The Financing of Maintained Schools (England) Regulations 2004

Regulation 14

SCHEDULE 1ADDITIONAL FACTORS OR CRITERIA WHICH MAY BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT IN A LOCAL EDUCATION AUTHORITY'S FORMULA UNDER REGULATION 14

The factors and criteria set out below in this Schedule may be taken into account by a local education authority in their formula but not on the basis of actual or estimated cost unless otherwise stated.

Where a local education authority take new factors or criteria into account in their formula or delete factors from their formula or determine a formula substantially or wholly different from the previous year, they may make such transitional provision as they consider reasonable.

1.  Special educational needs of pupils determined in a manner that the authority consider appropriate as a means of assessing such needs.

2.  Pupils for whom English is not their first language.

3.  Turnover of pupils other than as part of the general admissions process at a school.

4.  Admission arrangements at a school.

5.  The size, condition and characteristics of a school’s buildings and grounds relative to those of other schools maintained by the authority.

6.  A school which has a split site: the funding must be in accordance with criteria published by the authority.

7.  Such physical facilities, organisational facilities for the education of pupils, or communications facilities, as are found at some schools only.

8.  Rates payable in respect of the premises of each school (including actual or estimated cost).

9.  Use of energy by schools.

10.  Rent payable in respect of school premises or payments in respect of the use by a school of facilities not exclusively occupied by that school (including actual or estimated cost).

11.  Transport to and from activities outside the school premises which form part of the school’s curriculum or transport between the school and other educational facilities attended by pupils (including actual or estimated cost).

12.  Hire of facilities outside school premises (including actual or estimated cost).

13.  Insurance: the funding must be equal to the amount which would be spent on insurance for the school in question if amounts were not delegated to the governing body for such insurance or, if the authority do not insure, the appropriate proportion of the amount that would have been spent had they insured, to be determined on a basis decided by the authority.

14.  Payments in relation to a private finance transaction as defined in regulation 16 of the Local Authorities (Capital Finance) Regulations 1997(1) (including actual or estimated cost).

15.  Amounts payable to a school which is, as the result of the discontinuance of one or more maintained schools, either established or, pursuant to Chapter 2 of Part 2 of the 1998 Act, the subject of prescribed alterations, to reflect the extent to which a school which has been discontinued has spent more than or has not spent all of its budget share (within the meaning of the 1998 Act) in any financial year. Any such factor or criterion must provide that any amount deducted shall not exceed the amount which the school receives during the financial year as part of its budget share by virtue of being a new school.

16.  Whether a school is to be discontinued in the financial year or the following financial year.

17.  School milk, meals and other refreshment: the authority may not treat any element of this expenditure as having a negative value.

18.  Salaries at a school (including actual or estimated cost): the funding must be in accordance with a scale published by the authority.

19.  Safeguarding of salaries in accordance with a School Teachers' Pay and Conditions Document having effect in accordance with an order under section 122 of the 2002 Act(2) or other salaries (including actual or estimated cost).

20.  Social priority allowances paid in accordance with a School Teachers' Pay and Conditions Document having effect in accordance with an order under section 122 of the 2002 Act (including actual or estimated cost).

21.  The differential in recruitment and retention costs in different areas in which schools are located.

22.  The need for single payments to be allocated to primary, secondary or special schools, or any combination of such schools, regardless of size.

23.  The need for payments to be allocated to schools, of a size and satisfying other conditions, specified by the authority.

24.  Reductions in school budget shares of 3% or more determined by the authority but not to the extent that the school has spent more than or has not spent all of its budget share (within the meaning of the 1998 Act) or its maintenance grant (as a grant maintained or grant maintained special school) in any financial year. (The authority must publish the percentage figure and an explanation of how any amounts using such a factor or criteria will be determined including, if applicable, the use to be made of any sliding scale).

25.  Contracts to which the governing body of a school are bound by virtue of a provision in the authority’s scheme (including actual or estimated cost).

26.  Effect of taxation on schools.

27.  Housing development or armed forces movements leading to a reduction in numbers on roll at a school of at least 20% within one year.

28.  Such items of expenditure in connection with provision for pupils registered at other schools as are prescribed by the School Budget Shares (Prescribed Purposes)(England) Regulations 2002(3).

