Schools (Local Management) (Hansard, 6 November 1989)

§ Mr. Barry Jones
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will list the criteria which will be taken into account in the needs-related component of the formula funding under local management of schools.

§ Mr. Wyn Roberts
Each LEA was required to devise its own formula having regard to local needs and circumstances and after consultation with its schools. The formula must be based on an assessment of school's objective needs and conform to the requirements of the Education Reform Act and the guidance in circular 36/88. The central determinant of a school's needs should be the number of pupils weighted for age differences.

§ Mr. Barry Jones
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales if he will make a statement on the implications of local management of schools in Wales.

§ Mr. Wyn Roberts
Local management will enable governors and headteachers of all county and voluntary secondary schools, and of larger primary schools, to target funds on their own educational needs and priorities by giving them control over their running costs. It will make schools more responsive to the clients—parents, the local community, and employers—by relating the funding that schools receive mainly to the numbers of pupils. Local management gives the local education authority the lead function in deciding the basis for allocating funds to schools and in supporting them in the efficient and effective provision of education.
The Department is currently considering the LEAs' schemes for the local management of schools.

§ Mr. Barry Jones
To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what assessment his Department has made of the implications of local management of schools on(a) administrative costs at school levels, (b) responsibilities and workloads of head teachers and (c) information technology requirements at school level.

§ Mr. Wyn Roberts
Over time the administrative costs associated with the introduction of local management of schools should be offset by the more effective use of resources. My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education and Science, has asked the interim advisory committee on school teachers' pay and conditions to advise on the implications of local management for the workload of headteachers when reporting to him on school teachers' pay and conditions for 1990–91.
Up to £1 million has been made available to LEAs in Wales in 1989–90 for the introduction of local 447W management. Of this £500,000 has been earmarked for the introduction of management information systems into schools.