Liberal Democrat sources say 30,000
local authority school places are being lost as money is diverted to free schools.
Lib Dem sources say 30,000
local authority school places are being lost as money is diverted to new free schools.
Birmingham City Council said it would work with Saltley School, the only
local authority school placed in special measures, and the Department for Education to install a temporary governing board.
Not exact matches
Local authorities then determine the post-16
place funding to individual maintained special
schools.
Place funding at special free
schools is not included in the 2016 to 2017 DSG allocations and no deductions will be made from
local authorities» DSG for
places in these
schools.
Local authorities and maintained
schools may have agreed changes to 2016 to 2017 high needs
place numbers.
Places in mainstream free
schools will be funded on the same basis as those in a mainstream academy, with deductions made from the
local authority in which the free
school is located.
Under the finance regulations,
local authorities have the flexibility to make changes to the number of pre-16
places funded in maintained
schools and PRUs.
All AP
places will be funded at # 10,000 per
place in 2016 to 2017 and must include those which
schools commission directly, as well as those that the
local authority commission.
The regulations do not allow
local authorities to make changes to the number of post-16 funded
places in maintained
schools and PRUs.
Either way, this specialist provision is not funded through the main
school funding formula; the
place or central service funding comes from the
local authority's high needs budget.
Commenting on plans for
local authorities to decide where new
schools should open, Kevin Courtney, Deputy General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, the largest teachers» union, said: «This is a clear admission that the free
school policy has not effectively addressed
local need for new
places and concedes the vital role of the
local authority in funding for new
school places and the right of the
local authority to select the provider.
The Education Act of 1980 introduced the Assisted
Place Scheme which took selected and gifted children out of the state
school system and
placed them into independent
schools; the trade union reform acts abolished the closed shops, secondary picketing and stamped down wild - cat strikes; the Education Act of 1988 introduced City Technology Colleges, which took states
schools out of the purview of the
Local Education
Authority; the 1988 Next Steps development began a transformation of the civil service by fragmenting in up into executive agencies; and the NHS and Community Care Act 1990 introduced the internal market into the NHS.
copies of any correspondence - electronic or otherwise - which took
place between the
local authority and the
school and the DfE and the
school regarding academy status;.
Free
schools are a form of academy
school, independent of
local authority control but funded entirely by the taxpayers, set up in response to
local parental demand for extra
school places or better
schools.
The
local authorities have no say in this, and the department for education has no sanction for those new
schools, set up apparently because of high demand, that end up with many unfilled
places.
«We have to bring it back to a
local level, rebuild the family of education, require
local authorities to oversee and provide supplementary resources to
schools and allow them to build new
schools to meet the need for more
places.
After its election the Government put this requirement on a statutory footing: Clause 1 of the
Schools Standards and Framework Act 1998 placed a duty on Local Education Authorities (LEAs) and schools to restrict class sizes to 30 in Key Stage One classes from Septembe
Schools Standards and Framework Act 1998
placed a duty on
Local Education
Authorities (LEAs) and
schools to restrict class sizes to 30 in Key Stage One classes from Septembe
schools to restrict class sizes to 30 in Key Stage One classes from September 2002.
And yet top tier
local authorities still have the duty to provide sufficient
school places and are held responsible for standards — both of which they can not control as more
schools opt out of
local authority control.
Fundamental to this is the ability to have enough
school places to educate our children and young people — a power which is vested in
local authorities.
But only one of the
schools in each
place is maintained by
local authorities — the remaining
schools in Birmingham are academies and independent Muslim
schools in Tower Hamlets, outside of
local authority control.
We are concerned that more than 20 % of free
schools have been established in areas where there is no shortage of
school places and, since they are not part of the
local authorities» planning procedure, they make it difficult for parents to get their child into a
local school of their choice.
Lib Dem sources claim 30,000
local authority places are being lost as money is diverted to new free
schools, but aides to Mr Gove say more
school places are being created overall.
The manifestos are mixed on this issue: while the Conservatives show no inclination to slow down their erosion of the powers of
local government when it comes to
school places, and UKIP make little mention of it in relation to education, Labour want to return power to
local authorities along with The Greens.
It says that while
local authorities created 90,000
school places in 2012 - 13, an analysis based on an online survey of chief finance officers among its members, revealed that a further 130,000
places would still be needed by 2017 - 18.
The funding comprises # 980 million for
local authorities in 2019 to 2020, to create over 60,000
school places needed.
In Blackpool and Hartlepool
local authorities there are no high performing secondary
school places.
The union warned that
local authorities, academies and central government take decisions on
school places in isolation, adding that the rise in pupil numbers will make it even harder for parents to secure
school places.
