Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Halton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 21 March 2017 to Question 68119, on Sandymoor School, if she will publish an update on the anomaly in the financial statements of the Trust.
Answered by Edward Timpson
The financial statements for the year ended 31 August 2016 for Sandymoor School (published on 5 January 2017), made reference to a deficit of £522,760. The school and their auditors have confirmed that this was an error.
Sandymoor School has since corrected this error and filed updated financial statements for the year ended 31 August 2016 at Companies House on 11 April 2017. The updated statements have also been published on the school’s website. The updated statements confirm that the school had a cumulative surplus on recurrent funds of £173,401 at the end of 2015/16.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Halton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 7 March 2017 to Question 66085, on Sandymoor School, why on page 15, in the final paragraph, of the Independent Reporting Accountants Assurance Report on Regularity to Sandymoor Free School and the Education Funding Agency (EFA) it states that a recovery plan has been implemented which includes advanced funding from the EFA with cost savings to achieve a balanced budget.
Answered by Edward Timpson
The EFA has not requested a recovery plan from the Trust, nor has it arranged for any advance of funding for them. This appears to be a mistake made by the auditors on the financial statements of the Trust. The EFA is urgently pursuing this apparent anomaly with the Trust and their auditors.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Halton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 27 February 2017 to Question 65091, why page 30 of Sandymoor Free School's annual report and financial statement for the year ending 31 August 2016 includes reference to a deficit of £522,760.
Answered by Edward Timpson
The Education Funding Agency has not been approached by the Trust and has not agreed to provide advance funding.
The financial statements ending 31 August 2016 show a cumulative carry forward surplus of £173,401. We are looking into the reference to a deficit of £522,760 and we will seek clarification from the Trust on the issues raised.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Halton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to page 15 of Sandymoor Free School's annual report and financial statement for the year ending 31 August 2016, for what reasons that school received advanced funding from the Education Funding Agency; and what the amount of that advanced funding was.
Answered by Edward Timpson
The Education Funding Agency has not been approached by the Trust and has not agreed to provide advance funding.
The financial statements ending 31 August 2016 show a cumulative carry forward surplus of £173,401. We are looking into the reference to a deficit of £522,760 and we will seek clarification from the Trust on the issues raised.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Halton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the level of financial deficit of Sandymoor Free School in Runcorn was for the last year for which financial accounts were submitted.
Answered by Edward Timpson
We have no concerns regarding financial management at Sandymoor Free School and the Trust does not have a financial deficit.
On educational attainment, whilst the school received a good judgement from Ofsted in January 2014 it remains an academy of concern. The Progress 8 score in summer 2016 was -1.1 which is significantly below the LA average of 0.19 and the national average of 0. Only 33% of pupils achieved Grade C or above in English & maths (LA: 60.2%, National: 59.3%).
The pension deficit of the Trust for 2015/16 is £295,000.
The latest published financial statements for Sandymoor Free School 2015/16 show a cumulative carry forward surplus of £197,632.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Halton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the pension deficit carried by Sandymoor Free School in Runcorn is.
Answered by Edward Timpson
We have no concerns regarding financial management at Sandymoor Free School and the Trust does not have a financial deficit.
On educational attainment, whilst the school received a good judgement from Ofsted in January 2014 it remains an academy of concern. The Progress 8 score in summer 2016 was -1.1 which is significantly below the LA average of 0.19 and the national average of 0. Only 33% of pupils achieved Grade C or above in English & maths (LA: 60.2%, National: 59.3%).
The pension deficit of the Trust for 2015/16 is £295,000.
The latest published financial statements for Sandymoor Free School 2015/16 show a cumulative carry forward surplus of £197,632.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Halton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of the financial management and educational attainment at Sandymoor Free School in Runcorn.
Answered by Edward Timpson
We have no concerns regarding financial management at Sandymoor Free School and the Trust does not have a financial deficit.
On educational attainment, whilst the school received a good judgement from Ofsted in January 2014 it remains an academy of concern. The Progress 8 score in summer 2016 was -1.1 which is significantly below the LA average of 0.19 and the national average of 0. Only 33% of pupils achieved Grade C or above in English & maths (LA: 60.2%, National: 59.3%).
The pension deficit of the Trust for 2015/16 is £295,000.
The latest published financial statements for Sandymoor Free School 2015/16 show a cumulative carry forward surplus of £197,632.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Halton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average funding per pupil has been in each secondary school in Halton in the last 12 months for which figures are available.
Answered by Nick Gibb
School-level figures for spending per pupil are published annually. The most recent figures are available at: https://www.compare-school-performance.service.gov.uk/download-data (for maintained schools in financial year 2015-16, select: a) the academic year 2015 to 2016; b) data for All of England; and c) Spend per pupil (full dataset)), and at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/income-and-expenditure-in-academies-in-england-2014-to-2015 (for academy schools in academic year 2014/15).
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Halton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the cost to the public purse has been to date of the area-based review of post-16 education in the Liverpool City Region.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Area reviews are designed to deliver a further education system that meets the economic and educational needs of areas, whilst also ensuring the long term sustainability of colleges to support productivity. The Department and its agencies are undertaking this work without any additional staffing. Additional costs have, therefore, been minimal. Where they have arisen, they have been met by reprioritising existing resources. This has included providing access to additional advice and support from the Further Education and Sixth Form College Commissioners and their teams.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Halton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the cost to the public purse has been to date of the area-based reviews of post-16 education in England.
Answered by Robert Halfon
Area reviews are designed to deliver a further education system that meets the economic and educational needs of areas, whilst also ensuring the long term sustainability of colleges to support productivity. The Department and its agencies are undertaking this work without any additional staffing. Additional costs have, therefore, been minimal. Where they have arisen, they have been met by reprioritising existing resources. This has included providing access to additional advice and support from the Further Education and Sixth Form College Commissioners and their teams.