School funding reform: what does it mean for Shropshire?
The way schools are funded by Government is changing from April 2013, and Shropshire Council is concerned at the effect the changes are likely to have in the county.
School budgets are allocated by the Government based on a ‘funding formula’, and councils are being given less local flexibility about how to use this formula to distribute budgets to their schools.
From April 2013 the formula is changing, in an attempt to ensure fairer funding across the country, where money is allocated to schools, in the main, based on the number of pupils each school has on roll.
Shropshire’s Schools Forum, made up of headteachers, governors, education and council representatives, has been assessing what the changes could mean for Shropshire.
The Schools Forum has calculated that 46 out of 128 primary schools, and 12 out of 22 secondary schools, will ultimately have less money because of the changes to the funding formula. Those primary schools worst affected could see reductions of up to £31,000, with the worst affected secondary schools potentially losing up to £83,000.
Other schools will benefit from the changes, with some primary schools gaining up to £41,000, and some secondary schools seeing increases of up to £32,000.
There is a Minimum Funding Guarantee in place, which means no individual school budget can be reduced by more than 1.5% per pupil from one year to the next. Current projections show that 59% of Shropshire schools will need this protection, meaning about £2.2 million of the overall school budget will be used as Minimum Funding Guarantee.
The council and Schools Forum have written a joint letter to the Secretary of State, Michael Gove, to highlight their concerns about the impact the new funding formula will have on rural areas.
Cecilia Motley, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for learning and skills, said:
“We do understand why the Government is changing the funding formula, but we don’t think they fully appreciate the impact it will have on rural areas like Shropshire. We are not alone in feeling concerned about these changes, and we are writing to the Secretary of State to urge him to give rural areas a better deal in the future.
“We are working hard with our schools to minimise the impact of these reforms, but the fact is that, with not enough money in Shropshire’s education system, there will be challenging times ahead for some of our schools.”
Shropshire Council’s Cabinet will discuss a report on school funding reform at their next meeting on Wednesday 12 December 2012. The report can be seen by clicking here.
