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Expenditure on School Education in Scotland, 2006-07

This document gives the figures for local authority spending on school education in the financial year 2006-07.

The main findings are :-

• Gross revenue expenditure on primary education was £1.7 billion, a four per cent increase from 2005-06 (1.5 per cent in real terms). Expenditure was £4,403 per pupil, an increase of £265 per pupil.
• Gross revenue expenditure on secondary education was £1.9 billion, a five per cent increase (2.2 per cent in real terms). Expenditure was £6,120 per pupil, an increase of £349 per pupil.
• Gross revenue expenditure on special education, both in special and mainstream schools, was £464 million. This was an increase of two per cent (a drop of 0.8 per cent in real terms). This equates to £710 per 5-15 year old* in the population.
• Pre-school education expenditure of £298 million and other revenue expenditure of about £240 million resulted in a total local authority education expenditure of £4.6 billion. This was a four per cent increase from 2005-06 (1.5 per cent in real terms).
• Capital expenditure not funded from revenue on primary and secondary schools was £369 million, the equivalent of £530 per pupil. This was an increase per pupil of 32 per cent, or £134 per pupil. This does not include PPP projects.
• Capital expenditure not funded from revenue on special education was £16.6 million. This amount has more than doubled in each of the last two years. This does not include PPP projects.
• £2.9 billion of expenditure was devolved to head teachers in 2006-07, a five per cent increase on 2005-06.

(*amended at 12:30 on 8th February)

UNDERSTANDING THESE STATISTICS

1. The expenditure figures set out in this publication are defined as follows:

• Tables 1.1, 1.2, 2.1-4.2 are total local authority gross expenditure, irrespective of whether the income is from central government grants, specific grants, sales, fees and charges ( e.g. school meals) and lottery grants. It excludes loan charges payments. Section 5 gives net figures rather than gross.
• The totals include "revenue contributions to capital" ( RCC) and "support services". These are single items for the whole education budget which are apportioned by local authorities to each of the sub-services (primary, secondary, etc.). RCCs are revenue funding used to contribute to capital expenditure and support services are the costs of administration support to the education department from the council's central administration e.g. by providing office space or payroll administration.
• These figures are also being published in a slightly different form by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accounting ( CIPFA) Scotland in the Rating Review Actuals 2006-07.
• In Tables 2.1 to 4.2 there is an adjustment made to account for inter-authority and intra-authority transfers i.e. the total spend in Scotland is slightly less than the sum of the 32 councils' gross spend as some give money to other councils for the provision of services and both show it as an expenditure item. Similarly individual education services recharge some costs to other accounts of the local authority. This avoids double counting but has not been apportioned to each of the spend categories, as it is supplied as a single figure.
• Real terms increases have been calculated using the UKGDP deflator.

Central administration

2. When recording service expenditure, local authorities follow guidelines set out by CIPFA. From 1 April 2002, the Best Value Accounting Code of Practice ( BVACoP) was implemented across Scotland for Education expenditure analysis. Under this new guidance central administration costs, which were previously reported as a separate item, are now reported under the various sectors and services which rely on them. This means that figures for 2002-03 onwards are not comparable with previous years.

PPP projects

3. PPP projects are initially funded by the private sector, with local authorities financing them over future years. The initial cost of building projects funded in this way will therefore not appear in the capital expenditure figures in this publication, but will lead to an increase in the revenue spend in future years.

Devolved to schools

4. As a result of the implementation of the new code of practice for 2002-03 (see Note 2) outturn expenditure from 2002-03 onwards is classified as either (a) devolved to head teachers (Individual School Budgets), or (b) centrally held and managed by local authorities. Data are published in table 5.1 and 5.2.

5. Guidance has also been issued stating which categories of expenditure can reasonably be devolved to head teachers. Table 5.1 however contains all categories of expenditure, and so the percentage obtained by simply dividing Table 5.2 by Table 5.1 would underestimate the relevant measure.

Scottish Executive spending on education

6. The Executive did not set the amount to be spent on school education, but funded local authorities who set their own budgets for different services. Local authority expenditure is funded mainly from the central government Revenue Support Grant ( RSG), but also from business rates and their own council tax receipts. The Executive calculated GAE (generally speaking, a formula-based allocation of funding proportional to need), and this was met from RSG, council tax and redistributed business rates. However GAE, while having an education element in its calculation, was not ring-fenced. Local authorities could decide themselves how much they wish to spend on education relative to other services, and also had the option of raising more council tax than that assumed in the calculation of RSG. The Executive also funded other aspects of education through direct grants, much of which is also included in these figures as it is spent by local authorities, however this accounted for only a small proportion of local authority expenditure.

Per pupil calculations

7. Expenditure per pupil in the primary and secondary sectors was calculated using the relevant school rolls for primary and secondary pupils. However the reported expenditure may exclude some elements of spend on pupils with additional support needs, as this is recorded under special education.

8. It is not possible to calculate expenditure per pupil in special education. Expenditure in this category includes additional support for pupils in mainstream schools as well as funding of special schools, and in some cases covers funding for pupils in neighbouring authorities' special schools or additional funding of their support in their mainstream schools. It is therefore not possible to identify either the total expenditure or the correct number of pupils to which the expenditure relates. A figure per child in the population (not just those with additional support needs) has been given in order to track any changes in reporting practices between mainstream spend and special education spend.

9. Categories in the maps have been set at five per cent above and below the Scotland average, with a fourth category for authorities over 50% above the Scotland average. The values shown in the key are the ranges of the actual authority values within each category.

General

10. Figures are rounded separately and may consequently not sum to the total figure.

11. The following symbols are used:

12. This is a National Statistics publication. National Statistics are produced to high professional standards set out in the National Statistics Code of Practice. They undergo regular quality assurance reviews to ensure that they meet customer needs. They are produced free from any political interference.

13. Statistical tables are available through the following link http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00640

Figures for expenditure on other services are available through the following link http://www.scotland.gov.uk/stats/bulletins/00642

Enquiries

14. The report was edited by Mal Cooke, Carrie Graham and Raymond Sloan.

15. Public enquiries (non-media) about the information contained in this News Release should be addressed to Mal Cooke, Statistician, Scottish Government Education Directorate, Room 1-B, Victoria Quay, Edinburgh EH6 6QQ. Telephone 0131 244 1689 or e-mail school.stats@scotland.gsi.gov.uk.

16. Media enquiries about the information in this News Release should be addressed to: Alison Gilfillan: 0131 244 5193

Statistical Publication Notice
8 ^th February 2008

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