The Local Council Report / SEND / DSG deficits / DSG grant adj · markdown view

DSG grant adj

GBP · extracted · local authority x financial year

This is extra money added to (or taken from) a council's government grant for schools during the year, on top of the original allocation — including special rescue payments the government makes to councils in deep trouble. It matters because these one-off top-ups can make a council's debt look like it is improving when the underlying spending problem has not changed. A large number usually means the council received a bailout-style payment; a small or zero number means no such adjustment.

councils
153
median
0
q1
-388,402
q3
362,456
min
-14,780,143
max
11,241,255

Distribution

-7,812,4665,555,096

Highest 10

CouncilClassValueIn its class
Kentcounty11,241,2551st highest of 23
Wiltshireunitary5,670,0041st highest of 61
Devoncounty5,449,0282nd highest of 23
Surreycounty4,160,0003rd highest of 23
Bristol, City ofunitary3,830,0032nd highest of 61
Southwarklondon3,127,3461st highest of 33
Hounslowlondon2,317,1082nd highest of 33
South Gloucestershireunitary2,282,4893rd highest of 61
Croydonlondon2,100,0003rd highest of 33
Haringeylondon1,910,0004th highest of 33

Lowest 10

CouncilClassValueIn its class
Essexcounty-14,780,14323rd highest of 23
Calderdalemetropolitan-13,314,21236th highest of 36
Milton Keynesunitary-2,733,93161st highest of 61
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Pooleunitary-2,524,82360th highest of 61
Buckinghamshireunitary-2,289,23259th highest of 61
Leedsmetropolitan-2,135,26735th highest of 36
Stockportmetropolitan-2,013,47334th highest of 36
Stoke-on-Trentunitary-1,612,62758th highest of 61
Manchestermetropolitan-1,606,80333rd highest of 36
Southamptonunitary-1,542,78157th highest of 61

Definition

namedsg_grant_adj
dataset05-dsg-send-deficits
kindextracted
typenumeric
unitGBP
grainlocal authority x financial year
rolefeature
sourcedata/data/s251_alleducation_la_regional_national.csv (cp1252); geographic_level == 'Local authority'; category_of_expenditure == '1.9.1a Dedicated Schools Grant in year adjustments'; column gross_expenditure
period2015-16 to 2024-25
missingness'x' = not applicable, 'z' = suppressed — never treat as zero
score_noteMostly a Safety-Valve bailout marker — a caveat variable more than a performance signal.
calculated../calculated/dsg-grant-adj.csv
calculated_rows759
calculated_periods2020-21 to 2024-25
calculated_date2026-08-13
peer_groupunitaries (n=61), metropolitan boroughs (n=36), London boroughs (n=33), counties (n=25) — context variable, excluded from leaderboard scoring

In-year adjustments to the DSG, which include Safety Valve bailout payments from DfE. Because these cash injections flow through this line, its presence distorts year-on-year deficit trends for participating LAs — check it before interpreting a deficit "recovery".