According to the EPI, virtually all
local authorities with consistently low densities of high performing
school places are in the North, particularly the North East and Yorkshire and the Humber.
Citing the post-Brexit economy as another reason why the future is uncertain for
school buildings, Mark Robinson adds: «The construction of new
schools must be a top priority for government and
local authorities must be given the tools and funding necessary to deliver extra
places in time.
Even better, any
schools or
local authorities placing orders at the show will qualify for a chunky 10 % discount!
The Department for Education (DfE) has said that
local authorities have plans to create 52,000 more secondary
school places by 2018, with # 7 billion is committed to new
places.
The funding differences are even more stark: if a new
school is opening under the free
school programme the capital funding comes from the generous free
school budget but if a
local authority is opening a new
school, the funding must come from either general
local authority funds (the calls upon which of course are many), or more likely from «targeted basic need funding», which is funding provided by the DfE to address the shortage of
school places.
Many
local authorities are just as happy now to provide capital grant to
schools and academies to deliver additional
school places and the EFA is currently trialling local delivery of the Priority School Building Programme (which they had previously delivered centrally) with funding allocated to local authorities, dioceses and larger multi-academy t
school places and the EFA is currently trialling
local delivery of the Priority
School Building Programme (which they had previously delivered centrally) with funding allocated to local authorities, dioceses and larger multi-academy t
School Building Programme (which they had previously delivered centrally) with funding allocated to
local authorities, dioceses and larger multi-academy trusts.
Whilst it is early days, the trend is being encouraged by both
local authorities and the EFA, perhaps recognising the need locally and nationally to develop capacity to deliver new build works and that
schools are best
placed to make decisions about where to focus investment to secure the right educational outcomes.
«Population changes are not a new phenomenon and
local authorities, who are responsible for providing sufficient
school places, have traditionally been able to plan to meet rising and falling demand.
Conclusion Regardless of whether they procure and manage their own broadband services or subscribe to services provided by a
local authority or regional broadband consortium (RBC), all
schools need to ensure they have an appropriate and up to date strategy in
place to ensure the security and integrity of their networks and systems are maintained.
After the case, an HSE inspector said: «Although the
school had not been under
local authority control since 2011, it failed to ensure employees and management received adequate training to make up for the loss of
local authority support and ensure that a suitable asbestos management plan was in
place.»
There are conditions which
local authorities must meet when they are putting forward a proposal for a new
school, most importantly they must demonstrate they have a site and funding available (for any capital works) and that there is a demand for the new
school places.
«The significant factor in the current situation is that, since 2010, the government has undermined
local authorities» legal powers to deliver new
school places.
New
Schools There are two ways of creating new schools: either by providers applying to the Department for Education (DfE) under the free school programme (which has become the government's main tool for tackling the school place shortage), or by a local authority inviting bids from providers as part of a «new provision&
Schools There are two ways of creating new
schools: either by providers applying to the Department for Education (DfE) under the free school programme (which has become the government's main tool for tackling the school place shortage), or by a local authority inviting bids from providers as part of a «new provision&
schools: either by providers applying to the Department for Education (DfE) under the free
school programme (which has become the government's main tool for tackling the
school place shortage), or by a
local authority inviting bids from providers as part of a «new provision».
Interim teaching facilities give
schools, colleges and
local authorities the flexibility to increase
school places to maintain the highest standards of teaching during major construction or refurbishment work or to meet a short - term surge in pupil numbers.
While this has now been backtracked, the role of the
local authority in providing
schools places remains a strenuous, and often, impossible task.
This report is the latest in a long (since the 1980s) series of CSIE reports on
school placement trends, i.e. the proportion of children
placed in special
schools or other separate settings by each
local authority in England.
A spokesperson for the Department for Education said: «To help
schools respond to rising pupil numbers, the government invested # 5bn between 2011 and 2015 to support
local authorities — creating almost half a million new
places,» the DfE said.
The state has given
schools until August 2006 to
place timing devices on vending machines to limit sales of snacks during certain hours;
local school boards will have the
authority to schedule access.
«And I can announce that based on evidence from
local authorities,
schools and the support service, over 99 per cent of
schools now have a plan in
place to deliver universal free
school meals in September.
Whilst the last few years have seen a significant change in the role of the
local education
authority (LEA), successive governments have still seen fit to ensure the responsibility for
school place planning still rests with the
local authority.
Marcus Sutcliffe, managing director of Elite Systems, discusses how modular construction can meet the need for
school expansion Britain is currently experiencing a distinct shortage of
school places, and headteachers and
local authorities around the country are looking for ways to accommodate additional intake — without breaking the bank.
This suggests that an
authority that is close enough to
local schools to understand their needs, yet far enough away to avoid collusion between
local officials and
school employees, is the best
place to rest responsibility for funding education.