Briefings and responses

Councils retain the majority of their legal obligations to promote high educational standards in their areas and the Department for Education (DfE) should therefore continue to provide funding to ensure these obligations can be met. It is wrong to ask schools, who have their own budgetary pressures, to fund councils for their school improvement functions.

About the Local Government Association The Local Government Association (LGA) is the national voice of local government. We work with councils to support, promote and improve local government.

Data shows that council-maintained schools receive better Ofsted ratings, and improve more quickly, than academy schools. Analysis undertaken for the LGA showed that ninety-one per cent of maintained schools are now rated as either Good or Outstanding.

Local government leaders support the national funding formula but are clear that setting 22,000 school budgets on a ‘one size fits all’ national formula decided remotely in Whitehall will not work.

Councils play a strong role in providing good school places, with 91 percent of maintained schools rated as Good or Outstanding by Ofsted, compared with 85 per cent of academies and 84 per cent of free schools.

Councils have been supporting all schools throughout the pandemic, including working to support vulnerable pupils and interpreting guidance to help ensure learning has continued as safely and effectively as possible .

The average annual cost to a council of a special needs placement in 2017/18, was £6,000 per pupil per year in a mainstream school, compared with £23,000 per pupil per year in a maintained special school, and £40,000 per pupil per year in an independent or non-maintained special school.

"Over recent years councils have created an extra 800,000 new school places. This is a demonstrable record that shows they are doing everything they can to rise to the challenge of ensuring no child goes without a place."

All children deserve access to the best possible education. Data shows that council-maintained schools receive better Ofsted ratings, and improve more quickly, than academy schools.

The majority of parents who home educate their children do a good job and work well with their local council to make sure that a good education is being provided. However, we are concerned that not all children are registered as home schooled, particularly where they have never joined the mainstream education system or they have moved to a new area.