29.  Incidence of Newly Qualified Teachers.

30.  Incidence of pupils from ethnic minority groups having below average levels of academic achievement in relation to other pupils in the authority’s area, to be determined on a basis decided by the authority.

31.  Incidence of nursery classes and places recognised by the authority as reserved for children with special educational needs.

32.  Prior attainment of pupils entering a school.

33.  Advanced Skills Teachers employed at a school.

34.  Permanent exclusions from a school (including estimates).

Regulation 15

SCHEDULE 2THE MINIMUM FUNDING GUARANTEE

Primary and Secondary Schools

1.  In paragraphs 1 to 4—

(a)references to the number of pupils excludes those funded by grant paid to the authority by the LSC under section 7 of the 2000 Act;

(b)the “relevant number” of pupils for a financial year is the number of pupils registered at the school and used for the purpose of determining the adjusted budget share for that financial year, save that where the authority has not exercised its discretion under regulation 8(3) to take the number of pupils in places which the authority recognises as reserved for children with special educational needs, or in nursery classes, into account in their formula, then the number of those places shall be added to the relevant number for the purposes of this Schedule;

(c)the “adjusted budget share” is a school’s budget share determined in accordance with Parts 2 and 3 of these Regulations but not taking into account the effect of regulations 12, 15, 16(1), 18, 19, 22, 23, 24, and 25, paragraphs 8, 14 and 29 of Schedule 1 and any amounts added in respect of funding for named pupils which is deducted from a school’s budget share when that pupil leaves school, including amounts for pupil exclusions above that permitted by regulation 22 but not including amounts for the cost of providing free school meals;

(d)references to an initially determined adjusted budget share for the financial year beginning on 1st April 2004 include the effect of any additional arrangement approved by the Secretary of State under regulation 28 of the 2003 (No.2) Regulations, but exclude any amounts which have been included pursuant to the following provisions—

(i)regulations 12, 16(1) and (3), 18, 19, 22, 23, 24 and 25 of the 2003 (No.2) Regulations;

(ii)paragraphs 8, 14 and 29 of Schedule 1 to the 2003 (No.2) Regulations; and

(iii)any amounts in respect of funding for named pupils which are deducted from a school’s budget share when that pupil leaves school, including amounts for pupil exclusions above that permitted by regulation 22 but not including amounts for the cost of providing free school meals;

(e)where a school has opened after 1st April 2004 but before 1st April 2005, its initially determined budget share for the financial year beginning on 1st April 2004 for the purposes of this Schedule shall be the amount that it would have been had the school opened on 1st April 2004, adjusted in accordance with sub-paragraph (d).

2.  Subject to paragraphs 3 and 4, the guaranteed funding level shall be calculated as follows—

(a)where the relevant number of pupils for the financial year beginning on 1st April 2005 is the same as the relevant number for the financial year beginning on 1st April 2004, the guaranteed funding level shall be A;

(b)where the relevant number of pupils for the financial year beginning on 1st April 2005 is higher than the relevant number for the financial year beginning on 1st April 2004, the guaranteed funding level shall be the greater of either

(c)where the relevant number of pupils for the financial year beginning on 1st April 2005 is lower than the relevant number for the financial year beginning on 1st April 2004, the guaranteed funding level shall be

• where—

• A is the initially determined adjusted budget share for the financial year beginning on 1st April 2004 multiplied by 1.05 in respect of primary schools and 1.04 in respect of secondary schools;

• B is the difference between the relevant number of pupils for the financial years beginning on 1st April 2004 and on 1st April 2005;

• C is the mean value of funding per pupil in the school’s adjusted budget share for the financial year beginning on 1st April 2004 multiplied by 0.84 in respect of primary schools and by 0.91 in respect of secondary schools(4);

• D is the initially determined adjusted budget share for the financial year beginning on 1st April 2004;

• E is the relevant number of pupils for the financial year beginning on 1st April 2004; and

• F is the relevant number of pupils for the financial year beginning on 1st April 2005, multiplied by 1.049 in respect of primary schools and 1.039 in respect of secondary schools.

