Explanatory note
(This note is not part of the Regulations)
The provisions of sections 81(2), 82(2), 83(2), 88, 89, 90 and 94 of the Education Act 1993 largely re-enact for Wales (prior to the establishment of the Schools Funding Council for Wales) provisions formerly contained in sections 79 to 82 of the Education Reform Act 1988 (which are repealed by these Regulations), under which earlier regulations have been made. There are a few changes. Sums in respect of maintenance grant are, under sections 93 and 94 of the 1993 Act, now recoverable from a local education authority determined by the Secretary of State (“the relevant authority”); not, as formerly, from the local education authority by whom the school was maintained before it became grant-maintained. Other minor changes are reflected in the wording of the present Regulations. The principal relevant new provisions in the 1993 Act are the provisions for establishing new grant-maintained schools, grant-maintained special schools and groups of grant-maintained schools under a single governing body. However, the present Regulations do not extend to new grant-maintained schools or grant-maintained special schools.
These Regulations, which apply only to grant-maintained schools situated in Wales, replace the provisions of the Education (Grant-maintained Schools) (Finance) Regulations 1990. The main changes introduced by these Regulations are to the methods of calculating the amount of maintenance grant payable to the governing bodies of grant-maintained schools. Maintenance grant is paid to meet expenditure on the normal running costs of the school; capital grant to meet capital expenditure; and special purpose grant, to meet expenditure incurred for particular educational purposes or expenditure which the governing body could not reasonably be expected to meet out of maintenance grant. Other changes are in regulations 8 and 9 and Schedule 1 (percentage addition); regulation 11 (adjustments in respect of sums underspent or overspent by a school before becoming grant-maintained) regulation 15 (relevant date); regulation 17 (adjustments to maintenance grant); and regulation 18 (information to be used in redetermining maintenance grant). The details of these and other changes are set out below.
Part 2 of the Regulations makes provision with respect to the determination of the amount of maintenance grant to be paid to the governing body of a school for any financial year. Under regulation 4, maintenance grant comprises 3 or 4 elements:
an amount representing the school’s budget share (regulations 5 and 7) or, alternatively, an amount calculated in accordance with regulation 6;
an amount which is equal to a percentage of the amount referred to in paragraph (1) above (regulations 8 and 9) (“percentage addition”);
an amount in respect of the provision of school meals, and, where appropriate, amounts in respect of the provision of education to junior pupils who have not attained the age of five years, amounts in respect of contingencies and amounts in respect of expenditure of the kind referred to in section 11 of the Local Government Act 1966 in respect of posts approved by the Secretary of State for the purpose of making grants in respect of such expenditure, not being expenditure expected to be offset by income received as central government grants (regulation 10); and
where applicable, an amount in respect of the school’s budget share for any financial year in which it was maintained by a local education authority and had a delegated budget in respect of which sums were not made available, deducted by the authority or spent by the governing body in exercise of their powers under section 36(5) of the Education Reform Act 1988 (regulation 11(3)).
Where, however, a school has spent more than its budget share before becoming grant-maintained, an amount in respect of the deficit may be deducted from the total of paragraphs (1) to (3) above in determining the amount of the school’s maintenance grant (regulation 11(5)).
Regulation 6 applies to schools which become grant-maintained schools on a date preceding the commencement of the financial year in respect of which maintenance grant is to be determined. In such a case the Secretary of State may, instead of determining an amount under regulation 5, calculate an amount by taking the amount determined in respect of the school in the financial year in which the school became a grant-maintained school, and adjusting it by such amount as appears to him to be fair and reasonable. The regulation requires the Secretary of State to consult the relevant authority and the governing body of the school before adopting this method of calculating maintenance grant. Consultation is not required where it appears to the Secretary of State that a comparable maintained school’s budget share under regulation 5 would have been determined wholly or mainly by reference to expenditure for the purposes of that school in a previous financial year.
Regulation 8 requires the Secretary of State to determine as the percentage addition the “relevant percentage” of the amount determined in respect of the school under (as the case may be) regulation 5, 6 or 7 or, where the school becomes grant-maintained after 1 April, the “relevant percentage” of that amount apportioned according to the number of days remaining in the financial year in question see regulation 9. The “relevant percentage” is the percentage for the school determined in accordance with Schedule 1.
Under regulation 12, the Secretary of State may determine as the maintenance grant for a school which becomes a grant-maintained school in the financial year in respect of which the determination is made, an amount which is the sum of the amounts determined in accordance with regulations 13(1) and 14(1), less an amount determined in accordance with regulation 14(2) (where applicable), rather than an amount determined in accordance with regulation 4. Before doing so, however, he is required to consult the relevant authority and the governing body of the school.
Regulation 15 provides that any amount required to be determined by the Secretary of State under Part 2 of the Regulations is to be determined by him on the information available to him on the relevant date. Under regulation 15 the relevant date is either the 31st March immediately preceding the financial year in respect of which the determination of maintenance grant is made, or such other date as may be determined by the Secretary of State in the case in question.
Regulation 17 provides for the adjustment of maintenance grant in the light of subsequent changes or to correct errors. It also provides for the adjustment of maintenance grant where is appears to the Secretary of State that, by reason of any extraordinary circumstances, the amount of maintenance grant is insufficient to enable the governing body of the school adequately to carry out their functions with respect to the conduct of the school.
Regulation 18 makes provision with respect to the information to be taken into account by the Secretary of State on making a redetermination of the amount of maintenance grant.
Regulation 19 and Schedule 3 specify requirements which may be attached to payment of maintenance grant.
Regulations 20 to 22 and Schedules 3, 4 and 5 make provision for the payment of capital grants and special purpose grants, and the requirements which may be attached to payment of the latter.
Regulation 23 provides for the recovery from the relevant authority of amounts corresponding to the amount of maintenance grant payable in respect of a school.
By virtue of section 221 of the 1993 Act, these Regulations apply to schools conducted by education associations other than special schools (references to the governing body being read as references to the education association (see section 219(7) of the 1993 Act).