Governor urges council to clawback cash from schools with 'massive surpluses'

This week the council’s schools forum was given an update on the school funding formula for 2019-20, which is expected to provide a funding boost.

The additional money is part of the Education Secretary Justine Greening’s 2017 announcement that an extra £1.3 billion funding for schools between 2018 and 2020.

Stephen Webb, the council’s business support manager for people’s services, said current funding formula figures are of “limited use” as they are based on historic data, with the actual figures expected in December.

Frank Taylor, governor at Eccleston Lane Primary School, asked whether the council would utilise its clawback mechanism in light of the expected extra funding.

The clawback mechanism enables the council to deduct money from schools that exceed the threshold of money it is allowed to keep in its reserves.

Mr Taylor said: “If there’s more funding to go around there’s more of a propensity for other schools to stockpile and not deal with the initial problem which was, some schools are stockpiling, and some schools have no BAU (business as usual) resources.”

Greg Tyrer, the council’s head of finance, systems support and procurement, told members this week that the Department for Education’s (DfE) current stance is that local authorities should not intervene with an individual school’s balances unless it is “considerably excessive”.

He said this was around 40 per cent of a school’s actual budget.

Mr Taylor replied: “There are school there that are literally on the bones of their backside and they’re being encouraged to balance the books when there are other schools that are serial surplus hoarders.

“40 per cent – that is a hell of a lot on a school budget.”

The schools forum was told in July that schools that had exceeded the threshold in 2017-18 would be allowed to keep the extra cash.

Professor Sarah O’Brien, the council’s strategic director of people’s services, reserves the right to exclude any school from the clawback process under exceptional circumstances.

Mr Taylor said: “Why have a clawback mechanism when you’re not going to use it?

“There’s clearly a need to use it. There’re schools with massive surpluses.

“Don’t promise a vehicle that can’t leave the garage. It just gives everybody false hope if they’re struggling.”

Mr Tyrer told members the DfE would likely not consider a 14 per cent surplus threshold as an “excessive balance”.

Bill Bradbury, chairman of governors at Billinge Chapel End Primary School, said the 40 per cent threshold was “ridiculous”.

Mr Taylor added: “If there are certain schools that are consistently and persistently storing high surpluses at the end of the year – there’s something wrong.”