Funding & Finances

Different Trusts set different ways to pay for services, which reflect how much the centre pays for and how much schools are required to fund themselves. Some trusts take a smaller percentage but then charge for additional services or licences on top of that or require schools to fund certain things, like the MIS system, from their budget.   Approximately two-thirds of our schools' contributions are returned to them through jointly procured services, which they would have to purchase at a higher rate if they were not part of our MAT. The rest primarily covers salaries for the central team, who provide daily support to schools and pupils. Not only does this streamline processes, but it also means we can procure things centrally (taking advantage of reduced costs) and keep our approaches unified to share and support each other more efficiently across our schools. The central team and services aim to provide services to schools that they cannot afford alone. The next step will be to look at local services with long waiting lists and provide these for our children centrally (e.g., school nurses, mental health support, Ed Psych support, etc.).

We operate a defined contribution system that ensures financial clarity and fairness for all our schools. Heads and trust leaders collaboratively agree on which services and systems will be centrally funded, and costs are then split proportionally across schools. This approach means that any additional income generated by individual schools remains theirs to invest, while the central trust only requests what it genuinely needs to deliver agreed-upon support and pay for agreed-upon joint costs/ products, rather than taking an arbitrary percentage of school budgets (at present this is around £1000 per pupil). By pooling resources for essential services, we maximise efficiency, reduce costs through collective procurement, and ensure every school benefits from high-quality, centrally coordinated expertise, without compromising their financial autonomy.

Our system has ensured that all our schools all now have balanced budgets, in a climate where schools nationally are often in deficit. Meaning our schools can then spend more money on staffing, pupils and what heads and LSBs decide. 

Being part of our trust financially benefits schools because we produce high savings through joint procurement. 

 

A summary of  what we currently pay for: 

• We use a health shield for staff health care (including video GP, 24/7 counselling support, private fees, stress prevention, etc.). 
• Health care for staff's children 
• Coaching all SLT and DSL staff from a qualified coach 
• DSL supervision and support group 
• Supervision for all heads from our counsellor (Tiff) 
• Access to the counsellor as needed from staff or following school events (bereavement, etc.) 
• Central Mental health first-aider who runs drop-ins for school staff and has bookable slots 
• Multiple CPD conferences a year (2 for HTS, 1 for all staff) 
• Full days of SIP support (approx half termly) 
• HTPMR and review meetings, including the paperwork prep and writing up etc 
• Systems: (Access payroll, HR, Budgets, finances) (MIS - Arbor) (Risk, CPD and H+S: Every) (Smoothwall safeguarding)  
• CPD system (safer recruitment, etc.) through Every by Iris 
• Data Systems from FFT and Perspective
• Subscriptions: The Key, NGA, Juniper HR and contracts portals, Juniper templates, Essex Pensions, Toolkit, Actuarial report, etc
• H+S services from Judicium 
• DPO, iCO, etc., registration 
• Lawyer and HR support from Brownejacobson, one account per school is paid for centrally and can be accessed directly by schools as required. 
• Named HR advisor and HR support 
• Trust accountant on hand to support 
• Internal and external audit fees (e.g. reviews, fire checks, etc.) 
• Social media and comms support to ensure that parents get the information they need in a manageable way. 
• Marketing support to ensure schools' key messages are communicated well 
• Whole Trust bids for grants.   

Our Central team is made up of: 

- A part-time CEO / TDSL / AO 

- A part-time CFO

- A part-time COO

- A part-time Governance Professional 

- A part-time Compliance Manager 

- A part-time Payroll Manager

- A part-time DTDSL 

- A part-time Attendance and Admissions Officer 

- A part-time Finance Officer 

- A part-time Business Admin 

- A part-time Mental Health first aider 

- A part-time Assistant headteacher 

- A part-time HLTA 

The majority of this team's time is spent doing individual processes for schools, which previously were done 3 x at each school, for example, processing invoices or placing orders. This is now done by the HQ team once, aiming to reduce duplication and increase efficiency.  So, although they are called the central team, the vast majority of their working week is spent supporting each school.  The remainder of their time is spent carrying out the statutory functions required of MATs by the DfE (as outlined in the attached document). 

In addition, 5% of all HQ staff time is spent directly supporting learning by hearing readers / running booster groups. 

 

Joint services cost: Approx £500,000 PA.

Central staffing (including on-costs such as pension contributions and NI payments) costs approximately £400,000 a year.

As a Trust, we also procure and pay for the following for all of our schools through group bargaining; these joint services are listed in the attached document.