to medium term.
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