Royal Greenwich schools are facing a £0.5 million overspend in the Central School Services Block (CSSB), which funds central functions carried out by the local authority on behalf of maintained schools and academies. These services include school interventions, targeted support, school admissions, and the Royal Greenwich Virtual School, among others. A full list of services funded by the CSSB is available. 1

The overspend was discussed at the Schools Forum meeting on Wednesday 17 December 2025, where members were asked to note the current financial position.

According to the 2025-26 DSG Central School Services Block Update CSSB report, the Department for Education (DfE) has mandated that the cost of copyright licenses be included within the CSSB, even though funding is deducted from the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) at fund level. This change has contributed to the projected overspend. An additional £100,000 overspend within the DSG Re-org budget is related to invoice payments for teacher pension related costs, and the report indicates that further clarification is needed to determine if these costs are applicable to this budget.

The report also noted that the total CSSB for 2025/26 is £3.412m, comprising £2.168m for ongoing responsibilities and £1.244m for historical commitments. The DfE has stated that these historical commitments should cease over time, and no new contracts should be undertaken chargeable to this element of the CSSB funding. The ongoing commitments are calculated using a per-pupil formula, with 90% distributed through a basic per-pupil factor and 10% through a deprivation factor based on free school meals eligibility.

It is proposed that efficiencies and savings may be achieved in the School Interventions and Targeted Support service areas to address the overspend. The local authority states that it continues to find various efficiencies and savings to absorb the current reduction in CSSB funding.

The minutes of the Schools Forum meeting are published on the Royal Greenwich website, and members of the Forum are expected to report to the sectors they represent, communicating these changes to parents and the wider community.

  1. The Central School Services Block (CSSB) funds a variety of services, including: School Interventions, Targeted Support, DSG Planned Maintenance (Supp. For Cap Prog), DSG School Re-org Costs, School Admissions, Schools Forum, Contribution to Education Service Grant, Copyright Licenses, Teachers' Pension Employer Contribution Grant for centrally employed teachers, Core Schools Budget Grant for centrally employed teachers, Attendance & Advisory Service, Direct Services to Schools, School Improvement, Royal Greenwich Virtual School, Children's Capital Commissioning, Performance Analysis Service, Surplus Properties, and the MIS Team. ↩