Partnerships for Schools



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Partnerships for Schools
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Devolved Capital Programmes

Devolved Capital Programmes

About DCP

Devolved capital programme provides capital funding either directly to schools, or in some cases to both local authorities and schools.

PfS will lead on the collection of data on the schools estate (e.g. whether schools are modernised or unmodernised) as necessary to inform the allocation of formula-based funding, and to provide intelligence on the impact of capital investment in terms of outputs and outcomes (benefits).

Devolved formula capital (DFC)

An amount of funding is allocated each year to primary and secondary schools to be spent by them on their priorities in respect of buildings, ICT and other capital needs. The funding should be invested in priorities agreed locally and identified in the local Asset Management Plan. Schools may set aside their allocations for up to three years to support a larger future project. It can also be pooled with other schools, or with other local authority funding following agreement between the local authority and the school. VA schools cannot spend the grant on playing fields or buildings on those fields but they may pool their funding with other VA schools through their diocese.

The programme is supported by a £2.8 billion fund - £990m in 2008/09; £983m in 2009/10 (indicatively); £959m in 2010/11 (indicatively) - and is allocated by formula. Academies, CTCs and non-maintained Special Schools will be paid on a quarterly basis directly by PfS. VA schools will be paid twice-yearly, early in May and July. Maintained non-VA schools will be paid via local authorities.

Modernisation

These funds are devolved to local authorities to improve the infrastructure of the school estate, and to upgrade existing buildings or build new ones in line with local asset management plan priorities.

£1.5 billion of supported borrowing and capital grant is available - £512m in 2008-09, £509m in 2009-10, £517m in 2010-11 - and is allocated by formula. In line with supported borrowing allocations made by the DfE, an appropriate amount of revenue support grant is paid to each local authority by the Department for Communities and Local Government to enable local authorities to take out a loan to support capital investment. Capital grant allocations are paid quarterly by PfS to local authorities and are based on the relative proportion of devolved formula capital paid to non-VA maintained schools in the authority. The allocations announced are fixed for three years. The proportions of the total funding available are corrected using a location factor to reflect the relative costs of building in different regions across the country.

New pupil places (Basic Need)

The programme is designed to enable local authorities to provide additional school places to cope with growing numbers of pupils. The total funding available is £1.2 billion with local authorities sharing £400m in each of the financial years 2008/09, 2009/10, 2010/11. As far as practicable, new pupil places should be provided for schools where parents want them and where standards are high. Changes in provision by existing schools can be made either by the local authority or the governing body of the school itself depending upon the category of school and the type of change planned. A new school can be set up by the local authority any voluntary body, parents, church or faith group, company or trust, provided that certain conditions are met.

In line with supported borrowing allocations made by the DfE, an appropriate amount of revenue support grant is paid to each authority by the Department for Communities and Local Government to enable local authorities to take out a loan to support capital investment. Each local authority's share is based on its numbers of current pupils (40%), and its relative forecast increase at district level in pupil numbers (60%) relative to other local authorities. To reflect the higher costs of secondary provision, secondary pupil numbers are weighted at 150% of primary pupil numbers.

The Basic Need formula takes no account of post-16 pupil numbers and forecasts, as new post-16 provision will be funded by the 16-19 capital budget, which is administered separately. Demand for new pupil places in secondary schools in areas covered by BSF should be met from within a local authority’s BSF plans.

Specialist schools

The programme totals £50 million - £20m in 2008-09, £15m in each of financial years 2009/10 and 2010/11 - and aims to provide support for one-off capital projects at newly designated specialist schools. The funding provided is to enhance the schools' facilities in relation to teaching specialist subjects especially providing suitable permanent accommodation and access to these facilities for people with disabilities and relevant community groups. The capital proposals need to be part of a strategic plan to develop the school facilities as a whole.

A one-off flat rate grant of £100k is provided following a successful application to become a Specialist School and is paid quarterly to local authorities, who pass on the full amount of funding to schools unless capital investment is part of a larger local authority-led project. VA schools will receive funding direct from PfS once their project has been approved and will receive capital grant at a rate of 100% of spending up to a maximum of £117,500, including VAT.

School travel plans

The programme totals £60 million - £20m in each of financial years 2008/09, 2009/10 and 2010/11 - and aims to enable every school in England to put in place an active school travel plan by 2010. These plans are designed to initiate a package of measures to improve safety for children to walk to school and reduce car use and are backed by a partnership involving the school, education and transport officers from the local authority, the police and the health authority. Capital funding goes towards on-site improvements which will promote or enable more sustainable travel to the school such as lockers, cycle storage, new paths and CCTV, and is allocated by formula following a successful application.

Primary schools and maintained nurseries are allocated £3,750 plus £5 per pupil. Schools for secondary aged pupils are allocated £5,000 plus £5 per pupil. PfS makes quarterly payments to Community and Foundation schools via the local authority. Academies, CTCs and non-maintained special schools will be paid directly on a quarterly basis. VA schools receive the funding as an addition to their devolved formula capital and are paid at the 90% rate in line with legal requirements, adjusted for their liability to pay VAT on capital investment.

