LA knows best?

Released 04/08/2009

Suzannah Wright ponders LA concerns over delegating comissioning to schools

Catching up on some reading today, I stumbled across a news story in the TES which reported that Aspect, the union representing local authority education professionals, is worried about what will happen after 2011 when National Strategies funding will be delegated directly to schools.

Headteachers will be put at risk, they say, because they may not be able to meet stringent procurement and tendering guidelines as they begin to commission their own school improvement advice.

It's heartwarming, isn't it? The LA professionals are so concerned about the wellbeing of schools that they don't even mention their own vested interest in keeping comissioning powers with the LA rather than delegating to schools.

According to the report, Aspect's policy development officer, David Waxman, said just following proper procurement procedures would cost schools lots of money and schools would need someone with expertise to draw up specifications, evaluate bids and monitor deliver "all of which would amount to a full time role". The role of an SBM, perhaps? Or does a qualified professional with an intimate knowledge of the school's individual situation and plans still lack the expertise an LA officer could bring to the role?

We can take some comfort from the DCSF's slightly snippy response to Aspect's concerns: "Schools already can, and do, commission support from a wide range of providers. The white paper sets out our expectation that this will become the norm."

To be fair, it's right to raise concerns when schools are asked to take on more responsibility or initiatives without adequate support, and the story does raise particular concerns about the burden of procurement on smaller primary schools. As ever we need to acknowledge that there is a long way to go before all schools benefit from dedicated business management support.

However, as long as we continue to see support and development for school business management, I think the kind folk at Aspect can stop worrying and issuing press releases which belittle the expertise and experience already found in schools across the land.

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