3.—(1) In these Regulations “partnership project” means a scheme in which a group of schools, which must include at least one independent and one maintained school, agree to co-operate with each other and, where the schools in the group so agree, with other persons (who may include an LEA) for the purpose of taking measures designed—
(a)to widen the educational opportunities of pupils attending one or more of the schools in that group, and
(b)to contribute towards the raising of standards of education provided for such pupils.
(2) Subject to paragraph (4), the Secretary of State may pay grants (“partnership grant”) to a project organiser in respect of expenditure incurred or to be incurred by that person in connection with the organisation and operation of a partnership project, but only to the extent to which that expenditure is approved by the Secretary of State for the purposes of this regulation.
(3) Without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (2), the Secretary of State may in particular pay partnership grant in respect of approved expenditure incurred or to be incurred in connection with—
(a)the release from their normal duties of teachers and other school staff to work on a partnership project;
(b)the remuneration of persons engaged to work on a partnership project (but not remuneration which would be payable whether or not they were so engaged);
(c)the support, training, or professional development of governors, teachers and other school staff engaged on a project;
(d)the provision of transport for pupils and staff to and from premises used in relation to a project;
(e)equipment, books, computer hardware and software, and other materials used in relation to a project;
(f)the costs associated with entering a pupil for any examination (but only where he would not have been so entered apart from his school’s participation in a project);
(g)auditing, monitoring or other evaluation of a project.
(4) Where the project organiser is an LEA, partnership grant shall be payable only in respect of expenditure referred to in paragraph (2) incurred or to be incurred by that authority in a financial year to the extent to which that expenditure is approved for that year by the Secretary of State.
4. Where—
(a)a project organiser incurs expenditure in making payments to any other person (including the proprietor or the governing body of a school participating in a project) who incurs expenditure in connection with a partnership project, and
(b)that expenditure of the person to whom the payments are made would be approved expenditure if it were expenditure of the project organiser,
such payments shall to that extent be treated as approved expenditure for the purposes of regulation 3.
5.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), the Secretary of State may also pay grants to a person (other than an LEA) in respect of expenditure incurred or to be incurred by that person for the purposes of carrying out research into partnership projects, including the evaluation of—
(a)particular aspects of individual projects, or
(b)the effectiveness of projects.
(2) Research grant may be paid only in respect of expenditure which is approved by the Secretary of State.
6.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), grant paid under these Regulations may be of an amount constituting reimbursement of the approved expenditure to which it relates, or of a lesser sum determined by the Secretary of State.
(2) In relation to a partnership project where the project organiser is an LEA, partnership grant shall be payable at the rate of 100 per cent. of approved expenditure.
7. Payments of grant under these Regulations shall be made at such times and in such instalments as the Secretary of State thinks appropriate.