The Education (School Financial Statements) (Prescribed Particulars etc.) Regulations 1994

Citation, commencement, interpretation and revocation

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Education (School Financial Statements) (Prescribed Particulars etc.) Regulations 1994.

(2) These Regulations shall come into force on 1st March 1994 and apply in relation to a financial year beginning on or after 1st April 1994.

(3) In these Regulations–

“the Act” means the Education Reform Act 1988;

“authority” means a local education authority;

“budget statement” means the statement referred to in section 42(3) of the Act;

“factor” in relation to the allocation formula under an authority’s scheme means any circumstance, fact or matter affecting the needs of individual schools and subject to variation from school to school which is to be taken into account in accordance with the allocation formula under the authority’s scheme;

“outturn statement” means the statement referred to in section 42(6) of the Act;

“relevant” in relation to “age”, “age group” and “year group” means an age, age group or year group separately treated in the allocation formula under an authority’s scheme for the purposes of determining that part of each school’s budget share which is to be determined by reference to numbers of registered pupils;

“the 1993 Regulations” means the Education (School Financial Statements) (Prescribed Particulars etc.) Regulations 1993(1);

“school” (except in regulation 8) means a school required by section 42(3) or (6) of the Act to be covered by a budget statement or an outturn statment as the context may require;

“special educational needs” and “special educational provision” have the meanings given to those expressions by section 156 of the Education Act 1993;

“statement” in relation to a pupil with special educational needs means a statement made under section 168 of the Education Act 1993 or, before that section comes into force, section 7 of the Education Act 1981(2); and

references to the number or numbers of registered pupils at one or more schools are references to the number or numbers of such pupils required under the authority’s scheme to be used in applying the allocation formula under the scheme for the initial determination of that school’s budget share or those schools' budget shares for the year.

(4) The following table shows provisions of the Act defining or otherwise explaining expressions used in these Regulations–

(5) Any reference in these Regulations to a numbered regulation or Schedule is a reference to the regulation or Schedule in these Regulations so numbered.

(6) The 1993 Regulations are revoked.

(7) Notwithstanding paragraph (6) above and except insofar as they impose any requirements in respect of section 42(4)(f) to (i)–

(a)the Education (School Financial Statements) (Prescribed Particulars etc.) Regulations 1990(3) continue to apply in relation to a financial year beginning on or before 1st April 1992; and

(b)the 1993 Regulations continue to apply in relation to the financial year beginning on 1st April 1993.

Prescribed form of and particulars and information for budget statements

2.  Where these Regulations require a budget statement to be in a prescribed form, it shall be a sufficient compliance if the statement is in a form substantially to the like effect to that prescribed with such variations as the provisions of the authority’s scheme require.

3.  A budget statement shall be prepared in four parts, as follows–

(a)Part 1 shall be in the form prescribed in Schedule 1 and shall contain the particulars of and the information with respect to the authority’s planned financial provision for all schools for the financial year to which the statement relates specified in section 42(4)(a) and (b) of the Act and the notes to Part 1 in Schedule 1, which particulars and information (other than those specified in section 42(4)(a) and (b)) are prescribed for the purposes of section 42(4)(c) and (j) of the Act;

(b)Part 2 shall be in the form prescribed in Schedule 2 and shall contain the particulars of and the information with respect to the authority’s planned financial provision for each school for the financial year to which the statement relates specified respectively in section 42(4)(e) of the Act and the notes to Part 2 in Schedule 2, which information is prescribed for the purposes of section 42(4)(j) of the Act;

(c)Part 3 shall be in the form prescribed in Schedule 3 and shall contain the particulars of and the information with respect to the allocation formula under the authority’s scheme specified in the notes to Part 3 in Schedule 3, which particulars and information are prescribed for the purposes of section 42(4)(d) and (j) of the Act; and

(d)Part 4 shall contain the information with respect to the budget share of each school for the financial year to which the statement relates specified in Schedule 4, which information is prescribed for the purposes of section 42(4)(j) of the Act.

Prescribed form of and information for outturn statements

4.  An outturn statement shall be prepared in two parts, as follows–

(a)Part 1 shall contain the information with respect to–

(i)the planned financial provision, and

(ii)expenditure actually incurred by the authority,

for the purposes of all schools in the financial year to which the statement relates prescribed in regulation 5(1); and

(b)Part 2 shall contain the information with respect to–

(i)the planned financial provision, and

(ii)expenditure actually incurred, or treated by the authority as having been so incurred,

for the purposes of each school in the financial year to which the statement relates prescribed in regulation 5(2).

5.—(1) There is prescribed for the purposes of section 42(6)(aa) and (a) of the Act the amount of expenditure actually incurred by the authority in that year for the purposes of all schools expressed (as cash sums or percentages, as the case may be) by reference to categories corresponding to each of the matters required by these Regulations to be contained in Part 1 of the authority’s budget statement for that year and, adjacent to the statement of each such amount, the amount of planned financial provision specified in that budget statement for that matter.

(2) There is prescribed for the purposes of section 42(6)(aa) and (b) of the Act the following information in respect of each school–

(a)the amount of the school’s budget share for that year included in Part 2 of the authority’s budget statement;

(b)the total amount of expenditure actually incurred in that year for the purposes of the school, net of any amount treated by the authority as income attributed to the school;

(c)the amount (if any) of excluded expenditure under the authority’s scheme in respect of contingencies occurring during the year;

(d)the aggregate of the amounts of expenditure on excepted heads or items of expenditure and excluded expenditure under the authority’s scheme, other than the amount referred to in sub–paragraph (c) above, being amounts which the governing body of the school were authorised in accordance with the authority’s scheme to spend;

(e)the amount of any increase or decrease in the course of the financial year in the school’s budget share;

(f)the amount to be carried forward to the following financial year of any surplus or deficit in the school’s budget share for that or any previous financial year; and

(g)the amount brought forward from the previous financial year of any surplus or deficit in the school’s budget share in any previous financial year.

Prescribed manner and time of publication of budget and outturn statements

6.  For the purposes of section 42(7) of the Act, every budget statement and every outturn statement shall be published by–

(a)supplying a copy, in the case of an authority in England, to the Secretary of State for Education and, in the case of an authority in Wales, to the Secretary of State for Wales;

(b)making a copy available for reference by parents and other persons at all reasonable times and without charge at–

(i)each education office of the authority, and

(ii)each public library in the area of the authority.

7.—(1) A budget statement shall be published before the beginning of the financial year to which it relates.

(2) An outturn statement shall be published before 1st November next following the end of the financial year to which the statement relates.

Furnishing of budget and outturn statements to schools

8.—(1) An authority shall furnish the governing body of each school required to be covered by the authority’s scheme in any financial year with a copy of–

(a)in all cases, Parts 1 to 3 and Part 4, so far as it relates to the school, of the authority’s budget statement for that year and its outturn statement for that year; and

(b)where the governing body request the authority to furnish them, such parts of Part 4 of the authority’s budget statement for that year as the governing body specify.

(2) An authority shall furnish the governing body of each grant–maintained school conducted in the authority’s area in any financial year and the governing body of each grant–maintained special school which either is so conducted and was established under section 183 of the Education Act 1993 or is conducted in any financial year and before becoming a grant–maintained special school was a special school maintained by the authority(4) with a copy of–

(a)in all cases, Parts 1 to 3 of the authority’s budget statement for that year and its outturn statement for that year; and

(b)where the governing body request the authority to furnish them, such parts of Part 4 of the authority’s budget statement for that year as the governing body specify.