Education Reform Act 1988

38 Schemes: determination of budget shares. E+W

(1) The provision to be included in a scheme for determining the budget share for any financial year of each school required to be covered by the scheme in that year shall require that share to be determined (and from time to time revised) by the application of a formula laid down by the scheme for the purpose of dividing among all such schools the aggregated budget for that year of the local education authority concerned.

(2) In this section “formula” includes methods, principles and rules of any description, however expressed; and references in this Chapter, in relation to a scheme, to the allocation formula under the scheme, are references to the formula laid down by the scheme in accordance with subsection (1) above.

(3) The allocation formula under a scheme—

(a) shall include provision for taking into account, in the case of each school required to be covered by the scheme in any financial year, the number and ages of registered pupils at that school on such date or dates as may be determined by or under the scheme in relation to that year; and

(b) may include provision for taking into account any other factors affecting the needs of individual schools which are subject to variation from school to school (including, in particular, the number of registered pupils at a school who have special educational needs and the nature of the special educational provision required to be made for them).

(4) In the case of any scheme, the following heads or items of expenditure, so far as taken into account in determining the general schools budget of the local education authority concerned for any financial year, shall be left out of account in determining the authority’s aggregated budget for that year—

(a) all expenditure of a capital nature;

(b) all expenditure in respect of the repayment of the principal of, the payment of interest on and the discharge of any other financial obligation in connection with any loan raised to meet expenditure of a capital nature;

(c) expenditure falling to be taken into account in determining central government grants of any prescribed description; and

(d) such other items of expenditure as may be prescribed.