Section 52 Statement
It is a statutory duty that LEAs must publish their "budget" and "outturn" statements as and when prescribed in the section 52 regulations. The size of the Schools Budget, and the amounts to be allocated to each factor depend on budget decisions taken by the LEA before the beginning of each financial year, so budget statements are the means of informing schools and the public in general about the funding plans of the LEA.
Budget Statements
The budget statement for the forthcoming year is intended to provide a clear picture of the authority's planned spending:- How much of the whole education budget the LEA intends to spend on items outside the Schools Budget;
- How much the LEA is proposing to retain centrally within the Schools Budget for school services;
- How the formula is working to produce budget shares for each school in the LEA's area.
Outturn Statements
The outturn statement at the end of the year is intended to provide schools, parents and others with an interest in education, with details about school and LEA expenditure.- Provide data for the Departmental Annual Report (DAR);
- Inform policy making;
- Inform the treasury for monitoring purposes;
- Inform Parliament in its role of monitoring the Department's accountability for public funds.