# The Education (Grant-maintained Schools) (Finance) Regulations 1994, Note: Explanatory note


(This note is not part of the Regulations)
These Regulations, which are made under sections 81 to 84 and 94 of the Education Act 1993, replace with modifications the Education (Grant-Maintained Schools) (Finance) Regulations 1993, which are revoked. The Regulations apply to schools situated in England which have acquired grant-maintained status and in relation to the 1994-95 financial year. The main changes to the provision made by the 1993 Regulations are set out below.
Consequent on sections 81 to 84 of the 1993 Act, the Regulations confer on the Funding Agency for Schools (to be established on 1st April 1994 under section 3 of the 1993 Act) the functions conferred under the 1993 Regulations on the Secretary of State regarding the determination and redetermination of amounts of maintenance grant payable to schools, the payment of capital and special purpose grants to schools and the imposition of requirements to be observed by governing bodies in receipt of grant.
Part 2 of the Regulations provides for the determination and redetermination of the amount of maintenance grant to be paid to the governing bodies of primary schools, secondary schools situated outside the areas of Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council, Essex County Council, Gloucestershire County Council and the London Boroughs of Bromley and Hillingdon, and secondary schools situated in those areas which acquire grant-maintained status after 1st April 1994 on a similar basis to that provided for under Part 2 of the 1993 Regulations, save that—
(1) the percentages specified in Schedule 1 are revised;
(2) the amount to be included in maintenance grant in place of the amount calculated by reference to the relevant percentage in Schedule 1, where that is less than the corresponding amount included in the maintenance grant for the school for the preceding year, is reduced to nine-tenths of that corresponding amount (regulation 10(2));
(3) where a school acquires grant-maintained status after 1st April 1994, the amount the relevant percentage (under Schedule 1) of which is to be included in its maintenance grant is the proportion of the amount of its budget share for the year (determined under the local education authorities' scheme of local management of schools) corresponding to the proportion of the financial year for which the school is a grant-maintained school (regulation 11);
(4) in addition to the amounts to be included in maintenance grant for school meals, contingencies and nursery education, there is to be included an amount in respect of expenditure on employment of staff to make special provision for pupils belonging to ethnic minorities (regulation 12(7));
(5) where a grant is determined by reference to amounts of expenditure incurred by the local education authority in respect of the school in the preceding financial year, the items of expenditure to be left out of account in accordance with Schedule 2 are extended so as to exclude expenditure on insurance, repairs and maintenance, the provision of education in special schools, the provision of education otherwise than at school, the provision of school inspection services paid for by OFSTED and expenditure on employment of staff to make special provision for pupils belong to ethnic minorities;
(6) the grounds on which amounts of maintenance grant may be redetermined are extended to include circumstances in which the level of expenditure by the local education authority (as shown in its financial statement under section 42(6) of the Education Reform Act 1988) on matters not delegated to schools covered by its scheme of local management in the 1993-94 financial year exceeds the planned level of such expenditure (as shown in the authority’s statement under section 42(3) of that Act for that year) (regulation 19(1)(a)(iv)); and
(7) where a school is transferred to a new site in the area of another local education authority, any redetermination of maintenance grant for the school is to be made in accordance with the provisions of the Regulations under which grant was initially determined for the year (regulation 19(9) and (10)).
Part 3 of the Regulations makes provision with respect to the determination and redetermination of the amount of maintenance grant payable in respect of a secondary school situated in the area of any of the five local education authorities named above which became a grant-maintained school on or before 1st April 1994. Under this Part the amount of maintenance grant is to be determined in accordance with the following methodology:
(1) the Secretary of State is to determine the total amount to be spent on all grant-maintained secondary schools in the area of the local education authority concerned and all secondary schools maintained by them (regulation 23);
(2) the funding authority are to deduct from that total an amount approximating to 0.2% of that total to provide a contingency amount for the correction of any errors in the calculations required to be made by them (regulation 25(1));
(3) the funding authority are to determine each school’s share (its “CFF share”) of the remaining amount in accordance with the methodology laid down in Schedule 4, adjusting that amount, where necessary, to ensure that it is not less than the amount of the school’s maintenance grant (or, if the school is maintained by the local education authority, its budget share) for the 1993-94 financial year (this amount constitutes the initial element of the maintenance grant for a grant-maintained school) (regulations 24 and 25(2) to (5) and Schedules 5 and 6);
(4) where the planned level of expenditure by the local education authority on secondary schools in its area for the 1994-95 financial year exceeds the amount determined in respect of that authority by the Secretary of State under regulation 23, the amount of maintenance grant for grant-maintained schools in the area is increased proportionally (regulation 25(6) and (7));
(5) where, if the maintenance grant for a school had fallen to be determined under Part 2 of the Regulations, an amount would have been included in the school’s maintenance grant in accordance with regulation 10(2), the excess of that amount over the difference between the school’s CFF share and the amount of the maintenance grant determined for the school for the financial year 1993-94 is added (regulation 25(8) and (9)); and
(6) where, if the school’s maintenance grant had fallen to be determined under Part 2 an amount would have been included in respect of expenditure on employment of staff to make special provision for pupils belonging to ethnic minorities, that amount is added (regulation 25(10)).
Further provision is made in respect of particular schools in the areas of Essex County Council and Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council (regulation 25(11) and (13)).
Part 3 of the Regulations also makes provision for the redetermination of maintenance grant where during the financial year a significant increase in the number of registered pupils at a school occurs, a school undergoes a significant change of character or the local education authority increase their level of spending on secondary schools maintained by them (regulation 26). Provision is also made for the redetermination of maintenance grant before 1st October 1994 to correct errors and, after that date, the funding authority are required to redistribute any unused portion of the amount for correcting errors deducted from the total secondary schools amount for the area determined by the Secretary of State (regulation 27 and Schedule 7).
Part 4 of the Regulations provides for the payment of capital and special purpose grants to grant-maintained schools on a similar basis to that provided for under Part 3 of the 1993 Regulations, save that special purpose grants may also be paid to meet expenditure which it appears to the funding authority the governing bodies of schools cannot reasonably be expected to meet from maintenance grant incurred for or in connection with the implementation of the curriculum of the school falling outside religious education and the national curriculum Schedule 9, paragraph 2(c)(vii)).
The requirements which may be imposed where payments of special purpose grants are made are extended to include requirements as to the payment to the funding authority of the amount of grant, or that part of the value of premises or equipment purchased or improved with grant which is properly attributable to the grant, if conditions specified by the funding authority are satisfied (regulation 32(4)).
Consequent on section 93 of the 1993 Act, Part 5 of the Regulations prescribes the total amount of maintenance grant which may be recovered by the Secretary of State from the local education authority named in a determination under that section.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1994/938/note (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/education-grant-maintained-schools-finance-regulations-1994/note
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.