The School Finance (England) Regulations 2012

Additional arrangements approved by Secretary of State or the schools forum

25.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), on application by a local authority to the Secretary of State for any authorisation or authorisations to determine or redetermine budget shares, the Secretary of State may authorise the authority to determine or redetermine budget shares to such extent as the Secretary of State may specify in accordance with arrangements approved by him in place of the arrangements provided for by these Regulations.

(2) The Secretary of State may not authorise a local authority to determine or redetermine budget shares in the cases referred to in paragraph (3) unless—

(a) the authority have first made an application to their schools forum for such authorisation which has been refused; or

(b) the authority are not required to establish a schools forum for their area.

(3) In determining or redetermining budget shares for schools which they maintain, a local authority may, when calculating the guaranteed funding level in accordance with paragraphs 1-4 of Schedule 4—

(a) replace the figure of 0.985 referred to in paragraphs 2, 3 and 5 of Schedule 4 with a higher figure,

(b) exclude from the redetermined adjusted budget share for the previous funding period any amounts included in the budget share in respect of any of the following factors or criteria—

(i) advanced skills teachers employed at the school,

(ii) the funding of places in primary or secondary schools which the authority have reserved for children with special educational needs,

(iii) any factor specific to a site or school used only in exceptional circumstances, but the circumstances which attracted that factor no longer apply to the school,

(iv) an amount which replicates the cash value or formulaic calculation of any sum paid to the school in the form of a Diploma Formula Grant in an earlier funding period,

(v) any factor or criterion which enables the authority to take into account the particular needs of a proposed school, a school proposals for the establishment of which have not been fully implemented, a school which is the subject of a prescribed alteration within the meaning of regulations made under section 18 of the 2006 Act, a school which is to be discontinued or a school which is to be the subject of a significant change as determined by the authority,

where authorised to do so by their schools forum.

(4) In determining or redetermining budget shares for nursery schools which they maintain or the amounts to be allocated in respect of nursery classes in schools which they maintain, a local authority may disregard regulation 19, where authorised to do so by their schools forum.

(5) Subject to the approval of the schools forum, any authorisations given by the Secretary of State under the 2011 Regulations for the previous funding period may continue to apply in relation to the funding period.

(6) Unless the contrary intention appears in any authorisations given by the schools forum or the Secretary of State or any arrangements approved by the Secretary of State under any previous regulations, such authorisations or arrangements, as the case may be, continue to apply in relation to the funding period, provided the method of calculating the relevant factors or criteria has not changed.