Consultation on the future distribution of school funding
CIPFA has responded to the Government’s School Funding Consultation.

To read the full response, please click here [PDF file]

New Government Policies on Education

“The new academies

A large number of schools have expressed an interest in the Government’s invitation for applications to convert to an academy and some local authorities have been seeking further information on what funding would be transferred to the new academies. The DfE has now published a note with preliminary advice outlining how maintained schools converting to academies will be funded. It also sets out the principles of academies' funding and how it is calculated.

A key paragraph on the principles behind the funding arrangements reads: “The Government is clear that becoming an academy should not bring about a financial advantage or disadvantage to a school. However, academies have greater freedom on how they use their budgets, alongside the other freedoms that they enjoy.”

Schools looking to convert to academies therefore need to look carefully, therefore, not only at the extra funding they could receive, but also at the additional costs arising from the extra responsibilities which they will be taking on, which are currently undertaken by local authorities.

The DfE note can be downloaded from their website at:
http://www.education.gov.uk/academies/academy-funding

Would you like to join this CIPFA Panel?
The Panel welcomes expressions of interest from people who may seek to join it in due course as vacancies arise.

The Panel meets 3 to 4 times a year and assists the Institute’s policy and technical work in its subject area.  This typically includes the following types of activity:

• developing Institute responses to Government, professional bodies' and other bodies' consultation/discussion papers and exposure drafts
• developing, promoting and maintaining best practice, standards and guidelines
• producing and disseminating relevant advice and material for members and employers in the Panel’s subject area
• establishing positive and productive professional relationships with Government, government departments and agencies, the national audit bodies, professional regulators and other bodies falling within the Panel's subject area.

If you feel you could contribute to the Panel’s thinking and activities and would like to be considered for membership, in the first instance please contact julian.smith@cipfa.org.uk with a short summary of your CV, and of your reasons for interest in joining the Panel.

Response
The Children's Services Panel, jointly with the Further and Higher Education Panel, has responded to the draft National Commissioning Framework (NCF) developed by the Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Learning and Skills Council. To view the response, please click here.

Newsletter
To read the latest edition (January 2010) of the Panel newsletter, please click here. This edition includes various topical updates, a summary of the Children, Schools and Families Bill and a briefing on schools and the carbon reduction commitment. There is also some information about forthcoming CIPFA events.

Schools And The Carbon Reduction Commitment
The CRC - a mandatory carbon emissions trading scheme – will commence in April 2010 for large public and private sector organisations in the UK.

The carbon footprint of participating authorities will need to include emissions from any state funded schools under their authority. This includes Maintained, Foundation, Voluntary Aided, Voluntary Controlled, City Technology Colleges, Academy and Trust schools. The local authority is the CRC participant and so responsible for the legal and financial aspects of the scheme. However a ‘reasonable assistance’ duty will be placed on schools requiring them to supply the authority with energy data. In the case of PFI schools, where the PFI company is the counterparty to the energy supply contract, the energy use will be attributed to the PFI company.

There are important implementation issues for schools and for local authorities - it is crucial that systems and procedures are in place to collect, collate and analyse this data. Click here to read a summary briefing, with advice on what steps to take, from CIPFA’s Children’s Services Finance Advisory Network (CSFAN). The full briefing is available to CSFAN subscribers.

Select Committee on Schools’ Accountability Reports
The Committee has published its first report which may be downloaded from the following link: www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmchilsch.htm

The main message in this Report is a warning against the complexity which results from overlapping accountability structures and serial policy initiatives. The Government is correct in saying in the 21st Century Schools White Paper that schools should be empowered to take charge of their own improvement processes; but shifting Government priorities and the pressures of inspection, targets and Government programmes for school improvement combine to prevent schools from having the freedom to take ownership of their improvement. The "flexibility" of the accountability system, championed by the Government, may not be quite the benefit which it appears to be. Schools and local authorities now need a period of stability so that they can regroup, take time to identify where their priorities lie, and then work to secure the necessary improvements.

Click here to read CIPFA’s own submission to the Select Committee.

Details of relevent events will be added here as soon as they become available.