The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) has updated its Operational and Good Practice Guide (external link) on schools forums. Each local authority area has a schools forum, made up of representatives from schools and academies, to advise on the allocation of funding for schools.
Although the intention is that the national funding formula will eventually mean that there is no role for schools forums in deciding the allocation of funding locally, the Department for Education has announced that the current transitional phase will continue until at least 2020-21.
The guide goes through constitutional and procedural issues relating to schools forums, as well as recommending good practice to aid schools forum effectiveness. This will be of relevance to governors and trustees who have been elected to their local schools forum and to others interested in how funding is allocated to their school.