The Department for Education has advised that the Consistent Financial Reporting guidance does not permit schools to transfer revenue to capital in advance of spend. In order to accommodate this advice the Local Management of Schools scheme requires amendment to introduce a new category for committed revenue balances and to exclude these balances from the 20% balance clawback scheme for the financial year 2022-23 and future financial years. Local authority maintained school members are asked to approve the changes to the LMS scheme.

The strategic finance manager (SFM) presented a report on proposed amendments to the local management of schools scheme to reflect advice from the Department for Education (DfE) that schools are not permitted to transfer revenue monies to capital in advance of spend. A new category for committed balances would be created and this would be excluded from the 20% clawback criteria. Governing bodies would need to provide evidence from minutes of any transfers to the local authority each year.

No objections to the proposed changes had been received following publication in the Spotlight magazine to schools.

It was resolved that:

Local authority maintained school members approve the amendment to the Local Management of Schools Scheme, as set out in the report.

(Voting on this item was restricted to local authority school members only).