Commentary Schedule 4: Disposals and changes of use of land Section 57: School funding
260.This section introduces Schedule 5 which contains provisions relating to the duties and powers of local education authorities in relation to the financing of maintained schools and the role of schools forums.
261.Section 47A of the 1998 Act as amended by the 2005 Act imposes an obligation on local education authorities to establish schools forums and provides for the constitution and function of schools forums to be set out in regulations. Paragraph 2 amends section 47A of the 1998 Act to enable schools forums to exercise any function imposed on them by the Act (as amended here and elsewhere), and to omit the power to enable the Secretary of State or Assembly to remove a non-schools member of the forum.
262.Section 48 of, and Schedule 14 to, the 1998 Act place a duty on a local education authority to establish a scheme which deals with matters connected to the financing of maintained schools. All local education authorities have existing schemes. Paragraphs 3 and 5 amend the duty to establish to one that requires a local education authority to maintain such a scheme and enables regulations to be made governing the approval of revisions to such schemes. This includes arrangements under which schools forums may approve revisions with or without modifications and the circumstances under which such revisions may be submitted to the Secretary of State or National Assembly for Wales for approval. It also removes the power of the Secretary of State or Assembly to impose a scheme on a local education authority.
263.Section 49 of the 1998 Act places a duty on local education authorities to provide the schools they maintain with a delegated budget share. Paragraph 4 amends section 49 to enable regulations to be made that require local education authorities to give all new schools budget shares from a date determined in accordance with regulations by the schools forum or the Secretary of State or Assembly.
264.Paragraph 6 amends Schedule 15 to the 1998 Act which currently makes provision for the circumstances under which a local education authority may withdraw delegated budget responsibility from a maintained school and the process it must follow in doing so. The amendments remove the right of a governing body to appeal to the Secretary of State or Assembly against the withdrawal of their right to a delegated budget.