Single schools funding formula divides opinion

15 Nov 10
Government proposals to fund all state schools in England through a single national formula have met a mixed response

By Lucy Phillips

15 November 2010

Government proposals to fund all state schools in England through a single national formula have met a mixed response.

An education white paper will be published later in the year with various options to transform the way the schools budget is allocated. It will include a proposal for a national funding formula, which would move current responsibilities for budgets from councils to school leaders.

The National Association of Head Teachers welcomed the possibility, claiming it would address inequalities in the current system and ensure the new pupil premium helped the poorest.

NAHT general secretary Russell Hobby said: ‘It cannot be right that the amount of money a school receives to educate its pupils depends upon the vagaries of local formulae. Schools in identical circumstances find themselves with budgets differing by thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands, of pounds, simply because they sit in different authorities.

‘School leadership teams have highly skilled staff, including school business managers, who relish the prospect of managing a budget to serve the needs of the school community.’

But the Local Government Association called for the current funding formulae to remain in place, and for councils to be given a new role as commissioners of education provision for their area.

LGA chair Baroness Margaret Eaton said: ‘We believe it would be better to retain the current streamlined method for schools funding – the dedicated schools grant – which channels public money effectively to schools via local councils, without the need for creating additional bureaucracy.

‘Councils are on the side of local parents and will work tirelessly to make all schools the very best they can be, to give children the start in life that they deserve.’

Government moves to increase numbers of academies and free schools, which receive funding directly from Whitehall, have already stripped councils of some of their powers.

A spokesperson from the Department for Education said: ‘We believe the way education is funded at the moment leads to huge variations in the money similar schools receive so we want to introduce a fairer and more transparent system. Details will be set out in our white paper later this year.’

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