§ Dr. PughTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) whether it is his policy that a minimum funding guarantee overrides existing fair funding formulae; and if he will make a statement on the Audit Commission's observation to that effect on page 11 of its publication Education Funding; [189270]
(2) what representations the Department has received from (a) local education authorities and (b) their representative bodies concerning the effect of the minimum funding guarantee on agreed local authority formulae for distributing funds to schools; [189277]
(3) if he will make a statement on the finding of the Audit Commission study that showed that councils have suspended changes to their formula because they are unclear about the Government's intentions with regard to the minimum funding guarantee. [189314]
§ Mr. MilibandThe minimum funding guarantee that was introduced in 2004–05 has brought stability and certainty to schools budgets. It was considered appropriate to put in place such stability given the funding difficulties experienced by some schools in 2003–04. As a result of the introduction of the minimum funding guarantee two thirds of schools nationally received an increase above the level of the minimum guarantee while the remaining third of schools received a per pupil increase in funding in line with the guarantee.
The proposals for the minimum funding guarantee (including specifically provisions for exclusions, special cases and small schools) were developed in close consultation with our national partners, including representatives of local authorities and Chief Education Officers. Provision was made in the regulations to enable local education authorities to apply to the Secretary of State to amend the operation of the minimum funding guarantee where there was a clear anomaly in the outcome for individual schools or groups of schools.
Changes to a local education authority's funding formulae are matters for local discretion provided that they operate within the framework of the regulations. While the Audit Commission reports that some councils have suspended proposed changes to their funding formula, the survey was based on a sample of LEAs and was carried out before the start of the financial year 2004–05. Evidence from other authorities shows that there is no inherent need to suspend changes to formulae as a result of the minimum funding guarantee. Some authorities, in fact, have used the guarantee to provide transitional protection to ensure that such changes are phased in appropriately to ensure stability in school budgets.
1806W
§ Dr. PughTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills (1) what approaches have been made by Sefton local education authority to his Department seeking to amend Seftons formula for the distribution of school funding in the last three years; [189313]
(2) whether he has objected to proposals from Sefton local education authority to change their formula for the distribution of funds to schools in the last four years; and if he will make a statement. [189271]
§ Mr. MilibandUnder regulation 28 of the Financing of Maintained Schools Regulations, the Secretary of State has power to approve 'additional arrangements' whereby the normal national rules for school funding formulae are set aside in favour of a purpose-built local solution, in circumstances where significantly anomalous results would result from the application of the national rules.
During the period in question, Sefton local education authority made one application to the Secretary of State for an additional arrangement under regulation 28, in relation to the application of the minimum funding guarantee during the 2004–05 financial year. This application was turned down because it paid insufficient regard to the impact of the minimum funding guarantee on individual schools. The authority was invited to put forward an amended application, but did not do so.