An Audit Commission overview of school workforce spending for Chairs of Governors

A focus on value for money is timely. The increases in school funding that schools have enjoyed over the last decade are now slowing. The October 2010 Spending Review allocated budget increases of 0.1 per cent annually by 2014/15.There will be additional resources for schools provided through the new pupil premium.

School leaders and governing bodies need to understand the costs and benefits of different models of staff deployment in order to manage their staffing resources well. Our briefings will help them:

■ 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 distributions and similar schools; and

■ identify what they can change to improve efficiency.


In the Audit Commission briefing on Classroom deployment they consider:

■ the pattern of teacher numbers and their utilisation;

■ the potential for schools to make efficiencies by varying class sizes; and

■ the growth in numbers of teaching assistants in schools.

http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/SiteCollectionDocuments/Downloads/201103schoolsvfmclassroomdeployment.pdf

In the Audit Commission briefing on Curriculum breadth they consider:

■ the priorities given to subjects taught in the national curriculum;

■ the variation in the GCSE curriculum offer by secondary schools; and

■ the use of bought-in curriculum services.

http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/SiteCollectionDocuments/Downloads/201103vfmschoolscurriculumbreadth.pdf

In the audit Comission briefing on Managing staff absence and cover they consider:

■ 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; and

■ the use of directly employed and agency-sourced supply teachers.

http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/SiteCollectionDocuments/Downloads/201103vfmschoolsmanagingstaffabsence.pdf

In the Audit Commission briefing on The wider schools workforce they consider:

■ 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; and

■ the pattern of spending on other staff groups, including bought-in consultancy services

http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/SiteCollectionDocuments/Downloads/201103vfmschoolswiderschoolsworkforce.pdf

The full Audit Commission overview of school workforce spending can be found here
http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/SiteCollectionDocuments/Downloads/201103vfmschoolscoveringpaper.pdf