BRADFORD Council will be asked to write off a school’s £163,000 budget deficit.

Oastler School in East Bowling asked the Bradford School forum for help in closing its budget gap last year, leading to some members raising concerns that other schools with budget issues may make similar requests.

The special school has said it needs to balance its books so it can apply to become an academy trust. A panel looked at the request, and at a meeting of the forum today, members agreed with that panel’s decision that the special school should be given the financial help it asked for.

They heard the deficit was due to lower than planned pupil numbers between April 2014 and April 2015 - a result of Bradford Council altering its plans on how the school should open.

Andrew Redding, school’s financial officer, said: “The school has faced a difficult financial position, but this is an exceptional case.

"The council's plan for opening the school ended up being different than what actually happened with the opening.

"It was recognised early on that it was not possible to transfer the large number of vulnerable pupils to a new setting at the same time.

"The authority should have realised this much earlier."

However, he said that even if the council chose to write the £163,000 deficit off, the opening as it happened would still cost the taxpayer £69,800 less than the "incremental opening plan" that should have been implemented in the first place.

Bradford Council’s Executive will make a final decision on the funding request at a meeting in September.