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REVIEW OF DEVOLVED SCHOOL MANAGEMENT: Working Group Report

C SURVEY FINDINGS AND KEY ISSUES

The clear message to emerge from the consultation exercise is that the majority of respondents welcome and utilise DSM as a strategic tool in the process of school planning and development.

Local Authorities were asked to identify the most significant strengths of their DSM schemes; the development of the quality of decision-making emerged as a key strength. Individual schools were also asked to consider the success of DSM in relation to the enhancement of decision-making at local level; this too provided evidence to suggest that the aims of this key principle had been met. Of all 1,622 respondents, 92% reported DSM as having been successful in terms of improving decision-making at a local level.

In terms of improving decision-making, the analysis provided by System Three Research concludes that DSM is considered as a success irrespective of school sector, size of the school roll or geographic location.

It was anticipated that the introduction of DSM would improve the quality of education provided in schools across Scotland. The evidence gathered confirms that the majority of respondents (91%) felt that DSM led to an improvement in the management of teaching and learning in their school.

A breakdown of the evidence provided with respect to decision-making and the management of teaching and learning is provided at Figure 1.

However, against this very conclusive response it is appropriate to add that the evidence provided suggests that a small number of Local Authorities were significantly less positive in these areas. The evidence for this is provided in the System Three Research - Survey of Head Teachers report.

Recommendations

The Group recommends that the following action is taken to build confidence of existing DSM schemes and to raise awareness of the beneficial links with the School Development Plan and school-wide developments:

Local Authorities should:

• Carry out a review of their existing DSM schemes so that resource requirements and management arrangements reflect the recommendations found in "Time for teaching - Improving Administration in schools"² and the "Teaching Profession for the 21st Century" agreement.³

- Recommendation 1 - target for completion April 2003.

Schools should:

• Carry out a review of consultation procedures to ensure that teaching staff, non-teaching staff, pupils, parents/guardians, School Board members and Parent/teacher organisations are aware of DSM and its links with the SDP. - Recommendation 2 - target for completion August 2003.

At the forefront of the thinking, which supported the introduction of DSM was the belief that it would augment the responsiveness, flexibility and accountability of school management and in doing so, improve the delivery of education. Research gathered from the Local Authority questionnaire revealed that many respondents thought the flexibility provided to Head Teachers had helped them meet the policy objectives of this principle.

The school questionnaire survey results suggest that generally DSM schemes are viewed positively in this respect. The majority of respondents (83%) reported that their particular schemes provided sufficient flexibility to meet changing needs and priorities at a local level.

Figure 2: Level of confidence in DSM providing flexibility to meet local requirements, by school sector and size of school roll (%)

Source: System Three Research

This analysis provided by System Three Research reveals that Head Teachers of larger schools were less confident than their colleagues working in smaller schools and that confidence levels varied across the country. It is also appropriate to add that respondents who are confident their particular scheme provides flexibility are more likely than others to consider DSM as successful in terms of improving decision-making and the management of teaching and learning.

Recommendations

The Group as means of ensuring that DSM schemes continue to allow schools to respond quickly to changing needs and priorities recommend:

Local Authorities should:

• Ensure that there is a more strategic approach to DSM which allows schools maximum flexibility to respond quickly to changing priorities and the opportunity to manage budgets at a local level to best suit individual school requirements. - Recommendation 3 - target for completion Autumn 2002.

In order to establish if this particular DSM principle had been met it was considered appropriate to ask Local Authorities and schools to provide information about the policies which underpinned the devolved budgets. Circular 6/93 placed a requirement on local authorities to devolve decision-making of at least 80% of school level costs i.e. costs of staff (both teaching and non-teaching), furniture, fixtures and fittings, property related costs and supplies and services.

However, while the analysis of the Local Authority questionnaire established that the most common level of devolved budget was between 83-85%, approximately 42% of Head Teachers reported that they were uncertain about this. This suggests that Local Authorities should ensure that Head Teachers are provided with regular information regarding the devolution of school budgets, and that this should be in an easily understandable format. Similarly differences in practice also emerged with regard to which budget headings should be devolved; arrangements for carrying forward budget surpluses and deficits and virement flexibilities among budget headings did not appear to be understood sufficiently clearly, even at the level of individual authorities. Only in a small number of Local Authorities have all respondents had the opportunity to carry forward full surplus budgets. In many cases the carry forward of delegated budget surpluses/deficits is for planned circumstances.

