Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to allow (a) local authorities and (b) schools to change the dates on which they receive the Dedicated Schools Grant.

The department provides dedicated schools grant (DSG) allocations to local authorities on a financial year basis, from April to March. That is in line with the financial reporting cycle for all local authorities’ funding streams.

The department has previously consulted on the appetite for changing the funding year for maintained schools, from a financial year to an academic year basis. The responses to the consultation at that time were mixed. One disadvantage, noted by a number of respondents, was that it would lead to increased administrative burdens, since the funding cycle would then differ from the financial reporting cycle which would need to remain on a financial year basis for local authorities.

The consultation is detailed here: https://consult.education.gov.uk/funding-policy-unit/completing-our-reforms-to-the-nff/supporting_documents/Fair%20Funding%20For%20All%20Consultation.pdf.

The consultation response is available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/624ac1168fa8f527729bfb14/Completing_the_reforms_to_the_National_Funding_Formula_-_government_consultation_response_.pdf.

The government remains committed to keeping the school funding system under review to ensure it continues to be fair and responsive to the needs of all schools.