Grant allocations and the devolution of NGfL grant to schools
NGfL grant allocations
In 2001-02 NGfL funding within the Standards Fund totals £245 million. This
is divided into three strands:
- Part A (ICT infrastructure and services) - £188 million.
- Part B (encouraging innovation) - £15 million.
- Part C (broadband) - £42 million.
LEAs have been informed of their provisional NGfL grant allocations. Final
allocations will be published on the
Standards Fund website once LEAs have confirmed their intention to take up the grant.
Devolution of funding to schools
Circular 0255/2000
sets out three conditions that schools must satisfy in order to qualify for
NGfL grant in 2001-02:
- They must agree an ICT development plan with their LEA. Details of the areas
that such plans should address, and sources of further guidance, can be found
here.
- They must be signed up with an approved provider of New Opportunities Fund
ICT training. This requirement refers to schools as institutions, rather than
to all of their teachers.
- Wherever practical, ICT facilities should be made available for use by pupils
and the local community out of school hours.
At least 95.5% of Part A funding and all Part B funding should be devolved to schools.
LEAs may only seek to retain a higher proportion of this funding - e.g. for collective
procurement on behalf of schools, or for the provision of technical training and support
- with the explicit prior agreement of all of the schools concerned.
Part A funding is intended to support completion of LEAs' four-year plans for
implementing the NGfL in schools, and to achieve, and where possible exceed, the NGfL
baseline. It will be for LEAs to determine, on the basis of information held for local
management and evaluation purposes, how funding available in 2001-02 should be fairly
devolved to help achieve this aim, while still reflecting individual schools' requirements
as agreed in their ICT development plans.
It is for LEAs to determine whether Part B funding would be most effectively allocated
to all eligible schools (as defined in
Circular 0255/2000) or to a subset of these. However, benefitting schools should be clear about
the purpose for which this funding is being made available and should include appropriate objectives
in their ICT development plans.
Expenditure supported at LEA level
It is the responsibility of LEAs to agree ICT development plans with their schools
before allocating NGfL grant accordingly, and monitoring schools' implementation of these plans.
School ICT development plans should be consistent with the aims of the NGfL,
including the NGfL baseline, but should also be tailored to reflect schools'
individual circumstances. Details of the issues that should be addressed in
all such plans can be found here. Further guidance
on planning at school and LEA level can be found on the 'Building
the Grid' website.
LEAs may retain up to 4.5% of Part A funding for these purposes, and to evaluate
the effectiveness of their ICT strategy in improving ICT standards and teaching in
schools. Such evaluations should be shared with the DfEE and published on LEAs' own
websites. LEAs will also be required to justify such expenditure in their annual
NGfL progress reports.
Regional Broadband Consortia (RBCs)
LEAs participating in an RBC may retain up to 100% of Part C funding
- Procurement of regional broadband infrastructure and the provision of connections
to this for schools of a capacity equivalent to at least 2 Mps.
- Procurement of educational content to take advantage of this bandwidth,
and the co-ordinated creation of regionally and locally relevant resources
in partnership with content developers (including museums, archives, libraries
etc.).
- Management, support and evaluation of a consortium's activities.
LEAs are accountable for grant retained to fund participation in RBCs in 2001-02.
As with other streams of public expenditure, including the Standards Fund, there
will be flexibility to carry forward funding to the next financial year and
the same reporting arrangements will be applied by the DfEE as with Standards
Fund grants devolved to schools.
Provided that the DfEE is informed in advance by each of the parties concerned,
LEAs within a regional broadband consortium may opt to:
- Re-distribute some or all of their Part C funding to other LEAs in the same
consortium.
- Receive Part C funding in a single 'consortium-wide' account.
If an LEA does not wish to join, or to continue its membership of an RBC,
Part C funding must be devolved to schools in full. In such cases it will be
for the LEA to make the case to the DfEE - on both educational and economic
grounds - for adopting such an approach. They will also be required to agree
with the DfEE criteria for allocating this funding to schools in a fair and open manner.
Reporting arrangements
LEAs will be asked to provide details of all expenditure supported by any Part A
funding that is retained centrally, and how Part B funding has been allocated to
schools, in their NGfL progress reports in May 2001.
Return to NGfL Funding Guidance
Return to Standards Fund website
