Budget statements

• Section 52 budget statements 2008-11

Tower Hamlets is required under section 52 of the Schools Standards and Framework Act 1998 to prepare an annual Section 52 Budget Statement.

Regulatory provisions directly affecting the education content of these Budget Statements are also made in the School Finance (England) Regulations 2008.

It is a statutory duty that LAs must publish their budget statements as and when prescribed by the section 52 and section 230 Regulations. The size of the Schools Budget (SB), and the amounts to be allocated to each factor depend on budget decisions taken by the LA before the prescribed period, so budget statements are the means of informing schools and the public in general about the funding plans of the LA.

The copy of the statement that schools receive for that period is intended to provide a clear picture of the authority's planned spending:

• how much the LA intends to spend on the LA Budget outside the SB
• how much the LA is proposing to retain centrally within the SB for school services
• how the local formula is working to produce budget shares for each school in the LA's area.

It is important that schools forums and others can compare funding and methodology between different LAs, so as to inform debate about budget levels and such issues as the balance of funding between nursery, primary, secondary and special schools. It is therefore essential that all statements are prepared to a common format.

The Section 52 Budget Statement 2008-11 comprises of seven parts:

Schools Budget Summary Table 2008-11 (pdf 12k) - This table provides an account of the main sources of funding available to the Local Authority (LA) for their schools and any additional funding provided by the LA.

Table 1 LEA Level Information 2008-09 (pdf 32k), Table 1 LEA Level Information 2009-10 (pdf 20k), Table 1 LEA Level Information 2010-11 (pdf 20k) (the total planned education spending by the LA) - provides details of the LA's Children’s Services Budget for 2008-09 and the Schools Budget for 2009-10 and 2009-10.

Table 1 Annex Central Expenditure Limit 2008-11 (pdf 14k) This relates to the central expenditure of each LA within the schools budget, and is so designed for LAs to show that they have complied with the limit on central spend within the Schools Budget. The Central Expenditure Limit is there to ensure that the LA Budget (Nonschools budget) does not rise faster than the School Budget.

Early Years Table 2008-09 (pdf 18k) This is a new table which provides details of the LAs planned expenditure of how the free entitlement for early education for 3 & 4 year old funding is allocated.

Table 1 Annex Youth Service 2008-09 (pdf 11k) - This table provides summaries of planned net expenditure for the Youth Service

Table 2 School Level Information 2008-09 (pdf 86k), Table 2 School Level Information 2009-2010 (pdf 66k), Table 2 School Level Information 2010-2011 (pdf 61k) - This table lists all schools and gives details of individual school budget shares for each of the multi-year budget periods (2008-09, 2009-10 & 2010-11). It summarises the main formula funding elements and lists the budget and per pupil or per place share in each school.

Table 3a School Level Information 2008-2009 (pdf 129k), Table 3a School Level Information 2009-2010 (pdf 185k), Table 3a School Level Information 2010-2011 (pdf 182k) - This lists Nursery, Primary and Secondary schools and shows the calculation of each school's budget share for each of the multi-year budget periods (2008-09, 2009-10 & 2010-11).

Table 3b School Level Information 2008-2009 (pdf 29k), Table 3b School Level Information 2009-2010 (pdf 27k), Table 3b School Level Information 2010-2011 (pdf 27k) - Provides a list of Special Schools and shows the calculation of each special school’s budget share for each of the multi-year budget periods (2008-09, 2009-10 & 2010-11).

Tables 3a & 3b show how the LA's formula (see Table 4) has been applied to each school to calculate its budget share, including all the relevant factors and lump sums and the number of pupils in each school year used to allocate pupil-led funding. Table 3 has been split into two parts to aid completion.

Table 4 Funding Factors 2008-2009 (pdf 45k), Table 4 Funding Factors 2009-2010 (pdf 55k), Table 4 Funding Factors 2010-2011 (pdf 60k) - Includes the LA's allocation formula and applies to Nursery, Primary , Secondary and Special schools. The LA is required to set out the detail of every formula factor as each school must be able to relate its own budget share back to the items set out in Table 4. Table 4 therefore must include a complete list of all the factors and values in their formula and details of the funds allocated across all schools according to each factor.

For further information contact:

Kate Bingham
Head of  Children’s services finance
4th Floor, Mulberry Place
5 Clove Crescent
London E14 2BG

Tel: 020 7364 4960
Fax: 020 7364 4151
E-Mail: schoolsfinancehelpdesk@towerhamlets.gov.uk