§ Mr. HobanTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what assessment he has made of the impact of changing the basis of school funding from the periods coterminous with the Government and local government financial years to an academic year. [171768]
§ Mr. Miliband[holding answer 10 May 2004]Aligning schools' budgets to the school year would better reflect schools' planning cycles, supporting headteachers and Governing Bodies to make further progress in both schools' financial management and school improvement activities.
The practicality, time scales and best means of moving to three year budgets aligned to the school year will depend on decisions to be taken about the schools' funding regime for 2006–07 and beyond. The Government will consider what changes are required to the schools' funding regime in light of experience of the measures introduced for 2004–05 and 2005–06 to improve stability in individual schools' budgets. Any changes will be fully discussed with local government and schools representatives.