Revenue Funding
The governing body, in concert with the headteacher, is responsible for determining the strategic priorities for the school’s revenue budget. This means that the governing body is responsible for setting spending levels within the school, including the overall staffing level.
The NGA is represented on the Department for Education working groups considering revenue funding. We will continue to campaign to ensure that sufficient funds are allocated to enable schools to provide the best educational opportunities for all their pupils.
A fundamental principle for the NGA is that all revenue funding should be objectively and equitably distributed.
While accepting that there may be legitimate projects that require governing bodies to hold reserve funds, in the NGA’s view such reserves should be clearly identified and that the holding of uncommitted reserves in excess of the current guidelines (5% of budget for secondary schools and 8% for primaries) is not good practice. Schools Forums have an important role to play in ensuring that local funding is distributed on an equitable basis and are best placed to decide whether the level of an individual school’s balances is acceptable.
On Schools Forums the representatives for the schools’ group should reflect an equal split between headteachers and school governors.
The NGA supports the introduction of the Schools Financial Value Standard (SFVS).
Capital funding
The NGA will continue to campaign for an open and transparent system of capital funding that allows governing bodies to plan for the future needs of their school.