The School Finance (England) Regulations 2011

CHAPTER 2 Adjustments, Correction of Errors, and Additional Arrangements Authorised by Schools Forums or the Secretary of State

Pupils permanently excluded from, or leaving, maintained schools

23.—(1) Where a pupil is permanently excluded from a school maintained by a local authority, the authority must redetermine the school’s budget shared in accordance with paragraph (2).

(2) The school’s budget share must be reduced by the amount A x (B / 52) where—

(a) A is the amount determined by the authority in accordance with this Part, that would be attributable to a registered pupil of the same age and personal circumstances as the pupil in question at primary or secondary schools maintained by the authority for the full funding period; and

(b) B is the number of complete weeks remaining in the funding period calculated from the relevant date, except that where the permanent exclusion takes effect on or after 1st April in a school year at the end of which pupils of the same age, or age group, as the pupil in question normally leave that school before being admitted to another school with a different pupil age range, B is the number of complete weeks remaining in that school year calculated from the relevant date.

(3) Where a pupil who has been permanently excluded from a school maintained by a local authority is admitted to another school maintained by a local authority (“the admitting school”) in the funding period, the authority must redetermine the admitting school’s budget share in accordance with paragraph (4).

(4) The admitting school’s budget share must be increased by an amount which may not be less than the amount D x (E / F) where—

(a) D is the amount by which the authority reduce the budget share of the school from which the pupil was permanently excluded, or would have reduced it had that school been maintained by the authority;

(b) E is the number of complete weeks remaining in the funding period during which the pupil is a registered pupil at the admitting school; and

(c) F is the number of complete weeks remaining in the funding period calculated from the relevant date.

(5) Where a permanently excluded pupil is subsequently reinstated by the governing body of the school or by an appeal panel constituted under regulations made under section 52 of the 2002 Act, the school’s budget share must be increased by an amount which is no less than G x (H / I) where—

(a) G is the amount by which the authority has reduced the school’s budget share;

(b) H is the number of complete weeks remaining in the funding period during which the pupil is reinstated; and

(c) I is the number of complete weeks remaining in the funding period calculated from the relevant date.

(6) Paragraphs (1) and (2) also apply where a pupil leaves a maintained school for reasons other than permanent exclusion, and is receiving education funded by a local authority other than at a school which is maintained by that authority.

(7) For the purposes of paragraph (2)(a), the amount attributable to a registered pupil is the sum of the amounts determined in accordance with the authority’s formula, by reference to pupil numbers rather than by reference to the number of places at the school or any other factor or criterion not dependent on pupil numbers (except that, where the registered pupil in question is a pupil in respect of whom grant is payable to the authority by the YPLA under section 61 of the 2009 Act, the amount attributable to that pupil is £3,232 for the funding period).

(8) For the purposes of this regulation, “the relevant date” is the sixth school day following the date on which the pupil has been permanently excluded.

Correction of errors and changes in non-domestic rates

24.—(1) A local authority may, at any time during the funding period, redetermine a school’s budget share or any earlier funding period in order to correct an error in a determination or redetermination under these or any previous Regulations, whether arising from a mistake as to the number of registered pupils at the school or otherwise, provided the error is of a kind not provided for by any specific error correction provision in the authority’s formula.

(2) A local authority may redetermine a school’s budget share to take into account any changes in that school’s non-domestic rate liability in relation to the funding period or any earlier funding period.

(3) In so far as any redetermination under paragraph (1) would require the amount that would otherwise have been the budget share of a school to be reduced, it may not be reduced to a figure which is lower than that which could have been allocated to that school under the regulations in force during the funding period in which the error occurred.

Additional arrangements approved by the schools forum or the Secretary of State

25.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), on application by a local authority to the Secretary of State for any authorisation or authorisations to determine or redetermine budget shares, the Secretary of State may authorise the authority to determine or redetermine budget shares to such extent as the Secretary of State may specify in accordance with arrangements approved by him in place of the arrangements provided for by these Regulations.

(2) The Secretary of State may not authorise a local authority to determine or redetermine budget shares in the cases referred to in paragraph (3) unless—

(a) the authority have first made an application to their schools forum for such authorisation which has been refused; or

(b) the authority is not required to establish a schools forum for their area.

(3) In determining or redetermining budget shares for schools which they maintain, a local authority may, when calculating the guaranteed funding level—

(a) replace the figure of 0.985 referred to in paragraphs 2, 3 and 5 of Schedule 4 with a higher figure,

(b) exclude the—

(i) Diploma Formula Grant,

(ii) targeted elements of the Targeted Support for the Primary National Strategy allocated to schools,

(iii) targeted elements of the Targeted Support for the Secondary National Strategy allocated to schools,

from the redetermined adjusted budget share for the previous funding period,

where authorised to do so by their schools forum.

(4) In determining or redetermining budget shares for nursery schools which they maintain or the amounts to be allocated in respect of nursery classes in schools which they maintain, a local authority may disregard regulation 19, where authorised to do so by their schools forum, provided the share or amount allocated includes a notional amount per pupil in respect of mainstreamed grants which is not less than 98.5% of the amount per pupil that was paid to the nursery school or in respect of the nursery class for the previous funding period from any mainstreamed grant.

(5) Unless the contrary intention appears in any authorisations given by the schools forum or the Secretary of State or any arrangements approved by the Secretary of State under any previous regulations, such authorisations or arrangements, as the case may be, continue to apply in relation to the funding period.