3.  Save where paragraph 4 applies, where the relevant number of pupils for the financial year beginning either on 1st April 2004 or on 1st April 2005, is 75 or fewer, that school’s guaranteed funding level shall be

in respect of primary schools, and

4.  Where a new school opens on or after 1st April 2005 which is a replacement for two or more schools being discontinued in the financial year beginning on 1st April 2005, its guaranteed funding level shall be calculated in accordance with paragraph 2, save that the figure in respect of the new school’s initially determined adjusted budget share for the financial year beginning 1st April 2004 shall be determined using the sum of the relevant number of pupils in the discontinued schools for that financial year as the relevant number for the purposes of paragraph 1(b).

Special Schools

5.—(1) A local education authority shall provide in their formula that any amount allocated in accordance with regulation 11(1)(a) in respect of a place at a special school shall be at least 4% higher than the amount initially determined in relation to the financial year beginning on 1st April 2004 in respect of a place appropriate to a pupil with the same characteristics at that school under the corresponding provision in the 2003 (No.2) Regulations.

(2) That portion of the initially determined budget share of a special school for the financial year beginning on 1st April 2005 calculated otherwise than in accordance with regulation 11 (but not including adjustments due under regulations 18, 19 and 22) shall be at least 4% higher than that portion of the initially determined budget share for the financial year beginning on 1st April 2004 calculated otherwise than in accordance with regulation 11 of the 2003 (No.2) Regulations but not including regulations 18, 19 and 22 of those Regulations.

Regulation 29

SCHEDULE 3CONTENTS OF SCHEMES

The matters referred to in regulation 29, being matters connected with the financing of schools maintained by a local education authority, required to be dealt with in the local education authority’s scheme are as follows:

1.  The carrying forward from one financial year to another of surpluses and deficits arising in relation to schools' budget shares including budget shares as defined in section 101(3)(c) of the 1996 Act.

2.  The carrying forward from one financial year to another of surpluses and deficits arising in relation to any maintenance, special purpose or capital grant within the meaning of Chapter 6 of Part 3 of the 1996 Act paid in respect of the school.

3.  Amounts which may be charged against schools' budget shares.

4.  Amounts received by schools which may be retained by their governing bodies and the purposes for which such amounts may be used.

5.  The imposition, by or under the scheme, of conditions which must be complied with by schools in relation to the management of their delegated budgets and of sums made available to governing bodies by the authority which do not form part of delegated budgets, including conditions prescribing financial controls and procedures.

6.  Terms on which services and facilities are provided by the authority for schools maintained by them.

7.  The payment of interest by or to the authority.

8.  The times at which amounts equal in total to the school’s budget share are to be made available to governing bodies and the proportion of the budget share to be made available at each such time.

9.  The virement between budget heads within the delegated budget.

10.  Circumstances in which the authority may delegate to the governing body the power to spend any part of the authority’s LEA budget or schools budget in addition to those set out in section 49(4)(a) to (c) of the 1998 Act.

11.  The use of delegated budgets and of sums made available to the governing body by the authority which do not form part of delegated budgets.

12.  Borrowing by governing bodies.

13.  The banking arrangements that may be made by governing bodies.

14.  A statement as to the personal liability of governors in respect of schools' budget shares having regard to section 50(7) of the 1998 Act.

15.  A statement as to the allowances payable to governors of a school which does not have a delegated budget in accordance with the scheme made by the authority for the purposes of section 519 of the 1996 Act.

16.  The keeping of a register of any business interests of the governors and the head teacher.

17.  The provision of information by and to the governing body.

18.  The maintenance of inventories of assets.

19.  Plans of a governing body’s expenditure.

20.  A statement as to the taxation of sums paid or received by a governing body.

21.  Insurance.

22.  The use of delegated budgets by governing bodies so as to satisfy the authority’s duties imposed by or under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974(5).

23.  The repayment to the Secretary of State of loans made to the governing body under section 255 of the 1996 Act.

24.  The provision of legal advice to the governing body.

25.  Funding for child protection issues.

26.  School meals.

27.  To whom in the authority complaints should be made by persons working at the school or by school governors about financial management or financial propriety at the school and how such complaints will be dealt with.

28.  Expenditure incurred by a governing body in the exercise of the power conferred by section 27 of the Education Act 2002.