Under Section 251 of the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009, the Local Authority (LA) is required to prepare and submit a Budget Statement before the start of the financial year and an Outturn Statement after the end of each financial year for the prescribed period about their planned and actual expenditure for their education and children’s social care functions to the Secretary of State for Education.
Section 251 Budget Statement
Under Section 251 of the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009, the Local Authority (LA) is required to prepare and submit a budget statement before the start of the financial year for the prescribed period to the Secretary of State for Education. Section 230 of the Local Government Act 1972 also gives powers to the Secretary of State to collect financial information relating to the children's services element of the statement.
The statement consists of a series of tables that show the allocation of resources to schools and all other aspects of children's services. The statement may be revised during the year for confirmed changes in funding of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) and other grants, and for the carry forward of DSG from the previous year.
2011-12
The prescribed period for this
Budget Statement covers the financial year 2011-12. The size of the Schools Budget (SB) and the amounts to be allocated to each factor depend on decisions taken by the Local Authority (LA) and its Schools Funding Forum before the prescribed period. The budget statements are a means of informing schools and the public about the LA's funding plans.
The statement is intended to provide a clear picture of the LA's planned expenditure:
- how much the LA plans to spend on the LA budget outside the SB;
- how much the LA proposes to retain centrally within the SB for services to schools;
- how the local formula works to produce budget shares for each maintained school.
The tables are in a common format that allow comparisons between LAs to be made easily, to inform debate about budget levels and other funding issues. The
Department for Education (DfE) maintains a website that provides this information for all LAs.
Section 251 Outturn Statements
Under Section 251 of the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009, the Local Authority must prepare an
Outturn Statement after the end of each financial year for submission to the Secretary of State for Education.
The Statement provides details of:
- Funding and expenditure by the Local Authority (Table A),
- Expenditure on Children’s and Young People's Services (Table A1), and
- Details of Income and Expenditure for all Schools (Table B).
Its purpose is to inform schools, parents and others with an interest in education, to inform policy making, and to meet reporting requirements set by Parliament and the Treasury.