Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Widnes and Halewood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of funding of schools in the Halton constituency.
Answered by Nick Gibb
School funding is at its highest ever level with core funding for schools and high needs having risen from almost £41 billion in 2017-18 to £42.4 billion this year and £43.5 billion in 2019-20.
The Department primarily allocates revenue funding for schools at local authority level. Schools in Halton will attract 4.7% more funding, compared to their 2017-18 baselines, under the national funding formula. Local authorities will continue to set local formulae to determine individual schools’ budgets in 2018-19 and 2019-20. It remains the Department’s intention that every school’s budget should be set on the basis of a single, national formula, but the Department believes a period of transition will provide greater stability for schools.
The Department will publish notional funding formula allocations for 2019-20 later this year after updating calculations using the latest autumn census data.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Widnes and Halewood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 16 March 2018 to Question 132253 on Schools: Admissions, whether he has plans to strengthen the provisions of the Schools Admissions Code in respect of siblings.
Answered by Nick Gibb
I refer the hon. Member for Halton to the answer I gave on 16 March 2018 to question 132253.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Widnes and Halewood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Answer of 21 January 2016 to Question 22952 on Schools Admissions, whether he plans to strengthen the position of siblings in school admissions policy.
Answered by Nick Gibb
It is for admissions authorities to decide whether to give priority to siblings in their admissions arrangements, where the school is oversubscribed, and many schools do choose to do this. The Government expects schools to balance prioritising siblings with ensuring places are also available for other local children who do not have a sibling at the school.
The Department wants fair access to a good school place for every pupil. That is why we routinely keep the admissions system under review and seek regular feedback from stakeholders on the system. Any changes to the School Admissions Code will require a full statutory process, including consultation and parliamentary scrutiny.
Asked by: Derek Twigg (Labour - Widnes and Halewood)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 7 March 2017 to Question 66084, on Sandymoor School, if she will provide an update on the reference to a deficit of £522,760.
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 - Widnes and Halewood)
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 - Widnes and Halewood)
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.