03/11/2005
'Minor error' made in school budgets
The Department of Education has written to advise schools that it has made a "minor error" in calculating certain school budgets for this year.
The error occurred in the calculation of teachers' salaries protection factor, a formula which is designed to help smaller schools with experienced teachers, whose salary costs are higher.
Consequently, some larger schools have been allocated budgets of up to £13,000 more than they should have received, while some smaller schools have been allocated up to £6,000 less than the formula dictates.
Apologising for the error, a spokesperson for the department said steps had been taken to correct the situation and that every school would receive a written explanation.
The spokesperson also confirmed that schools that had received more than their share would not be asked to repay, but how this overspend, estimated to be in excess of £1 million will be covered was not revealed.
"While we recognise that some schools have received slightly more funding than was intended, we do not think it would be fair to expect them to repay, as they will by now have made decisions based on the budgets that were announced last February," the spokesperson said.
The Education Minister has been briefed on the problem and has made very clear the importance she attaches to ensuring that schools receive allocations to cover their shortfalls as a matter of urgency.
The Department also confirmed that it remained committed to the Local Management of Schools system, which allocates money directly to schools and allows Boards of Governors to take spending decisions at local level.
The Department said it had reviewed its own procedures, putting in place new checks to ensure that such an error cannot recur.
(SP)
The error occurred in the calculation of teachers' salaries protection factor, a formula which is designed to help smaller schools with experienced teachers, whose salary costs are higher.
Consequently, some larger schools have been allocated budgets of up to £13,000 more than they should have received, while some smaller schools have been allocated up to £6,000 less than the formula dictates.
Apologising for the error, a spokesperson for the department said steps had been taken to correct the situation and that every school would receive a written explanation.
The spokesperson also confirmed that schools that had received more than their share would not be asked to repay, but how this overspend, estimated to be in excess of £1 million will be covered was not revealed.
"While we recognise that some schools have received slightly more funding than was intended, we do not think it would be fair to expect them to repay, as they will by now have made decisions based on the budgets that were announced last February," the spokesperson said.
The Education Minister has been briefed on the problem and has made very clear the importance she attaches to ensuring that schools receive allocations to cover their shortfalls as a matter of urgency.
The Department also confirmed that it remained committed to the Local Management of Schools system, which allocates money directly to schools and allows Boards of Governors to take spending decisions at local level.
The Department said it had reviewed its own procedures, putting in place new checks to ensure that such an error cannot recur.
(SP)
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