Education Authority faces 'unprecedented funding gap' of £200m

The Education Authority has "reluctantly" agreed to £14million in cuts and measures to reduce costs.

The board met as the body - which administers education in Northern Ireland - faces an "unprecedented" £200million funding gap.

It comes after the Department for Communities warned it is facing a £111.2million resource funding gap following the recent budget.

The department, which is responsible for a wide range of services including social security delivery, employment support and funding for culture, arts and leisure, has said its allocation is 15.5% short of what was required.

While the Stormont Assembly remains collapsed it has been left to Secretary of State Chris Heaton-Harris to set the region's budget.

The Education Authority (EA) expects a funding gap of over £200million in its allocation for the 2023/24 financial year, and its board held a special meeting on Tuesday to discuss the situation.

It approved cuts of £14.1million but said no to around £5.5 million of cuts.

These will be submitted to the Department of Education for consideration.

EA chair Barry Mulholland warned that the body will not be able to live within this year's budget without additional funding.

"Board members expressed grave concerns that any decisions to reduce expenditure by more than £200million will impact every child in Northern Ireland and will also have a disproportionate impact on the most vulnerable and those from socially deprived areas," he said.

"Given the scale of the shortage in funding; the fact that the majority of the education budget is spent on staffing in schools and services to schools (around 84%); and the policy and legislative change required in order to make any substantive cuts, EA will not be able to live within this year's budget without additional and sustainable funding."

He said a total of around £14million in cuts and other measures to reduce costs were "regrettably and reluctantly agreed to be submitted to the Department of Education for their consideration".

But he said around £5.5million of cuts were not approved and will be subject to further impact assessment.

He added: "The board noted that the majority of measures required to deliver a balanced budget (over £200million) require legislative and policy change, alongside investment in long-term transformation; were outside of EA's authority to implement and deliver; and would require further consideration by the Department of Education.

"There has been a chronic underfunding over the last 10 years and we would repeat our calls for sustained investment in education and continued transformation of services."

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