On Tuesday 17 July 2012, the Department for Education published The government response to the consultation on the academies funding transfer for 2011-12 and 2012-13. This sets out the steps we have taken in order to ensure that the academies funding transfer for 2011-12 and 2012-13 better reflects the pattern of academy provision across the country.
We consulted in December 2011 on the decision the Secretary of State was minded to take in relation to the calculation and recovery arrangements for the academies funding transfer for 2011-12 and 2012-13. The consultation ran for four working weeks and closed on Thursday 12 January 2012. The government response and a summary of the responses received to the consultation can be downloaded from this page.
Summary of the government response
The Government has confirmed that it will refund any local authority where the amount deducted from formula grant for 2011-12 and 2012-13 was greater than it would have been had the deduction been based on the number of pupils in academies in that authority over each of the two financial years. Where the amount deducted was insufficient, no additional money will be recouped. This is in order to maintain stability in local authority budgets.
The 2011-12 and 2012-13 recoupment unit values for each local authority, along with refund amounts for 2011-12 are available in our downloads section. Refunds for 2011-12 will be paid to the relevant local authorities by the end of July. A detailed explanation of the way the refunds were calculated is included as an annex to the government response to the consultation.
On 17 July 2012, the Government also launched a consultation on proposed changes to the way that academies and local authorities are funded for education services from 2013-14. You can access the consultation, Replacing LACSEG: Funding academies and local authorities for the functions that devolve to academies, from this page. The consultation closed on 24 September 2012 and an announcement will be made this winter.
