Conclusions and recommendations
The delegation of financial responsibility to
schools
1. It
is encouraging that schools appear to be coping well with many
of the demands placed on them by LMS. However, we are disappointed
that, after 15 years operating this policy, so much remains to
be done in terms of maximising the benefits that should arise
from the financial flexibility and community participation afforded
by well managed LMS practices.
2. We see as a priority
the need to ensure that Boards of Governors, while performing
a valuable public service, have the capacity to carry out their
duties as effectively as possible. Towards this end the Department,
the Education and Library Boards and schools need to ensure that
sufficient numbers of Governors are in place in schools; that
they have a range of relevant skills and, most importantly, that
they perform a challenge role in schools and do not succumb to
merely "rubber-stamping" the decisions of school principals.
3. The Department
needs to do more to ensure that delegated resources are used as
effectively as possible. At present there are 45,000 surplus places
in Northern Ireland schools and with falling pupil rolls it is
anticipated that this could rise to 75,000 by 2010 if action is
not taken to tackle the problem. Removing surplus places provides
the opportunity to make better use of the money that is delegated
to schools. While acknowledging that this can be a difficult task,
the Department needs to keep a close eye on surplus capacity in
schools and take all the steps necessary to ensure that delegated
funds are not spent on maintaining vacant places when they could
be more usefully directed to supporting the education service.
Financial planning and management
4. We
note the Department's acknowledgement that more needs to be done
to ensure that school principals and governors are adequately
prepared to engage in shared decision-making. LMS requires a more
sophisticated approach to financial management and it is essential
that schools receive the support necessary to enable them to link
financial planning to improvement priorities and to monitor the
use of resources against these priorities.
5. We were surprised
to learn that deficits among schools, in 2002-03 totalled £11
million, while at the same time others held surplus balances amounting
to £31 million. Although the Department has assured us that
school recovery plans are now in place to remedy this situation,
we have the clear expectation that should schools fail to comply
with these and fail to manage their budgets in a prudent manner
then the Education and Library Boards will need to consider removing
delegated powers from schools.
6. The financial system
in schools and the system operating in the Education and Library
Boards do not communicate properly. This problem was first identified
by the C&AG over ten years ago but the promised interface
has still not been put in place. The Department's failure to intervene
in a more timely way has, in our view, added to the inability
of Education and Library Boards and schools to manage the problem
of deficit and surplus balances more efficiently. Consequently,
the failure to properly manage the application of resources may
have negatively affected pupil learning. Further delay is unacceptable
and we want to see the development of an electronic interface
between schools and Education and Library Boards as a priority[2].
Moreover, in relation to the general issue of promoting self-management
and improving value for money in school spending, the Department
should establish a reporting framework, similar to that operating
in England, which would allow schools to benchmark their performance
so as to allow them to make better use of their resources and
to have a positive impact on education outcomes.[3]
Evaluation and achievement of objectives
7. One
of the downsides we identified in our consideration of LMS was
a general lack of accountability for performance. Accountability
matters, and unless delegated school management is held accountable
for results, the probability that it will substantially improve
performance is low. The Education and Library Boards are best
placed to monitor and challenge resource management and financial
decision-making in schools. However, by largely limiting their
focus to schools that have amassed large surpluses or ran into
excessive deficits, they appear to have relinquished effective
stewardship over the resources held and delegated to schools.
There is a clear need for the development of evidence-informed
guidance on how schools can make best use of their available resources.[4]
8. It is also important
not to lose sight of the need to draw parents more fully into
the school decision-making process. The Department should, therefore,
explore ways of giving them an effective say in the education
of their children.
2 C&AG's Report, para 3.23 Back
3
ibid, para 3.52 Back
4
ibid, para 4.25 Back
| 
