(UK) Somerset: Council to declare bankruptcy over $134M SPED debt

June 22, 2025, Wellington Today: Soaring special education teaching costs forcing council toward bankruptcy

SW England

BANKRUPTCY will have to be declared by Somerset Council next April unless the Government changes the way special needs education is funded.

The crunch will come on March 31 with the expiry of a dedicated schools grant (DGS) ‘statutory override’ introduced by Government five years ago.

The override allows councils to keep DSG overspends off their balance sheet, reducing the need for authorities to issue a section 114 bankruptcy notice when they were unable to balance their budgets.

Somerset’s DSG deficit it predicted to break the £100 million [$134M] mark by the end of the financial year as demand for special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) teaching soars.