Schools access initiative

The programme was introduced in 2006 to improve the accessibility of mainstream schools to disabled pupils and those with special educational needs. The aim is to ensure full access to schools for all pupils to take account of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. A total of £96m in each of financial years 2008/09, 2009/10 and 2010/11 is available and is allocated by formula. Local authorities receive their share of £96m per year on the basis of pupil numbers relative to all other local authorities. The schools access initiative is delivered through the 'single capital pot' to make it easier for local authorities to join their allocation up with other capital funding to increase flexibility. In line with supported borrowing allocations made by the DfE, an appropriate amount of revenue support grant is paid to each authority by the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) to enable local authorities to take out a loan to support capital investment.

Voluntary Aided (VA) schools and LCVAP

There are two sets of formula-based programmes for VA schools - devolved formula capital (see above) and the Local Contribution to Voluntary Aided Programme (LCVAP). VA schools were set up in 1944 and are predominantly church schools which came under state control. Schools can appoint a head teacher who is of their preferred faith. They follow the standard curriculum and own their buildings, but not their playing fields. LCVAP is a formulaic programme where the local authority and its partners (usually the associated dioceses) allocate DfE funding in line with local needs and priorities. The programme aims to provide modernisation, new pupil places and school access to VA schools, by upgrading buildings and facilities; providing new pupil places; and developing access to facilities for disabilities and those with special needs in VA schools.

LCVAP is a £654 million fund - £218m in each of financial years 2008/09, 2009/10 and 2010/11 - with grant available to VA schools only. Grant is payable at the rate of 90% of relevant approved expenditure on projects, and includes the liability of the governing body to pay VAT on capital investment. Governing bodies must contribute the remaining 10% of the project costs. LCVAP can be used to support any capital work as long as it is the governors' responsibility. There is a minimum project cost of £2,000 but there is no maximum cost.

LCVAP allocations reflect the VA pupil number equivalent of the Modernisation, Schools Access Initiative (SAI) and New Pupil Places programmes allocated to each authority for its non-VA schools. After the project has been approved, funds are paid direct to VA schools, dioceses or promoters on receipt of a claim form and invoice for the work carried out. LCVAP should be spent within the year of allocation, but larger projects can be funded over more than one financial year. If an authority cannot spend their allocation in any one year then they can arrange to give, or loan, an amount to another authority. It will be for local authorities and local partners to agree these arrangements locally.

Extended schools

The programme provides pump priming capital funding to develop extended schools across an area, delivering the core offer of extended services. Extended schools work with the local authority, other schools and private/voluntary providers to provide access to the core offer of extended service, which are: wraparound childcare 8:00 am-6:00 pm, all year round for primary schools; a varied range of activities including study support activities; parenting and family support; swift and easy access to specialist services like speech therapy; and community use of facilities including adult and family learning and ICT. A total of £219 million capital grant is available - £84m in 2008/09, £89m in 2009/10 and £46m in 2010/11.

Funding is delivered through the 'single capital pot' to make it easier for local authorities to join their allocation up with other capital funding to increase flexibility. For maximum impact, the funding should be joined up with other devolved local authority level funding, including in particular, the resources being made available through the Primary Capital Programme, and devolved resources available to schools. Allocations are based on the number of primary schools in an area since the DfE policy aim is to ensure every primary school is able to provide the extended school offer. The development of VA school sites to provide the core offer of extended services is expected to be funded via local authorities at the standard rate of 90% of the agreed costs. PfS pays local authorities quarterly.

ICT capital programmes - Harnessing technology and Computers for pupils

The Harnessing Technology Grant brings together the previous Connectivity, Infrastructure, e-learning credits grants to meet better the objectives of the e-strategy 'Harnessing Technology' published in March 2005. The funding, which totals £639.5 million – £237.5m in 2008/09, £201m in each of financial years 2009/10, 2010/11 - can be used to upgrade schools' broadband connectivity bandwidths; implement ways to enable learners to store and access their work, and related information and resources on a secure website; to implement systems to achieve better use and more integration of information to support learning; and to invest in a range of technologies to support classroom-based learning such as interactive whiteboards.

The funding formula will change over the spending review period to manage the impact of moving from a single grant from the previous three separate grants. By 2010/11, DfE want to ensure both pupil deprivation and sparsity factors (a measure of relative population density to recognise the different costs of connectivity) are equally weighted in the funding formula. DfE set a 'floor' so that no local authority will see a reduction in funding due to the effect of changes to the formula of more than 10% in 2008/09, 15% in 2009/10 and 20% in 2010/11. VA schools school receive 100% of the capital available. The grant is paid quarterly to local authorities who are expected to pass on the majority of funding to schools (including VA schools) in line with the national formula.

Local Authorities can retain up to 25% of their allocation centrally in order to ensure that all schools receive the benefits of aggregated purchasing, including the provision of broadband, learning platforms or Managed Learning Environments through regional broadband consortia. With the agreement of schools, local authorities can retain a further proportion of the funding where there is evidence that this will achieve efficiencies from aggregation.

Computers for Pupils is a £90 million fund which is aimed at helping some of the most disadvantaged secondary children improve their education and life skills by putting a computer into the home. In January 2007, responsibility for managing the Computers for Pupils initiative was transferred to Becta, the government agency leading the national drive to ensure the effective and innovative use of technology throughout learning. In January 2008, Ministers announced a further £30 million investment (£25 million capital and £5 million revenue) to provide ICT equipment and a safe internet connection for secondary school pupils in the most deprived areas of England. Funding is allocated by formula and local authorities agree with their schools how it should be delegated.

For both of these programmes PfS will be responsible only for making payments, not for preparing guidance or determining funding allocations.