Agenda item

Report ED18056

The Forum considered a report outlining the proposed changes to the Bromley scheme for Financing Schools due to be issued in September 2018. Local Authorities were required to publish schemes for financing schools, setting out the financial relationship between them and the schools they maintain. Statutory guidance set out what local authorities must do to comply with the law.

The Bromley Scheme was last updated in 2013. Since then there had been only very minor changes to the scheme as proposed by the DfE and due to the reducing number of Maintained Schools the Bromley Scheme had not been updated on an annual basis.

The Head of Schools Finance Support advised members that as the pace at which Maintained Schools were converting to become Academies had slowed over the last few years, with only one planning to do so in August / September 2018 and then no other conversions imminent, it had been considered a good time to review the changes. The Local Authority had therefore recently carried out a full review of the Scheme, and was proposing that a new Scheme be issued in September 2018.

It was noted that the minor changes made to the Bromley Scheme for Financing Schools were to reflect the changes of terminology that had taken place since 2013. The Head of Schools Finance Support highlighted particular changes, which included:

2.4 – Best Value – this section was now called ‘Efficiency and Value for Money’, and provided more guidance for schools as to how this might be achieved.

2.16 – Schools Financial Value Standard – outlined the requirement for Maintained Schools to comply with this annually, and would replace the current FMIS system.

3.6 – Borrowing by schools – provided specific mention that schools could participate in approved schemes. It had previously been forbidden for a Maintained School to borrow in any form, but this had been relaxed, allowing schools to use any schemes that the Secretary of State had said was available to them without specific approval, for example the Salix loan scheme which was designed to support energy saving.

The Head of Schools Finance Support confirmed that the Schools’ Forum was the approving body for the changes made to the document. It was proposed that if members agreed to the suggested changes, which were largely cosmetic to bring the document up to date, it would distributed to the Maintained Schools in September 2018.

Members of the Schools’ Forum highlighted that as there were no Maintained School representatives present at the meeting, those being asked to approve the document would not actually be using it. In response, the Chairman noted that the meeting agenda had been circulated to all members of the Schools’ Forum, and no feedback on the report and proposed changes had been provided by Maintained School representatives to be presented in their absence. The Head of Schools Finance Support stated that she would be happy to contact the relevant Maintained School Headteacher and Governor directly, and their responses could be provided to the next meeting of the School’s Forum.

RESOLVED: That the proposed changes be agreed, with feedback from the Maintained Schools Headteacher and Governor to be provided to the next meeting of the Schools’ Forum.