Capital finance
Funding primary school reorganisations requires:
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good capital planning by local authorities
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early discussion with the DCSF and other government departments about options for funding individual schemes and the link to the urban regeneration agenda
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willingness to put local resources into local priority schemes.
LAs have to decide the scale of investment they can afford in any reorganisation they are considering. The most significant decision is the extent to which you invest in new school buildings.
To fund school reorganisation schemes you will need to bring together capital from a range of sources including:
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LA and school formulaic allocations
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planning gains
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capital for voluntary-aided schools
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capital receipts
You may also need to look at sources of capital for extended schools.
From 2005/06, PFI credits are no longer available for LAs to fund primary school reorganisations. You may, however, consider public-private partnership arrangements for major primary schemes.
DCSF published proposals for the every child matters primary capital programme in March 2006. The long-term aim is to enable local authorities to rebuild or significantly improve at least half of all primary schools so that they are fully equipped for 21st century learning, at the heart of the community, with children's services in reach of every family. All primary schools will be eligible but it will be for authorities to determine how to prioritise investment.
The following 23 regional pathfinders have been selected to lead the development of innovative approaches to planning, procurement and sustainability. These are:
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Barnet
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Birmingham
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Bradford
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Cornwall
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Darlington
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Ealing
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Essex
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Hampshire
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Hertfordshire
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Kent
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Knowsley
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Manchester
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Newham
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North Tyneside
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Nottingham City
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Rotherham
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Sheffield
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Solihull
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Somerset
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Swindon
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Torbay
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Waltham Forest
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Wigan
The pathfinders will share an additional £150 million of new capital investment in 2008-09.
All local authorities will benefit from a share of additional resources of £500 million per annum from 2009-10 to invest in their primary schools. Subject to future government spending plans, we anticipate that this level of investment will be sustained over 15 years.
The Department is still working on the timescales for the next steps for the programme: preparation and approval of strategic plans (this is a draft overview which may be subject to change):
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October 2007: DCSF issues guidance on preparing Primary Strategy for Change
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April 2008: deadline for submission of strategic plans (July for pathfinders' test versions)
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June 2008: DCSF assessment of strategic plans
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July 2008: DCSF feeds back to authorities
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From June 2008: if needed, further iterations
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From April 2009: investment begins
The DCSF will announce details of this programme and the allocation of funding in due course. We will update the toolkit to help local authorities and schools decide how they might use this investment as part of their strategy for managing falling primary falls.
Last updated: 31 October 2007
