The Department for Education (DfE) has announced that it will implement the proposals for reforming how local authorities' school improvement functions are funded following a consultation late in 2021
The local authority school improvement monitoring and brokering grant, forecast to be around £42million in 2022-23 will be reduced by 50% for the financial year 2022-2023, prior to full removal in the following financial year
Local authorities will be allowed to deduct funding for their core school improvement activities from maintained school budgets to seek to cover the shortfall
During the consultation, local authorities feared that such 'top-slicing' could meet local opposition, but the DfE has said that it will 'reserve the right to permit de-delegation against the wishes of a school forum'
