Issue - meetings

This paper seeks approval of changes to the City of York Council Local Management of Schools (LMS) scheme prior to it being submitted to the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF).  The scheme has been reviewed and revised to formalise changes introduced following consultation and in response to DCSF guidance.  The changes have been considered by the Schools Forum.

RESOLVED: (i)That the Local Management of Schools (LMS) scheme April 2010 (Annex 1 of the report) be approved by the Executive Member.

(ii)               That the revised LMS scheme be forwarded to the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) for its approval.

REASON:      To ensure that an LMS scheme is in places which sets out the financial relationship between the Council and its maintained schools and which incorporates changes introduced after appropriate consultation and in response to DCSF guidance.

The Executive Member received a report that sought approval of changes to the City of York Council Local Management of Schools (LMS) scheme prior to it being submitted to the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) for approval.  The scheme (as detailed at Annex 1 of the report) had been reviewed and revised to formalise changes introduced following appropriate consultations and in response to DCSF guidance.  The changes had been considered by the Schools Forum at its meeting on 16 June 2009.

The Executive Member sought clarification as to the circumstances in which the Authority may consider issuing a notice of concern to the governing body of any school it maintained.  Officers explained that this option could be considered where, in the opinion of the Chief Finance Officer and the Director of Learning, Culture and Children’s Services, the school had failed to comply with any provisions of the Scheme, or where actions needed to be taken to safeguard the financial position of the local authority or the school.  Any school that was subject to such a notice would be made fully aware of the reasons for this, the action that they were required to take, the timescale in which they must do so and the monitoring arrangements that would be in place. It was envisaged that the circumstances in which the Authority would consider such an option would be very rare. 

At the request of the Executive Member, officers confirmed that the Authority was working with schools on budget planning and that balances were monitored appropriately.

The Executive Member thanked officers for their work in preparing the revised scheme.

RESOLVED: (i)That the Local Management of Schools (LMS) scheme April 2010 (Annex 1 of the report) be approved by the Executive Member.

(ii)               That the revised LMS scheme be forwarded to the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) for its approval¹.

REASON:      To ensure that an LMS scheme is in places which sets out the financial relationship between the Council and its maintained schools and which incorporates changes introduced after appropriate consultation and in response to DCSF guidance.