Education Reform Act 1988

144 Further and higher education funding schemes: provision for financial delegation

(1) A scheme shall include provision for requiring, in the case of each institution required to be covered by the scheme in any financial year which satisfies the qualifying condition on a qualifying date in relation to that year, the delegation by the local education authority concerned to the governing body of the institution of the management of the institution’s budget share for that year.

(2) For the purposes of this section—

(a) an institution is to be treated as satisfying the qualifying condition at any time when its total full-time equivalent enrolment number is two hundred or more; and

(b) “qualifying date” means, in relation to any financial year, any date which is a qualifying date in accordance with any provision made by or under the scheme in question.

(3) References in this Chapter to the delegation requirement under any scheme are references to any provision included in the scheme by virtue of subsection (1) above.

(4) The application of the delegation requirement under a scheme in relation to any institution is subject to section 145 of this Act in the case of any institution to which that section applies.

(5) Subject to subsections (6) and (7) below, once the delegation requirement under a scheme applies in relation to an institution in respect of any financial year it shall continue to apply in respect of each succeeding financial year.

(6) Subject to subsection (7) below, the delegation requirement under a scheme shall cease to apply in relation to any institution to which that requirement for the time being applies if the institution’s total full-time equivalent enrolment number—

(a) falls below the number an institution’s total full-time equivalent enrolment number is for the time being required under subsection (2)(a) above to equal or exceed for the institution to be treated as satisfying the qualifying condition; and

(b) remains below that number for such period as may be specified in the scheme.

(7) Where subsection (6) above applies in the case of any institution the delegation requirement under the scheme in question shall cease to apply in relation to the institution as from the beginning of the financial year beginning next after the period mentioned in paragraph (b) of that subsection comes to an end in the case of that institution.

(8) The application of subsections (6) and (7) above in relation to any institution is without prejudice to the subsequent application of the delegation requirement under the scheme in question in relation to that institution if it satisfies the qualifying condition on a qualifying date in relation to any financial year subsequent to that mentioned in subsection (7).

(9) In the case of any institution required to be covered by a scheme in any financial year to which the delegation requirement under the scheme does not apply, the scheme may provide for the delegation by the local education authority concerned to the governing body of the institution of the management of the institution’s budget share for that year.

(10) Any delegation by a local education authority under a scheme to the governing body of any institution of the management of the institution’s budget share for any financial year shall be subject to such conditions as may be imposed by or under the scheme.

(11) Conditions so imposed may (in particular) relate to the application of the whole of the budget share of any institution or of any part of the budget share of any institution determined by or under the scheme, and different conditions may be imposed in relation to any parts so determined.

(12) The governing body of any institution required to be covered by a scheme shall give to the local education authority concerned such information as the authority may from time to time require for the purposes of the exercise of their functions under this Chapter.