Financial Management in standard schools
The Financial Management Standard in Schools (FMSiS) was
introduced in 2004.
In 2005 the Government announced that it expected all secondary
schools to meet the standard by by 31 March 2007.
Primary, middle and special schools must be assessed in line
with the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF)
timetable of 40 per cent by 31 March 2008, a further 40 per cent by
31 March 2009 and all schools by 31 March 2010.
There is a requirement that the chief finance officer in each
authority will sign a declaration to the effect that schools have
achieved the standard or that appropriate action is being taken to
ensure they do meet the standard.
Purpose of FMSiS
The purpose of FMSiS is to make the best use of resources in the
education system and to achieve the best possible outcomes for
children.
The standard and the supporting toolkit are designed to allow
schools to take better informed decisions about the allocation of
resources (that is time and money) at school level, supported by
better information, planning and management.
The Financial Management Standard is a simple one page statement
of the characteristics you would expect to find in a school that is
well managed financially. The content is as follows:
- Leadership and governance
- People management
- Policy and strategy
- Partnerships and resources
- Processes
In order to achieve FMSiS schools must complete an online
assessment tool. Schools must provide a comment against each
section of the assessment criteria. The online assessment tool can
be found on the FMSiS website.
In order to assist schools in Knowsley, both the audit and
finance teams will be offering support to individual schools.
Awareness raising sessions are also available to governing bodies
by initially contacting the Governor Support Service.
Introduction to finance training has also been established as
part of the induction sessions for new governors, however all
governors will benefit from the session as education funding
changes constantly.
For those schools that have already met the standard but wish to
further improve their financial management, the DCSF have produced
a financial management
guidance document which you can download from the FMSIS
website.
