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Schools: Grants

Answer

Departmental records show that between 2010 and 2017 five schools in Chelmsford constituency received or benefited from specific school improvement grants, and between 2017 and the end of December 2023 ten schools received or benefited from specific school improvement grants.

The following grants have been included in this analysis:

• Regional Academy Growth Fund (RAGF) 2016/17
• Multi-academy Trust Development and Improvement Fund (MDIF) 2018/19
• Trust Capacity Fund (TCaF) - 2019 to date
• Strategic School Improvement Capital Budget (SSICB) - 2016 to date
• Environmental Improvement Grant (EIG) - 2016 to date
• Emergency Strategic Improvement Fund (ESIF) - 2017 to date
• School Improvement offer (SI) - 2018 to 2020
• Trust and School Improvement offer (TSI) – 2021 to date.

The department has also included grants allocated for sponsored academy conversions (2010 to date), as well as grants for transferring academies between trusts (2012 to date) because these grants may include elements for school improvement activities.

The department has limited this analysis to these grants as they can be quantified for some of the time periods requested. The department's policy of retaining financial records for seven years limits access to data before the 2016/17 financial year. Other department grants may contribute less directly to wider school improvement. In addition, many of these and other grants are allocated via academy trusts or other organisations, and so schools may benefit indirectly without being the designated recipient from department. Finally, not all grant programs have been operational throughout the entire period between 2010 and 2023.

For a summary of the grants awarded, and for relevant school-level data, please refer to the tables below:

Table 1: Summary of school improvement grants paid for supporting schools in Chelmsford constituency.

	Number of institutions in receipt of a school improvement grant and their total value
Grant programme	(a) 2010 to 2017	(b) 2017to2023 (to end December 2023)
Regional Academy Growth Fund**	RAGF 2016-2017 2 trusts each with 1 school in Chelmsford*	N/A
Multi-academy Trust Development and Improvement Fund**	N/A*	2 trusts, one with 2 schools and 1 with 1 school in Chelmsford*
Trust Capacity Fund **	N/A*	1 trust with 2 schools in Chelmsford*
Strategic School Improvement Capital Budget	N/A* 2010-2017 None – 2016-17	None
Environmental Improvement Grant	None for 2016-17. Records not available prior to 2016-17.	None
Emergency Strategic Improvement Fund	N/A as fund started in 2017-18	None
Sponsored conversions to academy status	3 academies, totalling £210,000	None
Transfer of an academy	None	None
School Improvement Offer	N/A*	1 school, totalling £1,800
Trust and School Improvement offer	N/A*	4 schools, totalling £16,800

* Grant programme not operating during this period.

** The RAGF, MDIF, and TCAF funds support growth in the capacity of academy trusts to oversee academies. Funding is allocated to trusts, and available data only reflects the total amounts received at the trust level. We are unable to attribute specific portions of the funding awarded under the RAGF, MDIF or TCaF programmes to individual school improvement efforts within any given trust or locality.

Table 2: Value of school improvement grants awarded where it is possible to identify a value attributable to the Chelmsford constituency.

Name of school or trust	Grant name	Year funding allocated or first payment made	Amount paid or allocated
Melbourne Park Primary and Nursery School	Pre-opening sponsored grant	2014	£70,000
Meadgate Primary School	Pre-opening sponsored grant	2013	£70,000
Larkrise Primary School	Pre-opening sponsored grant	2016	£70,000
Newlands Spring Primary School	School Improvement Offer Tier 1	2019	£1,800
South Essex Academy Trust	Trust and School Improvement Offer	2022	£3,000
Bridge Academy Trust	Trust and School Improvement Offer	2022	£1,800
The Chelmsford Learning Partnership	Trust and School Improvement Offer	2023	£6,000
Attain Academy Partnership	Trust and School Improvement Offer	2023	£6,000

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

8165

Session

2023-24

Subjects

Grants Schools

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.parliament.uk