Academies: Finance
(asked on 6th June 2016) - View Source
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 6 June 2016 to Question 38393, what estimate she has made of the total amount awarded to schools in pre-opening support grants in each month in (a) 2011-12 and (b) 2012-13.
The Department spent £132.2 million to support schools to become academies over the 2011-12 and 2012-13 financial years. Further details are in the table below:
Month | Financial Year & Costs (£) | |
| 2011-12 | 2012-13 |
April | 3,024,083 | 0 |
May | 4,318,836 | 5,882,474 |
June | 7,178,835 | 4,408,560 |
July | 4,729,951 | 6,799,528 |
August | 6,025,674 | 4,702,531 |
September | 9,018,053 | 1,617,852 |
October | 8,028,855 | 6,736,111 |
November | 5,298,198 | 3,997,178 |
December | 5,969,589 | 5,754,346 |
January | 5,612,638 | 8,067,316 |
February | 3,396,016 | 5,059,683 |
March | 4,594,872 | 11,957,148 |
Year Total | 67,195,600 | 64,982,727 |
There are a number of factors which can influence the amount spent each month, including the profile of the projects for which payments have been made. For example, converter projects would receive the standard £25k support grant whilst sponsored projects receive an additional school improvement grant. The current sponsored grant rates can be found on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/511128/sponsored_academies_funding_advice_for_sponsors.pdf.
Seasonal variation can also be a key factor, as a number of schools prefer to convert at the beginning of a new term. This could see spikes in payment a number of months before planned opening.