Commentary on Sections Information about local authority expenditure
849.The Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families currently uses two separate powers (one specific and one general) to collect information about a local education authority’s planned and actual expenditure on its education functions and its children’s social services functions. These are section 52 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 (“the 1998 Act”) and section 230 of the Local Government Act 1972 (“the 1972 Act”) respectively. Section 52 of the 1998 Act imposes a duty on local education authorities to prepare and publish financial statements containing information about their planned and actual expenditure on their education functions and accountable resources held, received or expended, in accordance with regulations made by the Secretary of State. Section 230 of the 1972 Act allows the Secretary of State to collect such information as he may require from local education authorities with respect to their functions and is used to collect financial information about their planned and actual expenditure on their children’s social services functions. Section 251 will provide the Secretary of State with one specific power to collect both types of information but only in relation to local education authorities in England and to do so by means of a direction. This enables the Secretary of State to collect the information he needs without having to make or amend regulations. The section does not impose additional burdens on local education authorities.