Local Management of Schools

The introduction of Local Management of Schools (LMS) in 1990, changed the way in which schools are funded and managed by allowing Boards of Governors and school principals the autonomy to make decisions on resource allocation and priorities in order to improve the quality of teaching and learning in schools. Over £1 billion will be spent during 2003-04 on educating around 340,000 children in Northern Ireland. School Board of Governors and principals now control 70 per cent of all money spent on school children (paragraph 3). The size of an individual school’s budget can range from less than £50,000 for a small nursery or primary school to over £6 million for the largest post primary school (paragraph 1.2).

A report published today by John Dowdall CB, the Comptroller and Auditor General for Northern Ireland, concludes that, while there has been some measure of achievement against the aims of LMS, so far it has fallen short of completely transforming the culture and working patterns of schools. Nonetheless, LMS has to be regarded as a developing reform and changes in the emphasis of budgetary control, from the Education and Library Boards to schools cannot be expected to provide a panacea for the full range of education issues. The report recognises that LMS is one step towards empowering the educational community to bring about improvement in educational outcomes (paragraph 4).

In addition, the report also points to there being little direct evidence available on the key question of whether LMS has improved educational effectiveness in schools (paragraph 18). However, a survey carried out as part of the report showed that: 78 per cent of principals believed that LMS was a better system of school management; and 66 per cent of principals believed that LMS had supported improved teaching and learning in schools (paragraph 4.23).

The report acknowledges that Boards of Governors play a pivotal role under LMS, acting in a voluntary capacity and giving freely of their time to help and support schools achieve the highest standards (paragraphs 1 and 2). In this regard, the report makes a number of recommendations on the need for the Department of Education and the Education and Library Boards to do more to support Governors (see paragraphs 3.16 and 3.40).

Main Findings

On Delegation of Responsibility

While the intention of LMS is to pass the control of schools from the Education and Library Boards to Boards of Governors, the report indicates that in many instances Boards of Governors are not yet taking on their roles and responsibilities in the way that the legislation had envisaged. For instance, as part of the review, an Audit Office survey of 150 schools found evidence in some schools of a shortfall in the number of governors in place and shortcomings in the specialist knowledge within Boards of Governors (paragraphs 2.5 to 2.11).

On Financial Planning and Management

The report points out that seventy seven per cent of schools have carried over a surplus of funds at some time in the past five years. In the same period, 57 per cent of schools have carried forward a deficit. The latter may impact on the resources available for the classroom while surpluses may indicate that money is not being spent usefully and promptly on pupils already in school. In line with Department of Education policy, the report recommends that Boards of Governors should ensure that where deficits exist, plans are put in place to eliminate these at the earliest opportunity. Where schools accumulate surpluses, Boards of Governors should ensure that unspent resources are earmarked for specific projects and that these schemes are implemented without delay (paragraphs 3.29 to 3.31).

The report records that the general feeling expressed by the Education and Library Boards is that, under LMS, the standard of financial management in schools has not improved to the extent originally envisaged and that Governors are still not sufficiently equipped to deal with the full range of their responsibilities. It calls on the Education and Library Boards and schools to monitor the continuing support and training provided to principals and Boards of Governors. The report also considers that building on financial expertise within Boards of Governors should help to improve their capacity to challenge proposals for the allocation of resources ( paragraphs 3.32 to 3.40).

On Monitoring and Evaluation

The report considers that the Department of Education needs to improve its understanding of how resource allocation and organisational structures within schools contribute to effective learning environments. This should lead to guidance on how the wider school community can make best use of the potential provided by the most successful local management arrangements (paragraphs 4.23 and 4.25).