A CASH-STRAPPED council’s huge blackhole in its school budget has been closed as the government writes off millions of pounds.

The Department for Education (DfE) has agreed to pay Slough Borough Council £27m, which will be used to fund its historic deficit within the dedicated schools grant (DSG).

The DSG is a ring-fenced allocation of government money to fund local schools and educational services.

No financial oversight and effectively ignoring the DSG for years led to the possibility of the blackhole to expand to £41.4m by 2026/27 if no action was taken.

READ MORE: Slough Council's £27m school budget blackhole could be plugged

This is mainly due to the overspending in the high needs block, funds used to support children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities, and the council not balancing the DSG in-year in previous years as they were not required to do so.

But finance chiefs have wrestled with the deficit and managed to reduce it to £27m. The DfE was previously ’minded to’ fund that deficit if the council could prove it can mitigate this blackhole.

The council said it has brought about changes and improvements to independent non-maintained special schools, post-16 placements, and to education, health, and care plans for children and young people.

If those improvements were not made, the DfE may not have agreed to write off the £27m, leaving the council to possibly fund that deficit itself.

READ MORE: Slough Borough Council criticised over 'very slow' recovery

Finance officers have previously said the DfE will pay the £27m by piecemeal over several years; it won’t be a one-off fund. The council must prove it is spending below budget every quarter.

Cllr Christine Hulme (Lab: Central), lead member for children’s services, said: “I’m very pleased the council’s plan to improve its work in this area has been approved by the DfE, allowing the council’s education services to continue to improve and grow to meet the varying needs of children and young people in the borough.

“The agreement involves a comprehensive plan that will help our education services meet new targets with the aim of improving education across Slough and doing so in a way that ensures best value for the schools, the council, and residents.”