Education Act 1996

248Grants: further provisions

(1)The times at which, and the manner in which, payments are made in respect of—

(a)maintenance grant for a grant-maintained school in respect of any financial year,

(b)special purpose grant, and

(c)capital grant,

shall be such as may be determined from time to time by the funding authority.

(2)Payments in respect of maintenance grant for a school in respect of any financial year may be made, before any amount has been determined in accordance with grant regulations as the amount of such grant payable for that year in respect of the school, by reference to an estimate of the amount which will be so payable made by the funding authority.

(3)Where in respect of any financial year an over-payment of maintenance grant is made to the governing body of a school, a sum equal to the amount of that over-payment shall be recoverable from the governing body by the funding authority.

(4)Where a sum is payable by the governing body of a school to the funding authority—

(a)in respect of an over-payment of maintenance grant in respect of a financial year, or

(b)by way of repayment of special purpose grant or capital grant (whether by virtue of a requirement such as is mentioned in section 247(6) or otherwise),

the funding authority may (without prejudice to any other mode of recovery) recover the whole or any part of that sum by deducting it from any grant payable by them to the governing body.

(5)In this section references to an over-payment of maintenance grant in respect of a financial year are to any amount by which the aggregate amount of any payments in respect of maintenance grant made to the governing body of the school in question in respect of the year exceeds the amount finally determined in accordance with grant regulations as the amount of maintenance grant payable for that year in respect of the school.

(6)The funding authority shall exercise any power conferred on them by this section, by any of sections 216 and 244 to 247, or by paragraph 6 of Schedule 21 in such manner (if any) as may be specified in or determined in accordance with grant regulations.