ABSTRACT
Spending on England's schools has been rising in recent years. In secondary schools it is now approximately £5,000 per head including all grants. Head teachers and governors have also gained greater control over their budgets. Many secondary schools have budgets of around £5 million a year, greater than many businesses. Secondary schools could be categorised as medium-sized employers; indeed, in rural areas, they may be the largest local employer. There is more money available for capital building and repair projects, particularly in secondary schools, than for several decades. Yet budgeting remains a difficult and challenging business. There is never enough money to do everything that schools would wish. Moreover, although school incomes have been rising faster than inflation, so have staff pay bills, as performance related pay and shortened incremental scales put pressure on costs. There are new expectations for support staff, who have acquired a long overdue salary scale to go with their new status. And while ICT may be saving time and enabling more interesting lessons, it has brought rising expectations, new maintenance costs and new staffing needs. How do schools cope with these changes? How do they maximise opportunities for innovation and income? And are there other ways to bring revenue into school budgets?
