Agenda item

Report attached.

DA had informed the Forum that each local authority was required to have in place a scheme for funding schools. This scheme set out the financial relationship between the London Borough of Havering and the maintained schools which it funded. It contained requirements for financial management and related issues, which were binding on both Havering Local Authority and on schools.

The scheme followed closely the statutory guidance from the Department for Education for local authorities in constructing their schemes.

The Regulations stated that schemes must deal with the following matters:

1.    The carrying forward from one funding period to another of surpluses and deficits arising in relation to schools’ budget shares.

2.    Amounts which might be charged against schools’ budget shares.

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

4.    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.

5.    Terms on which services and facilities were provided by the authority for schools maintained by them.

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

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

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

9.    Circumstances in which a local authority might delegate to the governing body the power to spend any part of the authority’s non-schools education budget or schools budget in addition to those set out in section 49(4)(a) to (c) of the 1998 Act.

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

11.Borrowing by governing bodies.

12.The banking arrangements that might be made by governing bodies.

13.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.

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

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

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

17.The maintenance of inventories of assets.

18.Plans of a governing body’s expenditure.

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

20.Insurance.

21.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.

22.The provision of legal advice to a governing body.

23.Funding for child protection issues.

24.How complaints by persons working at a school or by school governors about financial management or financial propriety at the school would be dealt with and to whom such complaints should be made.

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

DA took the Forum through the Scheme in detail.

DA highlighted paragraph 3.3 which detailed the proportion of budget share payable at each instalment and advised that schools would receive 2 payments in April, the regular monthly instalment of 7.8% and a one of 6.4% to assist with any upfront payments needing to be made by the schools. This was an improvement on last year’s arrangements.

MD raised the question regarding payments due to the Local Authority from schools. Whilst the payment to the schools would be in instalments any monies owed to the local authority had to be paid in full at the beginning of the year.

The Forum agreed the School’s Financing Scheme 2016/17 but asked DA to look at the issue of the timing of payments from schools to the Local Authority.