Regulation 4 Determination of amount of maintenance grant
This regulation applies for the purpose of determining the amount of maintenance grant payable by the Secretary of State to the governing body of a school for a financial year in respect of which the former maintaining authority are required to prepare a statement under section 42 of the Act, and is subject to regulations 7, 8, 9 and 10.
Subject to paragraphs (3) and (4), the Secretary of State shall determine in relation to the financial year in question an amount which he is satisfied is or approximates to an amount which the former maintaining authority could have determined, by the application of their allocation formula in relation to a comparable maintained school covered by their scheme, as such a school’s budget share.
Without prejudice to paragraph (4) below, this paragraph applies in the case of any school whose incorporation date is after 1 April in the financial year in respect of which the determination of maintenance grant under this regulation is made (referred to in this paragraph as “the current financial year”).
In any case to which this paragraph applies the Secretary of State shall determine the amount referred to in paragraph (2) in accordance with subparagraph (c) below.
The Secretary of State shall determine an amount which appears to him to be equal to that amount of the school’s budget share for the current financial year which had not been expended immediately before the school’s incorporation date by the governing body of the school (before it acquired grant-maintained status) in exercise of their powers under section 36(5) of the Act.
Where it appears to the Secretary of State that, in relation to the financial year in question, a comparable maintained school’s budget share would have been determined wholly or mainly by reference to expenditure (whether actual, estimated, notional or otherwise characterised) for the purposes of that school in a previous financial year,
in the case of a school which was a grant-maintained school at any time in the preceding financial year, he may determine the amount referred to in paragraph (2) above in accordance with sub-paragraph (b);
in the case of any school which was not a grant-maintained school at any time in that year, he may determine the amount of maintenance grant payable in respect of the school in accordance with sub-paragraph (c).
In any case to which sub-paragraph (a)(i) applies, the Secretary of State may determine the amount referred to in paragraph (2) by reference to its maintenance grant for that year, adjusted by such amount as the Secretary of State is satisfied is fair and reasonable having regard to, among other things—
any increase or decrease in the actual or planned level of spending of the former maintaining authority in respect of the schools maintained by them occurring during or since the end of the immediately preceding financial year, and
any significant change in the characteristics of the school occurring as aforesaid or which it appears to the Secretary of State will be likely to occur before the end of the financial year in relation to which grant is being determined.
in any case to which sub-paragraph (a)(ii) applies, the Secretary of State shall determine the amount of maintenance grant payable in respect of the school in accordance with regulation 5(3) to (8), save that—
in the definition of “relevant schools” in regulation 5(7)(b), for the reference to “section 50” there shall be substituted a reference to “section 42”, and
in any case to which, apart from this sub-paragraph, paragraph (8) would apply, there shall be added to the amount of maintenance grant determined in respect of the school an amount determined in accordance with that paragraph,
and paragraphs (5) to (7) below shall not apply.
Subject to paragraph (6), the Secretary of State shall determine an amount which is equal to 16 per cent. of the amount determined in respect of the school in accordance with, as the case may be, paragraph (2), (3) or (4)(b).
This paragraph applies in the case of any school—
whose incorporation date falls in or before the financial year ending on 31 March 1991;
in respect of which maintenance grant was determined for that financial year under regulation 4 or 5 of the 1990 Regulations; and
in respect of which the amount determined in accordance with paragraph (5) above would be less than the amount which was determined in respect of the school under regulation 4(4) of the 1990 Regulations or, as the case may be, less than the relevant part of the amount determined in respect of the school under regulation 5(4) of the 1990 Regulations for the financial year ending on 31 March 1991.
In any case to which this paragraph applies, paragraph (5) shall have effect as if it required the Secretary of State to determine an amount equal to the amount which was determined in respect of the school for the financial year ending on 31 March 1991 under regulation 4(4) of the 1990 Regulations, or (as the case may be) the relevant part of the amount determined in respect of the school for that year under regulation 5(4) of the 1990 Regulations.
In this paragraph and in regulation 6(7), a reference to the relevant part of the amount determined in respect of a school under regulation 5(4) of the 1990 Regulations is a reference to that part of the amount which is calculated by the application of the following part of the formula in regulation 5(4)(b) of the 1990 Regulations—
.
Subject to any addition made by virtue of paragraph (8), the amount of maintenance grant payable in respect of a school for the financial year in respect of which the determination under this regulation is made shall be the sum of the amounts determined in accordance with, as the case may be, paragraphs (2) and (5), (3) and (5) or (4)(b) and (5), together with such amounts as are determined in accordance with sub-paragraphs (b), (d) and (e) below.
