Local Authorities (LA's) are required under section 52 of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 to prepare a budget statement before the beginning of each year i.e. by 31st March. After the end of that financial year they are required to prepare an outturn statement. Separate regulations and guidance apply to budget statements.


Purpose of Financial Statements

The statement is intended to:
provide schools, parents and others with an interest in education with details about schools and LA funding and expenditure;
provide data for the Departmental Annual Report (DAR);
inform policy making;
inform the Treasury for monitoring purposes;
inform Parliament in its role of monitoring the department's accountability for public funds. MPs ask about school and authority expenditure via the mechanisms of Parliamentary Questions of through the Education Select Committee