2. Delegation Process
recouped in that way. I am sceptical of that, that it gave parity to schools when it masked the
massive variables.
2.21 In all authorities, budgets had risen annually since delegation in line with inflation and
pay awards. Some LEAs reported substantial increases in this current year (12% in one
LEA) with the implementation of single status agreements.
2.22 Interviews with head teachers and governors revealed that for many, the formula had
been of little interest. The school meals budget item was minimal compared with other
delegated budgets as the governor of a large secondary school explained:
Delegated meals budget is only £8000 or so, in a budget of over £4 million odd. It’s peanuts
and so it doesn’t really have any impact on us.
2.23 Whilst most head teachers and governors were aware of the overall sum, they were
often vague as to what the figure represented. As the head teacher of one primary
school remarked
I’m not bothered about how they arrive at it. I’m only interested in the bottom line.
Protecting the budget for free school meals
2.24 Interest groups in Strand 1 interviews had highlighted fears that, post delegation,
schools would deploy unspent school meal funds for other purposes. As delegated
budgets would not be ring-fenced, schools might see this as an opportunity to use the
meals service to fund other school activities and facilities. Particular concern was raised
about the impact of this on the provision of free school meals. Interest groups argued
that if funding formulae were based on the factor of numbers of pupils with eligibility
for free school meals then schools wishing to make a financial saving would have no
incentive to encourage the take up of those meals.
2.25 The fears expressed by the interest groups were echoed by LEA officers working in
those authorities where the delegated budget was calculated on the basis of the number
of pupils eligible for free school meal rather than the number taking up.
My boss is continually battling with education to try to get the FM budget which is delegated to
schools brought back centrally because now the schools don’t need to encourage free meal uptake
because the lower the take up the more money they have to perhaps subsidise a teacher or get
new toilets. There’s a bit of a conflict there. It’s not changing for this forthcoming financial
year.
However another officer argued that the impetus to keep free school meal take up high
to trigger other benefits for the school would mitigate against schools seeking to exploit
the short term gain.
For some schools actually the money is not ring fenced in the school budget because its part of
the formula so you can get the situation where children don’t take the meal and that creates a
surplus in the school budget. ........On the other hand I should think they would be wanting
to get the maximum take up of meals as other things are triggered by that.
2.26 Since delegation, some schools were certainly making savings from unspent free school
meal funds. One case study primary school, with almost a third of pupils eligible for
free school meal, made savings of over £4000 on the school meals budget in the last
financial year. The chair of governors explained his feelings about this and the dilemma
that governors face when trying to fulfil their responsibilities.
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