The Financing of Maintained Schools (England) Regulations 2002

Differential funding

15.—(1) A local education authority shall use factors or criteria which differentiate between different categories or descriptions of schools in so far as the functions of the governing bodies of those schools justify such differentiation but may not otherwise do so except as required or expressly permitted by these Regulations.

(2) A local education authority shall use factors or criteria which differentiate between a school and other schools of the same category or description if such differentiation is justified by reference to the choice that that school’s governing body have made as to the inclusion in their school’s budget share of funding in respect of expenditure of the kinds referred to in paragraphs 20(a) and (b), 34 or 41 of Schedule 1 to these Regulations.

(3) A local education authority are not required to use factors or criteria in their formula which differentiate between—

(a) primary and secondary schools, and special schools;

(b) schools whose pupils are in different age ranges,

but they may do so.

(4) If a local education authority choose to use a particular factor or criteria to delegate funding to all or some of the schools which they maintain, and a school which it is proposed to discontinue during the financial year did not receive funding in accordance with that factor or criteria in the financial year beginning on 1st April 2001, then this regulation shall not require the local education authority to delegate such funding to that school in accordance with that factor or criteria but they may do so.