The 21st Century Schools white paper is due to be published next week,but CYP Now has learned it will propose schools should receive moremoney and responsibility for school improvement. Details of how muchthey will receive are yet to be confirmed, but it is understood the movecould see councils give up part of the designated schools grant to allowschools to fund initiatives directly.
John Chowcat, general secretary of children's services union Aspect'said the proposals raised "distinct concerns". One problem is thatschool leaders are under pressure to fund short-term needs, such astemporary staff shortages, which could divert cash from strategicimprovement activities, he warned.
Martin Rogers, policy consultant at the Children's Services Network'said the move could reduce the extent to which councils are heldaccountable for schools. "You cannot whittle down local authorities'ability to do anything and then blame them if things go wrong," hesaid.
But John Dunford, general secretary of the Association of School andCollege Leaders, said schools would use improvement budgets foractivities that chime with Every Child Matters. He said: "Schools wantthe maximum devolved budgets so they can make decisions aboutexpenditure based on local need."