The Secretary of State shall determine an amount in respect of the provision of school meals calculated by the application of the following formula—
, where,
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M is the number of registered pupils in receipt of free school meals at the school;
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F is the total of the authority’s planned expenditure for the year in providing meals to pupils in receipt of free school meals at relevant schools;
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P is the number of registered pupils in receipt of free school meals at relevant schools;
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S is the number of registered pupils at the school who bought meals at the school on a date in the immediately preceding financial year determined by the Secretary of State;
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G is the total of the authority’s planned expenditure for the year on school meals, other than free school meals, at relevant schools and excluding expenditure to be met from any charges for such meals; and
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B is the number of registered pupils at relevant schools who bought meals at those schools on a date in the immediately preceding financial year determined by the Secretary of State.
In sub-paragraph (b),
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“number of registered pupils” means the number of pupils on a school’s register on a date determined by the Secretary of State;
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“planned expenditure” means the initial amount appropriated by the authority for meeting expenditure at all relevant schools excluding any such expenditure falling within their aggregated budget; and
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“relevant schools” means all primary or all secondary schools maintained or formerly maintained by the authority required to be covered by a statement for the year under section 42 of the Act, according as to whether the school is a primary or secondary school.
The Secretary of State shall determine an amount which appears to him to be such amount as the school, had it continued to be maintained by the authority, would have been eligible in accordance with the authority’s scheme to receive in respect of contingencies.
Where at the school there is provision of education for junior pupils who have not attained the age of five years, the Secretary of State shall determine an amount in respect of the provision of education for such pupils at the school which he is satisfied is fair and reasonable having regard in particular to the extent that, in his opinion, the cost of providing education for such pupils at the school is to be met from the amount determined in accordance with paragraph (2) or, as the case may be, paragraph (3) above.
This paragraph applies where—
the determination of maintenance grant in respect of a school is for the financial year in which the school’s incorporation date falls; and
in the financial year preceding the financial year to which the determination of maintenance grant relates (in this paragraph referred to as “the preceding financial year”) the school (before it acquired grant-maintained status) had a delegated budget under a scheme made by the former maintaining authority.
In any case to which this paragraph applies, there shall be added to the amount of maintenance grant payable in respect of the school under paragraph (7) an amount determined in accordance with sub-paragraph (c).
The Secretary of State shall determine an amount which appears to him to be such amount as is equal to that amount of the school’s budget share for the preceding financial year which was not spent by the governing body of the school in exercise of their powers under section 36(5) of the Act.
Where precise calculation for the purpose of determining any of the amounts referred to in paragraphs (2) to (8) in the opinion of the Secretary of State would be impracticable, would not significantly affect the amount or would be disproportionately costly having regard to the complexity of the calculation and the likely effect on the amount, the Secretary of State may determine as the amount of maintenance grant payable in respect of the school for the financial year in question such amount as appears to him to be fair and reasonable in the light of the former maintaining authority’s scheme having regard to any information which is available to him.
Subject to paragraph (11), references in this regulation to a maintained school are references to a school maintained by the former maintaining authority concerned, and references to a comparable maintained school are references to a maintained county school, any characteristics of which relevant for the purposes of any formula of a kind referred to in paragraph (2) are identical to any such characteristics of the grant-maintained school and are references (in particular) to a school—
the number of registered pupils in each age group at which is identical to the number of such pupils in each age group at the grant-maintained school; and
any other factors affecting the needs of which (including in particular, the number of registered pupils at the school who have special educational needs and the nature of the special educational provision required to be made for them) are identical to any other factors affecting the needs of the grant-maintained school.
For the purposes of sub-paragraph (a) above the number of registered pupils (and the number of such pupils who have special educational needs) at the grant-maintained school is that number (in each case) determined by the Secretary of State as a number which appears to him to be or to approximate to a number of registered pupils which could under the authority’s scheme have been used in applying the allocation formula under the scheme for initial determination of the school’s budget share for the financial year in question, had the school continued to be maintained by the authority.
For the purposes of this regulation, it is to be assumed that there is a comparable maintained school covered by the former maintaining authority’s scheme whether or not there is in fact such a school.
References in paragraph (4)(b), regulation 5(8), regulation 6(5)(b) and regulation 10(1), to any change in the characteristics of the school include, in particular, references to any change in the number of registered pupils thereat.