6.1 General provision

The Authority is authorised to charge the budget share of a school without the consent of the governing body only in circumstances expressly permitted by the scheme (6.2), and requires authorities to consult with schools on any intended changes, and notify schools when it has been done. The Authority is not permitted to levy a charge where the statutory responsibility rests elsewhere and therefore the Authority cannot incur a liability. For the avoidance of doubt the Authority may de-delegate funding for permitted services without the express permission of the governing body, provided this has been approved by the appropriate phase of the Schools’ Forum.

All charges for salaries and wages of school-based staff to school budget shares will wherever possible be based on actual rather than estimated costs.

Schools may wish to draw to the attention of the Authority expenses they feel they have incurred as a result of the acts or omissions of the Authority.

6.2 Circumstances in which charges may be made

The circumstances under which charges may be applicable are outlined below:
i. Where premature retirement costs have been incurred without the prior written agreement of the Authority to bear such costs (the amount chargeable being only the excess over any amount agreed by the Authority);
ii. Other expenditure incurred to secure resignations where there is good reason to charge this to the school (see Annex D);
iii. Awards by courts and industrial tribunals against the Authority or out of court settlements, arising from acts or omissions by the governing body or head teacher contrary to the Authority’s advice
iv. Expenditure by the Authority in carrying out health and safety work or capital expenditure for which the Authority is liable where funds have been delegated to the governing body for such work, but the governing body has failed to carry out the required work;
v. Expenditure by the Authority incurred in making good defects in building work funded by capital spending from budget shares, where the premises are owned by the Authority or the school has voluntary controlled status;
vii.Recovery of monies due from a school for services provided to the school, where a dispute over the monies due has been referred to a disputes procedure set out in a service level agreement, and the result is that monies are owed by the school to the Authority;
viii.Recovery of penalties imposed on the Authority by the Board of Inland Revenue, the Contributions Agency or HM Customs and Excise, Teachers Pensions, the Environment Agency or other regulatory authorities as a result of school acts or omissions.
ix. Correction of Authority errors in calculating charges to a budget share (eg pension deductions) x. Additional transport costs incurred by the Authority arising from decisions by the governing body on the length of the school day, and failure to notify the Authority of non-pupil days resulting in unnecessary transport costs.
xi. Legal costs which are incurred by the Authority because the governing body did not accept the advice of the Authority.
xii.Costs of necessary health and safety training for staff employed by the Authority, where funding for training had been delegated but the necessary training not carried out.
xiii.Compensation paid to a lender where a school enters into a contract for borrowing or leasing beyond its legal powers, and the contract is of no effect, and the full initial cost of any credit arrangement the school enters into without the prior written agreement of the Chief Finance Officer.
xiv.Cost of work done in respect of teacher pension remittance and records for schools using non-Authority payroll contractors, the charge to be the minimum needed to meet the cost of the Authority’s compliance with its statutory obligations.
xv.Costs incurred by the Authority in securing provision specified in an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) where the governing body of a school fails to secure such provision despite the delegation of funds in respect of low cost high incidence SEN and/or specific funding for a pupil with High Needs. xvi.Costs incurred by the Authority due to submission by the school of incorrect data.
xvii. Recovery of amounts spent from specific grants on ineligible purposes.
xviii. Costs incurred by the Authority as a result of the governing body being in breach of the terms of a contract.
xix. Costs incurred by the Authority or another school as a result of a school withdrawing from a cluster arrangement, for example where this has funded staff providing services across the cluster.
xx.Costs incurred by the authority in administering admission appeals, where the local authority is the admissions authority and the funding for admission appeals has been delegated to all schools as part of their formula allocation.