The Education Reform(Northern Ireland) Order 1989

Schemes: provision for financial delegation

50.—(1) A scheme shall include provision for requiring, in the case of—

(a) each secondary school required to be covered in any financial year by the scheme; and

(b) each primary school which—

(i) is required to be covered by the scheme in any financial year; and

(ii) is specified, or is of a class or description specified, by regulations,

the delegation by the board concerned to the Board of Governors of the school of the management of the school’s budget share for that year.

(2) Subject to Article 53(6), in the case of any relevant school in respect of which financial delegation is required for any financial year under a scheme, it shall be the duty of the board to put at the disposal of the Board of Governors of the school in respect of that year a sum equal to the school’s budget share for that year to be spent for the purposes of the school.

(3) References in this Part to the delegation requirement under any scheme are references to any provision included in the scheme by virtue of paragraph (1).

(4) The application of the delegation requirement under a scheme in relation to any new school is subject to Article 52(8)(a).

(5) A scheme may provide for the delegation by the board concerned to the Board of Governors of any school to which the delegation requirement under the scheme does not apply in any financial year of the management of the school’s budget share for that year.

(6) The Board of Governors of any school which has a delegated budget shall be entitled, subject to any provision made by or under the scheme, to spend any sum made available to it in respect of the school’s budget share for any financial year as it thinks fit for the purposes of the school.

(7) Regulations under paragraph (1)(b)(ii) may provide that any scheme shall have effect with such modifications as appear to the Department to be appropriate in consequence of any provision made in those regulations.