This shows how much a council's schools-budget debt grew or shrank within a single year — the difference between where it started and where it ended. It matters because it separates this year's performance from debt inherited from the past. A positive number means the position got worse that year (spending outran the money coming in); a negative number means the council clawed some of the debt back.
| Council | Class | Value | In its class |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hampshire | county | 89,228,402 | 1st worst of 23 |
| Surrey | county | 62,368,320 | 2nd worst of 23 |
| Worcestershire | county | 54,557,682 | 3rd worst of 23 |
| West Sussex | county | 52,671,742 | 4th worst of 23 |
| Norfolk | county | 50,377,806 | 5th worst of 23 |
| Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole | unitary | 49,744,491 | 1st worst of 61 |
| Warwickshire | county | 44,698,286 | 6th worst of 23 |
| Suffolk | county | 43,536,412 | 7th worst of 23 |
| Lancashire | county | 40,846,156 | 8th worst of 23 |
| Dorset | unitary | 36,056,553 | 2nd worst of 61 |
| Council | Class | Value | In its class |
|---|---|---|---|
| Birmingham | metropolitan | -4,850,716 | 1st best of 36 |
| Newham | london | -3,994,640 | 1st best of 33 |
| Medway | unitary | -2,980,000 | 1st best of 61 |
| Lambeth | london | -2,933,246 | 2nd best of 33 |
| Southwark | london | -2,927,000 | 3rd best of 33 |
| Hackney | london | -2,586,487 | 4th best of 33 |
| Coventry | metropolitan | -1,924,972 | 2nd best of 36 |
| Darlington | unitary | -1,514,764 | 2nd best of 61 |
| York | unitary | -883,335 | 3rd best of 61 |
| Kensington and Chelsea | london | -840,393 | 5th best of 33 |
| name | dsg_in_year_movement |
|---|---|
| dataset | 05-dsg-send-deficits |
| kind | constructed |
| type | numeric |
| unit | GBP per year |
| grain | local authority x financial year |
| role | feature |
| source | dsg_deficit_cum(t) + dsg_balance_bfwd(t) (signs verified: brought-forward deficit is negative, carried-forward deficit positive) |
| period | 2015-16 to 2024-25 (2016-17 missing) |
| missingness | Missing where either input is missing (all of 2016-17) |
| score_note | Current-year deterioration vs recovery — the sharpest management signal, though Safety Valve cash can flatter it. |
| calculated | calculated/dsg-in-year-movement.csv |
| calculated_rows | 1366 |
| calculated_periods | 2015-16 to 2024-25 (2016-17 missing) |
| calculated_date | 2026-08-13 |
| peer_group | unitaries (n=63), metropolitan boroughs (n=36), London boroughs (n=33), counties (n=26) — scored within each class against its median/IQR |
The in-year change in the DSG position: positive = deterioration, negative = recovery. The formula works because 1.9.2 and 1.9.3 carry opposite sign conventions (deficit is negative brought forward, positive carried forward). Recoveries may reflect Safety Valve cash (1.9.1a) rather than genuine spending control.