In answer to this recently submitted question
Can the Portfolio Holder for Education clarify if a schools Pupil Deprivation Grant is included as part of its Delegated Budget and therefore must comply with the Powys Scheme for the Financing of Schools?
the Portfolio Holder for Education has given the following answer:
“The Pupil Deprivation grant is included as part of a schools delegated budget, the school is bound by the terms and conditions of the grant and the Scheme for Financing schools which contains the following guidance on grants:
2.12 Grants and central funds
The Authority is authorised to make sums available to schools from central funds, in the form of allocations which are additional to and separate from the schools’ budget shares. Such allocations will be subject to conditions setting out the purpose or purposes for which the funds may be used and, while these conditions need not preclude virement (except where the funding is supported by a specific grant which the Authority itself is not permitted to vire), this should not be carried to the point of assimilating the allocations into the school’s budget share.
Schools are required to maintain their accounting records in such a way as to be able to demonstrate that where appropriate the requirement to spend only on the purpose for which funding is given, and not to vire into the budget share, has been complied with.”
Can I therefore ask the Portfolio Holder for Education to clarify that because the Pupil Deprivation Grant is included as part of a Schools delegated budget it must also comply with regulation 5.2 of the scheme of financing schools and therefore cannot use funds to provide a means of transport for a school?
Minutes:
In answer to this recently submitted question
Can the Portfolio Holder for Education clarify if a schools Pupil Deprivation Grant is included as part of its Delegated Budget and therefore must comply with the Powys Scheme for the Financing of Schools?
The Portfolio Holder for Education has given the following answer:
“The Pupil Deprivation grant is included as part of a schools delegated budget, the school is bound by the terms and conditions of the grant and the Scheme for Financing schools which contains the following guidance on grants :
2.12 Grants and central funds
The Authority is authorised to make sums available to schools from central funds, in the form of allocations which are additional to and separate from the schools’ budget shares. Such allocations will be subject to conditions setting out the purpose or purposes for which the funds may be used and, while these conditions need not preclude virement (except where the funding is supported by a specific grant which the Authority itself is not permitted to vire), this should not be carried to the point of assimilating the allocations into the school’s budget share.
Schools are required to maintain their accounting records in such a way as to be able to demonstrate that where appropriate the requirement to spend only on the purpose for which funding is given, and not to vire into the budget share, has been complied with.”
Can I therefore ask the Portfolio Holder for Education to clarify that because the Pupil Deprivation Grant is included as part of a Schools delegated budget it must also comply with regulation 5.2 of the scheme of financing schools and therefore cannot use funds to provide a means of transport for a school?
Answer from County Councillor Arwel Jones, Portfolio Holder for Education
As stated in the scheme for financing schools the section shown below, 2.12 Grants and central funds, states that monies received through the delegated budget in respect of grants should comply with 2.12 of the scheme, the delegated grant funds should be spent in line with the terms and conditions of the grant. Section 5.2 of the scheme for financing schools and the terms and conditions of pupil deprivation grant allows spend on school activity transport in some cases but not on services which would normally be provided by the authority such as home to school transport.
“2.12 Grants and central funds
The Authority is authorised to make sums available to schools from central funds, in the form of allocations which are additional to and separate from the schools’ budget shares. Such allocations will be subject to conditions setting out the purpose or purposes for which the funds may be used and, while these conditions need not preclude virement (except where the funding is supported by a specific grant which the Authority itself is not permitted to vire), this should not be carried to the point of assimilating the allocations into the school’s budget share.
Schools are required to maintain their accounting records in such a way as to be able to demonstrate that where appropriate the requirement to spend only on the purpose for which funding is given, and not to vire into the budget share, has been complied with.
Schools are required to account for any grant funding at the end of the financial year and/or at the conclusion of the specific funding allocation. Grant funding must be returned to the Authority if not spent in-year or within the period over which schools are allowed to use the funding, if different.
Councillor Price’s supplementary question was “Is the Portfolio Holder content that the delegated decision he made on 8 November to allow a school in the north of the county to use some of its pupil deprivation grant to purchase a minibus with the scheme of the deprivation grant and the scheme for financing school?” In the absence of the Portfolio Holder for Education the Leader would arrange for a response to be prepared and circulated to all members.
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