Written question asked by Lindsay Hoyle (Labour) on Thursday, 2 July 2009, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 6 July 2009. It was answered by Lord Coaker (Labour) on Thursday, 9 July 2009 on behalf of the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

Schools: Finance

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families whether he plans to respond to the report of the Audit Commission on improving economy and efficiency in schools; and if he will make a statement.

Answer: I welcome the Audit Commission report "Valuable Lessons: improving economy and efficiency in schools".There are already a range of tools available to help schools make the most effective use of their resources including financial benchmarking, the strategic planning guide, the Financial Management Standard in Schools and the offer of a free one day consultancy visit on improving value for money.The Education Procurement Centre is working with schools to carry out procurement health checks which help to identify where savings can be made. The e-procurement tool OPEN has been developed to help schools buy products online and compare prices of a range of suppliers.The report supports our position on surplus school balances. It is sound financial management for schools to retain a small surplus from year to year, but revenue funding is primarily for teacher and support staff pay and to support the education of children in school. It should not be needed for capital improvement projects given that separate capital funding is available.Schools and authorities must work to reduce high balances over the next two years. If total revenue balances and the excessive balances held by individual schools do not reduce substantially by 2010-11, the Government will consult on further action from 2011-12 to bring the total down.

Secondary information