Council commits nearly £150 million to improve the lives of county’s children and young people

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Schools
Worcestershire Children First

Over £146 million will be spent across the next year by Worcestershire Children First to improve the lives of children and young people across the county.

Over £60 million will be spent on placements, making sure children are provided with the level of care and support they need.

Over £22 million will be invested to help children get to and from school and improve the current home to school transport offer to children and parents. The funding will help ease significant pressures, which are not unique to Worcestershire, in mainstream home to school transport and special educational needs (SEN) transport services.

Over £45 million is being spent from the Capital Programme to build a new secondary school for Worcester, which will ensure children can access a secondary school place within their local community in a growing City.

Councillor Tracey Onslow, Cabinet Member for Education, said: “We know that children and young people are Worcestershire’s future and we know that having a great start in life sets the foundations for them to achieve their full potential.  Our budget provides the right support, combining a continued focus on improving life experiences, with help to ensure they lead happy and healthy lives and further support as they transition to adulthood.”

A £250,000 one off allocation has also been agreed from the Council’s Business Rates Reserve to help support with replacing the kitchen facilities at Malvern Outdoor centre.   This will enable the centre to offer a safe and inclusive site for delivery of 16,000 meals served to the 5,000 children who visit each year.

The budget for the next year also highlights a significant increase in the Dedicated Schools Grant funding from Government.



This has risen from a total of £498.6 million for 2022 to 2023 to £532.6 million for 2023 to 20 24.

Further additional funding of £14 million which was announced in the Autumn Statement to support additional pressures in the county’s schools.

Over £900 million will be spent by the County Council to improve the lives of people in Worcestershire over the next financial year, following approval of the 2023/24 Budget.