Management Information Sheet

Representatives from the Norfolk Headteacher groups (SNAPP, NASH and NASSH) and Norfolk Governors' Network have reviewed the 5 Audit Commission documents mentioned in this briefing, and have requested that this précis be prepared and distributed to all LA maintained schools. The Headteacher representatives have also suggested that all Headteacher colleagues be encouraged to read the 5 documents in full, as, in their view, they contain some important messages.

Using these Briefings
Part of the role of governors and school leaders is to consider the most appropriate ways of deploying the resources available to schools to maximise Value for Money.
In considering Value for Money, it is necessary to explore the economy, efficiency and effectiveness of spending decisions. The Audit Commission concentrated on one area - that of efficiency - and applied it to the deployment of the staffing resource.
Governors are encouraged to explore with their headteachers, within the context of their own school, the issues raised, and to challenge their current staffing structures and deployment practices.

Background
In March 2011, the Audit Commission published a set of 5 reports with the theme of 'Better Value for Money in Schools'. These reports followed the 2009 report "Valuable Lessons" which identified a potential £425 million that schools could save through more effective procurement of goods and services. The 2010 Spending Review also obliged schools to focus on the more efficient use of staffing resources to reduce expenditure without compromising effectiveness, and the 5 reports are designed to help schools and their partners identify ways to do so.

The 5 reports are:
"An Overview of School Workforce Spending"

"Classroom Deployment", looking at:

The pattern of teacher numbers and their utilisation

The potential for schools to make efficiencies by varying class sizes

The growth in numbers of teaching assistants in schools

"Curriculum breadth", looking at:

The priorities given to subjects taught in the national curriculum

The variation in the GCSE curriculum offer by secondary schools

The use of bought-in curriculum services

"Managing Staff Absence and Cover", looking at:

Teacher absence, including rates of sickness absence across council areas

Options for covering absence, focusing on the scope for teachers and qualified support staff to provide cover

The use of directly employed and agency-sourced supply teachers

"The Wider Schools Workforce", looking at:

The growth in the non-teaching workforce

The numbers and cost of educational support staff

Changes in the use and costs of schools' administrative and clerical staff

The pattern of spending on other staff groups, including bought-in consultancy services.

Ensuring Value for Money in Schools
Schools are largely financially autonomous, and spending should reflect individual school priorities. Flexibility in the management of resources is likely to increase following the publication of the 2010 White Paper "The Importance of Teaching".
There are a large number of variables in schools' workforce models, which makes comparison difficult. However, there appears to be clear evidence that many schools could find ways to improve the efficiency of staff deployment (see Table 1).

	Definition	VfM imperative	Areas of interest
Economy	Minimising the costs of resources used for goods or services	Best quality staff at lowest price available	Teacher pay Staff insurance costs
Efficiency	The relationship between outputs and the resources used to produce them	Making the best use of staff time	Classroom deployment Curriculum offer Absence management Wider schools workforce
Effectiveness	The extent to which objectives have been achieved	Ensuring increased attainment and pupil wellbeing	Pedagogy Curriculum content Quality of teaching Performance management

Table 1: Economy, efficiency and effectiveness in the context of schools' workforce
Source: Audit Commission 2011.

Understanding School Spending
Schools spend on average around 80% of their budgets on staffing-related costs. There is considerable variation in workforce profiles, with teachers typically making up anything between 27% and 75% of the workforce in individual schools. Teaching assistant numbers have grown substantially, and now make up a quarter of the workforce in primary schools. There has also been growth and diversification in other support staff roles, such as technicians, librarians, SEN staff and admin and clerical roles, the latter increasing significantly in secondary schools.

Although there has been an overall decline in teachers' sickness absence, and an increase in the number of HLTAs employed to cover, the expenditure on supply staff has not noticeably changed, with almost 20% of schools spending over 10% of their teaching budgets on supply staff.

The Role of School Leaders and Governing Bodies
School leaders and governing bodies are asked to consider the costs and benefits of different models of staff deployment, and should:

Discuss resource allocation, staff deployment and reviews of staffing structures

Understand the costs of different workforce strategies

Assess how their workforce costs compare with national and local distributions and similar schools

Identify what they can change to improve efficiency.

Norfolk County Council has taken this opportunity to help assess the relative position of local schools and consider where support can be offered. The Schools' Finance Team has been working alongside colleagues from the Advisory Service and school leaders to update the advice available on school workforce structures, including the Staff Benchmarking and Planning Tools. The updated tools will be made available during the Autumn term 2011, following conclusion of the testing phase.

Schools and other colleagues may request electronic copies of the 5 Audit Commission documents referred to in this summary, or access further advice and support by e-mailing Alison Randall, School Support Manager, Schools' Finance Team, at alison.randall@norfolk.gov.uk