APPENDIX E
CASE STUDIES
CONSULTATION WITH HEADTEACHERS & CHAIRS OF GOVERNING BODIES
– February/March 2001
SUPPORT SERVICES TO SCHOOLS
SUMMARY OF CASE STUDIES
1.
The Role of the Local Education Authority
1.1
Brokerage
Case study 1: Rotherham
An independent brokerage set up to secure the best possible value-for-money services for
schools
Case study 2: Southwark
The creation of a ‘Select List’ of suppliers
1.2
Advice to schools on Best Value
Case study 3: Devon
The provision of roadshows and consultancy services on Best Value
Case study 4: Dudley
The production of guidance notes for schools on Best Value
1.3
Structures/roles
Case study 5: Westminster
The creation of the post of Fair Funding Officer
1.4
Purchasing groups
Case studies 6 & 7: Peterborough, Essex, Salford
Organising schools into groups to achieve gains in economy/effectiveness
2.
Service Delivery
Case study 8: Somerset
Establishing a Customer Support Team
Case study 9: Havering
The stipulation that suppliers have to meet certain Quality Assurance standards
Case study 10: Hammersmith and Fulham
A systematic approach which includes a complaints channel, an independent survey, and
appraisals based on customer satisfaction & business take-up
Case study 11: Buckinghamshire
A consultation arrangement with headteachers that focuses on raising achievement in
schools
3.
‘Services to Schools’ Documentation
Case study 12
Best practice relating to a traded services portfolio
SUPPORT SERVICES TO SCHOOLS
Introduction
This paper has been written to provide headteachers and chairs of governing bodies with examples
of approaches that are being explored around the country in the field of support services to
schools, and, in so doing, to facilitate a discussion as to the most appropriate way forward for the
delivery of services to schools within Salford.
These are early days for the ideas being tested, and it is not yet clear whether any or all of these
approaches are demonstrably effective. But they do show that LEAs are endeavouring to respond
to pressures from both schools and the DfEE to change the way in which services to schools are
provided.
1.
The Role of the Local Education Authority
The recently published DfEE policy paper entitled ‘The Role of the Local Education Authority in
School Education’ focuses the need for LEAs to develop their role in the 21st century. It puts
forward what it describes as ‘practical ways’ in which authorities can build on Fair Funding and
reinforce the modernising agenda. Among these, the paper says that ‘Education Authorities can
help to promote a more open market in school services and take steps to ensure that all schools
have the knowledge and skills they need to be better purchasers of goods and services, in line with
Best Value principles.’
1.1
Brokerage
In the policy paper referred to above, the DfEE describes brokerage as a ‘service, which puts
(schools) in touch with a range of suppliers and aims to achieve the best value from their
delegated budgets.’ It states that ‘the Department is working on a pilot scheme in one Local
Education Authority area which offers schools an independent brokerage service’ – the following
case study looks at this pilot arrangement.
Case study 1: Rotherham
Following an Ofsted inspection report that was critical of some major aspects of the LEA’s functions, the
Office for Public Management was commissioned to make recommendations for improvement. A key
recommendation in the OPM report was to firmly establish the role of schools as self-managing, selfimproving organisations – including schools as customers of services – and to support this by procuring
an independent brokerage working with and for schools, individually and collectively, to secure the best
possible value-for-money services appropriate to the needs of the schools.
The brokerage has five main functions:
 Working with schools to help them specify their service needs
 Developing a sufficient market to enable schools to have choices in obtaining high quality services
which represent value for money
 Identifying the providers of the best value for money services
 Negotiating contracts for services on the schools’ behalf
 Managing and monitoring the service contracts
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Case study 1: Rotherham (continued)
The brokerage operates across the full range of services which schools have authority to purchase.
These include but are not limited to:
 Curriculum advice and consultancy
 Music support
 ICT
 Maintenance and repairs of premises
 Personnel and payroll
 Schools Library Service
 Governor support and training
 Financial support
 School catering
 Building cleaning
The brokerage might also offer assistance to schools in the recruitment of headteachers, teachers
and other key professional and administrative staff and in securing supply teachers.
Financial mechanisms
The brokerage may derive its revenue by one or more of the following mechanisms:
 Percentage commission paid by the school(s) on services procured and/or service contracts
negotiated by the brokerage on their behalf
 Percentage commission paid by the service provider on services procured from them and/or
service contracts with them negotiated by the brokerage on behalf of schools
 A clear and explicit scale of charges to schools for the brokerage’s services
Regulation of the brokerage
In Rotherham, the operation of the brokerage is monitored by a ‘Board’ comprising 5 headteachers,
3 independent1 governors of schools who are users of the brokerage, 2 DfEE representatives, ‘a
prominent educationalist’, a prominent board member from an analogous industry, and an
independent chair.
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Case study 2: Southwark
Companies are invited to join the LEA’s ‘Select List’ through national advertisement. Those
expressing an interest are sent a questionnaire designed to ensure that they meet minimum standards
with regard to:
 Financial standing
 Insurance – specifically employers’ and public liability
 Experience and track record
 Health and safety
Companies satisfying these standards must then supply three reference sites where they have carried
out relevant work.
1.2
Advice to schools on Best Value
Case study 3: Devon
Devon has:
 Conducted a series of ‘Best Value’ roadshows for governing bodies
 Offered a Best Value assessment consultancy service to schools as part of its traded services
 Included references to Best Value principles in its current portfolio of services to schools.
