Issue - meetings

SPENDING BY PRIMARY, SECONDARY AND SPECIAL MAINTAINED SCHOOLS IN 2018/19

Meeting: 20/06/2019 - Schools' Forum (Item 4)

4 SPENDING BY PRIMARY, SECONDARY AND SPECIAL MAINTAINED SCHOOLS IN 2018/19 pdf icon PDF 63 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Schools’ Forum considered a report setting out information on all revenue and capital balances held by Primary, Secondary and Special Maintained Schools as at 31 March 2019.  The report also provided a comparison to the balances held at the same time in the previous year.  Balances were reported in accordance with the DfE Consistent Financial Reporting (CFR) Regulations – the framework for reporting income, expenditure and balances.  It provided schools with a benchmarking facility for comparison between similar schools to promote self-management and value for money. 

 

The Schools’ Forum heard that despite schools putting forward plans for the use of any surplus funds, as a result of forecast budget deficits for future years it was unlikely that the plans would in fact be realised.  A Member of the Schools’ Forum raised question around how long it would be possible for schools to use reserves to balance their budgets as by their very nature financial reserves were limited and did not amount to a sustainable financial solution in the long-term.  This was a clear illustration of the funding crisis facing schools.

 

Following discussion about the benefits of the Forum’s access to schools’ financial data, the Director of Education suggested that the Schools’ Forum may wish to consider asking schools to share their financial information in the future to inform its discussion and consideration.

 

RESOLVED: That the report be noted.