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FUNDING WATCH STORY OF THE MONTH SCHOOLS SPENDING MORE
LACK OF FUNDS HAMPERS SCHOOL REBUILDING
The coalition’s scheme to rebuild England’s most dilapidated schools is being delayed by a struggle to find private investment. As a result, a large number of
projects at some of the country’s most run-down institutions have not yet begun, according the BBC. The Government has now been
forced to look to capital bond markets and the European Investment Bank to fund its priority school building programme, and denied building work would be delayed. Education Secretary Michael Gove
said in May last year that 261 schools would be rebuilt or refurbished through his Priority School Building Programme, asserting that the first schools would reopen in 2014. However, the Education Funding
Agency has yet to secure private investment to fund most of the projects in the five-year programme. There have so far been delays of
over a year, with some schools in the earliest wave now being informed that work may not be completed until 2016. It is now thought that only a tiny
group of projects directly funded by the government will be complete by the start of the general election. A survey of the 261 schools in the
priority programme, by the Local Government Association, found that of the 158 that replied, only 19 had start dates – and none of the privately financed projects who responded said they had funding secured. Some 66 schools told the LGA they had heard nothing on their rebuilds.
Schools are steadily increasing their expenditure as confidence returns to the market, new research from the British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA) reveals. The research indicates that schools’ budgets were up by 2.6 per cent in 2012/13,
and expenditure is increasing across most product areas. Spending on learning resources has increased by two per cent and investment in
other learning materials has risen by 2.4 per cent. Expenditure has also increased in furniture – up 1.3 per cent – and ICT – up 1.9
per cent. The only area of decline was in stationery, which saw a reduction in investment
of 3.5 per cent. The survey of 904 English maintained schools (602 primary and 302 secondary)
conducted in November last year also identified a shift in purchasing priorities across subject areas. In the early years, the survey indicates an increase in expenditure in the core
subjects of maths (up eight per cent) and English (up nine per cent), while in secondary education there is a shift towards science. A two per cent increase in investment in science at Key Stage 3 and 8 per cent at
Key Stage 4 backs what has been expected following the Government’s introduction of the English Baccalaureate with an emphasis on the sciences. These findings mirror the Government’s drive to improve standards in
literacy, numeracy and the STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics). Caroline Wright, BESA director, says this is good news: “This report shows the
encouraging signs that schools are growing in confidence and are using the increasing levels of freedom they have been given to manage their own budgets and expenditure to invest in resources, particularly those in the core subject areas that ministers have identified as requiring attention.”
DIARY
17 April IPA International Education Conference Earl’s Court, London
LondonBookFair.co.uk/ IPAConference
18 April
School Funding Reform Central London
InsideGovernment.co.uk
19 April Free Schools Central London
CapitaConferences.co.uk
24 April
Implementing Improved Educational and School Standards in Wales Central Cardiff
WestminsterForumProjects.co.uk
april 2013 \
www.edexec.co.uk
What we learned this month
Ofsted wants paid governors. Ofsted’s chief inspector Sir Michael Wilshaw says he wants some school governors in England to be paid, facilitating more professional leadership. He gave this direction at the launch of Data Dashboard, the government’s new online report card for schools, which he wants governors to use to measure teachers’ performance. Sir Michael is targeting governors who are “ill-informed” and “not able to make good decisions”, saying there will be “no excuses” for governors who don’t understand and challenge their school robustly. He will also challenge local authorities to take rapid action where governance is weak.
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