Dedicated Schools Grant consultation: Mainstream schools document 2025

Maintained Schools Consultation Only

This section provides summary information relating to the maintained schools only elements of the consultation, with further information provided in appendices as indicated.

Executive summary

Local authorities must publish Schemes for Financing Schools, outlining the financial relationship between themselves and the maintained schools in their area. These schemes are governed by statutory guidance under the School Standards and Framework Act 1998, which details mandatory, recommended, and optional inclusions. Updates to the local scheme may occur via directed revisions from the Secretary of State, which must be adopted verbatim, or through local revisions, which require consultation with all maintained schools and approval from relevant Schools Forum members.

The current proposed changes are best described as minor technical updates that should not affect the daily management of school budgets. To ensure transparency and compliance, Norfolk County Council is consulting maintained schools to clarify aspects of the scheme and align it with current national guidance. Any agreed changes will be formally adopted following a review by the maintained Members of Schools Forum, and the updated scheme will be published on the Norfolk Schools website.

The specific proposals under consultation include:

• Clarification of lease arrangements in section 2.8 of Annex J, particularly regarding *IFRS16 leases
• Amendments to section 4.2 allowing the return of non-BMP funds to schools rejoining the Building Maintenance Partnership [BMP], and
• Revisions to Annex K to reflect updated national guidance on responsibilities for redundancy and early retirement costs

*IFRS = International Financial Reporting Standards

12.1. Background

Local authorities are required to publish Schemes for Financing Schools setting out the financial relationship between them and the schools they maintain.

Guidance is provided to authorities listing the items that must, should or may be included, and is issued under the School Standards and Framework Act 1998.

The local scheme is updated in the following circumstances:

• Directed revisions - the Secretary of State may require the revision of part or any scheme. These revisions must be included in the local scheme using the text of the directed revisions
• Local revisions - for changes other than directed revisions, local authorities must consult with all maintained schools in their area and receive approval of Schools Forum members representing maintained schools

The proposed changes within this consultation are minor technical updates that are not expected to impact on the day to day running of schools' budgets.

For reference purposes, the current scheme is available on the Norfolk Schools website.

12.2. Consultation requirements

The Government's statutory guidance Schemes for financing schools - GOV.UK states that, other than for directed revisions, local authorities must consult all maintained schools in their area and receive approval of the Members of their Schools Forum who represent maintained schools.

Therefore, the Local Authority (LA) is consulting with Norfolk's maintained schools on proposed changes as part of the wider autumn Designated School Grant (DSG) consultation with all schools.  This is to enable the LA to provide additional clarification within the scheme or to bring the local scheme into line where wording differs from current national guidance.

The outcomes of this consultation will be reported back for the maintained Members of Schools Forum to agree (or otherwise) and any revisions agreed will then be updated in Norfolk's Scheme for Financing Schools.  An updated version of the document will then be uploaded onto the Norfolk Schools Website.

12.3. Proposed changes

In July 2025 and September 2025, Schools Forum considered the LA's proposal to consult upon changes to the scheme during the DSG Autumn consultation. This included consulting upon the following sections.

Leases - (Local updates) 

The local authority proposes to add further clarification to the wording in section 2.8 of Annex J of the local scheme in respect of leases, further to the changes already made to the scheme in 2024-25, in respect of Norfolk's requirements for IFRS16 leases.

Building Maintenance Fund - (Local updates)

The local authority proposes a change to the scheme in section 4.2 of the local scheme in respect of allowing non-BMP funds to be returned to a school if they opt back into the Building Maintenance Partnership (BMP) fund.

Annex K - Responsibility for redundancy and early retirement costs - (Local updates)

The local authority proposes to update Annex K of the local scheme, based on revised/current wording of the guidance note for responsibilities relating to redundancy and early retirement costs in national guidance.

Please review Appendix A for further information regarding the proposed changes to wording that are being consulted upon, before answering the following questions.