Supplementary memorandum submitted by
the Department for Children, Schools and Families
Questions 181-185 (Paul Holmes) and Question 204
(Annette Brooke): Funding available for 16-18 education
16-18 funding in general
The key principle behind the funding of 16-18
learning is that funding will follow learner choices. We have
set ourselves ambitions for learner choices in terms of the proportion
of learners we would like to see on apprenticeships. We also announce
indicative allocations for learners and volumes on the main post-16
routes in the LSCs Annual Statement of Priorities. These allocations
are however ambitions and indicative allocations, rather than
set targets. Plans are adjusted so that although there is rigorous
budgetary control, the allocations take account of the choices
young people are actually making on the ground.
The indicative allocations in the LSC's annual
statement of priorities are up-dated as part of the annual allocations
exercise conducted by the LSC. This takes account of historic
performance and the latest information from schools and colleges
on what young people are likely to want to do at the start of
the subsequent academic year. As a result of the 2008-09 allocations
process, allocations were changed compared to the 2007 Annual
Statement for both school sixth forms and FE colleges.
The school sixth form allocations have seen
an increase from £1,784 million in 2007-08 to £1,866
million in 2008-09, an increase of 4.5%. As a result of this,
62% of schools have seen an increase in their funding.
The number of funded learners will also increase
from 370,666 in 2007-08 to 383,792 in 2008-09, an overall increase
of 2.7%. The funded learner numbers are 7,792 above the planning
figure of 376,000 shown in the LSC's Statement of Priorities.
For 16-18 FE allocations have been increased
from those announced in the 2007-08 Annual Statement from £3,300
million to £3,348 million for 2008-09—an increase of
£48 million. For the 2008-09 academic year the increase in
funding will be nearly £80 million.
This will see an increase in the volume of planned
learners rising from 773,000 as shown in the 2007-08 Annual Statement
to a revised planning assumption of nearly 787,000.
We cannot guarantee that this funding will be
used to fund learners doing A levels, because the planning and
allocation process is institution based rather than qualification
based. However, given the likelihood of learners in schools sixth
forms and to a lesser extent FE colleges to be undertaking A levels,
it is likely in the short term that these increased volumes will
include increased A level learners, although the roll-out of Diplomas
might affect A level take-up in the medium term.
We have made these increased funding commitments
to schools and FE colleges while maintaining our plans to increase
apprenticeship volumes. We are committed to driving up post-16
participation as we move towards raising the participation age.
We will only be able to achieve increased participation if young
people are able to access the courses and opportunities of their
choice.
Brookfield Community School
Paul Holmes raised the case of the funding for
this school in the hearing and we have heard from the LSC that
they received correspondence from Russ Barr, the head teacher,
regarding the schools sixth form allocation for 2008-09.
Brookfield School was funded for 316 learners
in 2007-08 and achieved 309. For 2008-09 the school submitted
a request for 320 learners for 2008-09. However, as first priority
was for consolidated growth they were initially awarded funding
for 309 students. The school has been in discussion with the LSC
and as a result their allocation and funding was increased by
a further 50 places in June 2008.
Parkstone Grammar School
Annette Brooke raised the funding of this school
in the hearing and we have consulted the LSC. Both the Department
and the LSC have received correspondence from Anne Shinwell, the
head teacher, regarding the schools sixth form allocation for
2008-09.
The school has had its funding increase by 3.8%
in 2008-09 with the number of places increased from 332 in 2007-08
to 345 in 2008-09. The school has been notified that should they
deliver additional pupils in excess of the planned 345 in 2008-09,
then these pupils will be funded as consolidated growth in 2009-10.
To date, neither the LSC nor the Department
have received any further correspondence, but the LSC remain ready
to work with the school on their plans for 16-18 learners.
Question 208 (Mrs Hodgson): The impact of the
emerging views on the vision for 21st century schools on those
schools that are already in the BSF process or that have already
gone through the process
21st century schools
The 21st century school will be expected to
have:
— a focus on excellent teaching and
learning and a commitment to personalisation;
— a commitment to promoting children's
health and well being;
— effective and active engagement of
parents and their local community; and
— space for extended services at the
heart of a preventative system locally—with more services
being collocated on school sites.