Case study 4: Dudley
This LEA produces a set of guidance notes for schools relating to Best Value, together with a
checksheet that schools can use to assess how they stand on Best Value in relation to their budget
process – some of the questions from the checksheet are extracted and shown below. However, the
guidance notes do point out that ‘ finance is just one, albeit very important, resource. Schools should,
when considering their adherence to best value principles, review all their procedures and not only
financial matters’.
BEST VALUE FOR SCHOOLS’ BUDGET PROCESS
Challenge – why do you do what you do?
 Is the budget reviewed annually with reference to the school’s priorities?
 Is the budget clearly linked to the School Development Plan?
 Have evaluation measures been built into the school’s planning process?
Compare – does anyone else do it better?
 Does the school use DfEE/OFSTED comparative information to inform its planning process?
Consult – do other people know what you do, and what do they think about it?
 Are parents kept informed of developments in school through regular meetings and/or
newsletters?
 Are staff and governors consulted during the budget-setting process?
Compete – are you getting the best deal?
 Have decisions on the purchase of support services from the LEA or another provider been
discussed with the governing body or finance committee?
1.3
Structures/roles
To enable them to discharge their developing role, a number of LEAs have made changes
to their structures and have created new roles.
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Case study 5: Westminster
In November this Council advertised the post of Fair Funding Officer. This is how the advertisement
appeared:
‘Fair Funding Officer
The job:….. You will be working directly with the Assistant Director Development tendering on
behalf of schools in the Education Department. The post will work to and service an independent
Board supporting schools in purchasing services from the LEA and other providers. Work will
involve monitoring services purchased by schools including liaising and negotiating with clientside
officers and contractors, forming consortia amongst schools, developing service specifications and
carrying out tendering exercises. This is a key post in successfully delivering the LEA Post Ofsted
Action Plan’
1.4
Purchasing groups
Some LEAs are organising schools into purchasing groups to achieve gains in economy or
effectiveness or both. Case study 6 is an extract from Cambridge Education Associates’
1999 report entitled ‘Support Services for Schools’, in which findings from research
among 34 LEAs is detailed.
Case study 6
‘In Peterborough, two pairs of small primary schools have been grouped in this way so that each pair
shares a bursar. In Essex there are currently about 10 active consortia, each with between 10-15
schools, which exercise joint purchasing of various kinds. Some of them buy a shared finance officer
who oversees their joint purchasing arrangements and supports all schools in the group.’
Case study 7: Salford
A group of 5 primary schools, feeders for St. Patrick’s RC High School, are working together on the
following areas:
 Pupil transfers
 Investors in People, thus making this more cost effective and sharing facilities for training, etc.
 Service Level Agreements – service quality is being reviewed collectively, and providers other
than the LEA’s own services are to be approached to ascertain what discounts are available for a
cluster of schools.
2.
Service Delivery
As well as exploring ways to develop their new role, LEAs are also looking at approaches
to impact on the quality of services available.
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Case study 8: Somerset
A Customer Support Team was established to provide every school with a single point of contact with
County Hall, and to provide a direct route through to a wide range of services.
A member of the Customer Support Team offers a visit to each school during the decision-making period of March-April,
during which they highlight any changes to services or discuss any queries schools may have about the services.
The Team offers a visit to all new headteachers within their first term, and offers the same support to
all Acting Headteachers and new administrative staff
The Team also provides an arbitration service – should a school have any complaints or difficulties
which cannot be resolved directly with the person providing the service, it can refer the matter to the
Customer Support Manager who will either suggest action to remedy the situation or refer the matter
to an Education Support Services Advisory Board.
Case study 9: Havering
This local authority is undertaking a Best Value Review of trading with schools. As part of the set of
outcomes for this review, all services that trade with schools, be they internal or external teams, will
be required to meet certain Quality Assurance standards. The review team is looking at the
application of Charter Mark, the government award for public services, and is developing other
criteria for selecting appropriate service providers.
Case study 10: Hammersmith and Fulham
The LEA has a system, now in its seventh year, which combines a published portfolio of traded
services with an annual, independent quantitative and qualitative performance survey and an
independent complaints channel; has a performance appraisal system for assistant directors involving
key measures of levels of take-up for their services and levels of school satisfaction; assigns named
officers for each school for different groups of services and has an induction system for new heads
where all this is explained by the Director.
A high proportion of LEAs have in place consultative arrangements with headteachers regarding
traded services.
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Case study 11: Buckinghamshire
Amongst those LEAs surveyed by Cambridge Education Associates in 1999, one of the best examples
they found was the terms of reference of Buckinghamshire’s Headteachers Management Board,
which was as follows:
 To represent the views of schools on the services provided by the LEA
 To identify:
(a) Services no longer meeting the needs of schools
(b) New services which would help raise achievement in schools
 To comment upon and make recommendations related to the quality of service received
 In partnership with the LEA, to review arrangement for the evaluation of services.
3. Services to Schools’ Documentation
Case study 12:
CEA’s 1999 study found that best practice among participating authorities suggested that a portfolio
of traded services should include:
 all traded services relevant to schools – not simply those associated with the Education
Department
 a full description of both service content and the benefits of buying the service
 clear labelling/branding of services as being LEA or Council provided – with minimum reference
to the different departments providing the services
 pricing information showing:
- specific charges to each school, wherever possible (if necessary, in a loose-leaf format to ensure it
can be updated) and/or
- pricing principles and structures (e.g. charge per pupil) in a form which would enable any school
to a) calculate the charge it will incur for each potential purchasing option and b) compare its own
charges against those incurred by others for the same services
 service standards (e.g. response times for repair of ICT equipment) and guarantees (e.g. methods
of redress)
 a clear indication of any co-operation/support required from the school in the delivery of the
service
 an easy to complete response form or set of forms
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