Proposal 1: Removing the Grant
We are opposed to the proposed removal of the Grant, which we believe will have a negative impact on the ability of councils to continue to meet their school improvement duties. The Institute for Fiscal Studies estimates that despite the Government allocating an extra £7.1 billion for schools in England in 2022-23, spending will be no higher in real terms than in 2009-10 (2020 annual report on education spending in England). Given the pressure on school budgets and given the important of education recovery following the pandemic, it is wrong that the Department is seeking to ask schools to fund council duties that were previously funded by central government.
Monitoring of school performance and working with them to enable improvement are core functions of a maintaining council. We are concerned that the proposed changes set out in the consultation will reduce council flexibility to work with local maintained schools and that this would likely weaken both the ability of councils to support maintained schools with performance issues quickly and effectively, while also damaging maintained schools’ understanding of the council/school relationship, and wider stakeholders understanding of the council role in school improvement.
Councils are supportive of the Department’s drive for a school-led education system, including school improvement. While councils take a variety of approaches to fulfilling their school improvement duties, they are in many cases acting as facilitators in bringing schools together to support each other in local school-led improvement systems.
If the Department presses ahead with the proposals set out in the consultation it is right that these changes are introduced gradually, with a 50 per cent reduction in funding for 2022-23 to give councils and maintained schools time to adjust to these new arrangements before the Grant is removed entirely in 2023-24.
Proposal 2: Including provisions in the School and Early Years Finance (England) Regulations to enable councils to fund all core improvement activities via de-delegation
As mentioned previously, we do not believe that schools, that are facing their own budgetary pressures, should be asked to pay for support out of their existing budgets that was previously paid to councils by the Department for Education. If the Department believes that there is continued value in a council role in school improvement, this should be funded by central government.