Existing BSF projects are already helping to
realise our ambition for 21st century schools to be at the heart
of communities, providing space for the collocation of services
on school sites. Across the country, there are a number of excellent
examples of services being brought together on school sites, developing
the schools into real hubs for the whole community including Hadley
Learning Community in Telford and Platt Bridge Community School
in Wigan. There is increasing interest from local authorities
and other public sector bodies of the benefits of the creation
of such community facilities to help improve outcomes for children,
young people and families.
Through the planning process, Partnerships for
Schools are encouraging local authorities to work with Primary
Care Trusts and other partner organisations to identify how school
sites could be used to provide better access to those health or
other services. In many cases, the ways to overcome the barriers
to collocation may lie in clever and innovative design, and in
disseminating examples of successful good practice; we will be
working with Partnerships for Schools and other partners to develop
further case studies over the next few months.
We are also looking at how we could reconfigure
wider DCSF capital programmes to further promote the co-location
of services. Working closely with 15 local authorities to develop
both an evidence base relating to the key barriers to collocation
at local level, and options for improving the way we deliver our
capital programmes and getting better value out of the system.
We are working with other Government departments
to better understand how we might be able to join up funding,
bring together procurement processes and incentivise joint planning.
We will provide the Committee with an update on progress in due
course. We are confident that our current work programme will
make it easier for local authorities and their partners to pool
funding and create the sorts of facilities that communities want
and need; that transform those communities in the round, as well
as the education for children and young people.
Existing BSF schools
Clearly, where BSF designs have been finalised
and contracts have already been signed, it will not be possible
to reflect every aspect of our current vision for the 21st century
school in the design of every school. Our vision, as well as the
design of schools, will not stay still—encouraging innovation
in design is a key part of the BSF programme.
However, the BSF design guidance emphasises
the importance of flexibility in the use of space inside and outside
school. BSF schools will be able to adapt their facilities to
create space for other collocated services, where this is the
right way of delivering those services in the community. We do,
of course, provide schools and authorities with ongoing devolved
capital funding to allow them to adapt school premises in line
with their priorities.
Question 209 (Mrs Hodgson): The vision for 21st
century schools should include appropriate catering facilities,
where there are universal free school meals and all children are
kept on site and given a healthy, hot meal?
As outlined above, the 21st century school is
concerned with ensuring that children eat healthily, as part of
its commitment to promoting all aspects of children's well-being.
Where a school provides school lunches, we have ensured through
the introduction of tough nutritional standards that those lunches
will be healthy and nutritious. Appropriate catering, and dining,
facilities are also essential which is why, in addition to the
significant amounts of capital we are investing in our schools,
we have recently allocated an additional £50 million to 15
local authorities to support the building of new kitchens in schools
that currently do not have them, and are offering a further £100
million to authorities that submit plans to increase school lunch
take-up by building or refurbishing school kitchens and improving
dining areas and facilities.
But it is also essential that the 21st century
school does all it can to encourage children to eat school lunch
and keeping children on the school site at lunchtime is a good
way of achieving this. While it is for each school to decide in
consultation with parents, we would ask all schools to consider
this, as I made clear in my letter to schools last October.
The cost of a school lunch can be a significant
influence on whether a child takes a school lunch and offering
universal free school meals does result in a significant increase
in school lunch take-up as the pilot in Hull clearly demonstrated.
That pilot also showed that children who take a school lunch are
more likely to be better behaved, better able to learn and more
likely to see their general health improve. But we need more evidence
about these benefits which is why we intend to set up further
pilots between 2009-10 and 2010-11. We will invite two deprived
areas to trial free school lunches to all primary school children
and a third area to trial the extension of the current eligibility
rules for Free School Meals. These pilots will be supported by
£20 million from my Department and the Department of Health
and participating Local Authorities and Primary Care Trusts will
be asked to match that funding, resulting in a total budget of
£40 million per year for the two years.
October 2008
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