Budgetary management and constraints

Survey information revealed that there were variations in Head Teachers' knowledge and understanding of DSM. Criticisms from Head Teachers generally fell into two categories. First, some Head Teachers were concerned that the budgets devolved to them were purely of an administrative nature, providing little opportunity for real autonomy on financial matters. Examples of this were school accounts for rates, energy and budgets for repair and maintenance which tied the school to contracts with the local authority Direct Labour Organisation. Secondly, constraints set by local authorities on DSM schemes on virement across budget headings and the carry over of surpluses/deficits were also mentioned frequently as barriers to financial autonomy. It is also relevant to note that a significant number of Local Authorities considered that changes currently being made to DSM schemes, to accommodate the introduction of three-year budgeting, would increase flexibilities at local level, allowing schools the opportunity to plan projects over three years. Figure 3 provides a summary of the information received from Local Authorities with regard to the percentage of budget devolved to schools.

Representatives of the two parent bodies (Scottish School Boards Association and Scottish Parent Teachers Council) reflected broad support for the current arrangements. There was no desire for increased parental involvement but both organisations felt that increased information was needed to assist parents understand how the procedures operate. They were in agreement with the views of Head Teachers regarding concern about aspects of budgetary devolution which did not carry real responsibility.

Resource Implications

It was envisaged in Circular 6/93 that the overall resource implications of DSM would be broadly neutral in the longer term, with any additional costs incurred at school level being offset by savings in school administration within local authorities. However, the survey results to establish the number of full-time equivalent staff employed specifically to operate DSM procedures, provided a wide-range of views. This wide range of responses alerted the Group to the possibility that respondents may have had interpreted the questions in the questionnaire differently. Further investigations by the Group to establish the number of full-time equivalent staff employed specifically to operate DSM procedures, secured what is considered a more accurate picture. This information is provided in Table Figure 3A below.

However, a small number of Local Authorities seem uncertain about the numbers of full-time equivalent staff they employed specifically to operate DSM. The Group considers that all Local Authorities should have accurate information on the numbers of full-time equivalent staff employed in this area and recommend that this matter be given urgent attention.

Against the background of complexities detailed in this section it is difficult to establish what progress has been made in meeting this particular DSM principle. There is, however, sufficient evidence to suggest that the steps taken across the country to decentralise responsibility for the efficient use of resources and provide value for money has been well received by some schools which, in turn, has provided good results and examples of good practice (see page 18).

Circular 6/93 established a target of 80% for devolved school budgets. The group believes that the revised arrangements that include PFI/PPP contracts requires that this objective be reviewed. The group would recommend that, in every instance where the Head Teacher has responsibility for decision-making, the corresponding budget should be devolved fully to school level. It would be appropriate to identify separately all other budgets at school level.

Recommendations

Given the survey results, the Group considers that there is scope for improvements in this particular area and the following recommendations are made.

The Scottish Executive should:

• Review the need for a target percentage of devolved school budgets in light of the recommendations made within this report. - Recommendation 4 - target for completion Summer 2002.

Local Authorities should:

• Provide schools with funding stability through three-year budgeting to assist longer-term planning. - Recommendation 5 - target for completion Autumn 2003.
• Provide schools with clear DSM guidelines, which set out management responsibilities, budget allocations, virement procedures and carry forward arrangements in line with council financial policies and procedures. - Recommendation 6 - target for completion August 2003.

• Ensure that schools are given full budgetary provision for all aspects for which they have responsibility. The principle should be that funding in full should be made available to schools for these purposes. Recommendation 7 - target for completion August 2003.
• Undertake an urgent review to establish the number of full-time equivalent staff employed specifically to operate DSM and arrange for this information to be updated annually. Recommendation 8 - target for completion December 2001.

Schools should:

• Through the utilisation of three-year budgeting, linked to school development plans, deploy resources to ensure a continuing improvement in standards. - Recommendation 9 - target for completion 2002-03.
• Set and agree at annual intervals their Local Authority financial targets, major spending proposals and the procedures required to achieve these improvements. - Recommendation 10 - target for completion 2002-03.
• Undertake budget monitoring at regular intervals and ensure that their monitoring complies with Local Authority financial procedures. - Recommendation 11 - commencing January 2002.

Local Authorities and Schools should:

• Develop an integrated approach for monitoring and evaluating DSM schemes, providing regular meetings to check progress towards annual targets and longer-term projects. Regular budget monitoring should be a feature of the Local Authorities role; in addition, Head Teachers should have an opportunity to discuss how their budget strategy relates to their development priorities with a senior officer of the authority at least annually. - Recommendation 12 - commencing January 2002.

There would be value in reminding schools, at least annually, of the basis of the DSM procedures to avoid any unnecessary confusion.

So many factors affect morale that it is extremely difficult to quantify with any accuracy if the introduction of DSM has raised the morale of Head Teachers and their staff. What can be concluded from the research evidence is that the introduction of DSM has been generally well received by Head Teachers who welcome the opportunity to become more involved at a school level in budgetary decisions, which impact on the everyday delivery of education. The increased consultation regarding school budget decision-making has been welcomed by teacher organisations.

Finally, with respect to the measurement and analysis of progress made towards these four specific DSM key principles, System Three Research invited Local Authorities to consider the four principles and rank them in order of effectiveness. The following result was established:

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