Six ways your school can reduce its annual spend

As schools struggling with funding and energy costs rises, Charlotte James explores the ways your school can reduce its annual spending

CREDIT: This is an edited version of an article that originally appeared on Association of School and College Leaders

Major concerns continue to loom regarding the current lack of sufficient funding, alongside ongoing substantial price rises for energy and other goods. Naturally, we all want to see schools and colleges thrive and, as a company that specialises in education funding, it has been worrying to hear that this could be at risk due to the financial strain schools have been put under. 

Here are some suggestions for how school leaders can reduce their annual spend, both in the current academic year and in the future.

Funding 

The government’s condition improvement fund (CIF) allows eligible voluntary-aided schools, academies and sixth form colleges to apply for capital funding to support building condition or expansion projects. This could offer much needed financial support for schools to complete essential building maintenance projects, as well as giving schools funding to support expansion projects.

However, schools should be aware that this funding is not guaranteed, and only around half of applicants secure funding each year; even when applications are successful, applicants often do not always receive the same amount of money as they requested as, collectively, successful applicants only secured 36.4% of the funding requested.

Additionally, academies and sixth form colleges can take out a CIF loan, for all or part of the project costs in their application, to demonstrate their commitment to the scheme. This allows eligible schools to pay towards the project at a ratio that suits their budgets. The loans are provided at Public Works Loan Board rates of interest. 

Yet, even when schools apply for a partial or full loan for the project costs, many applications are still unsuccessful. In response to our freedom of information request, the Department for Education disclosed that just 301 of the 639 project applications were successfully awarded a loan in 2022-23. 

Lease equipment

We know many schools have been forced to completely rethink their budgets for 2022/23. For some, this will mean money set aside for new equipment will have had to have been cut; this will, sadly, put a halt to lots of great projects. 

However, there are other options. Compliant leasing enables schools to spread the payments for equipment over several years, so planned projects can go ahead without delay. Affordable, fixed, payments can be agreed based on each school’s needs, enabling school leaders to easily manage their budgets. 

Compliantly leasing equipment also means schools can reserve capital for essential maintenance – for example, if a school was unsuccessful in applying for a CIF grant or loan, they could make the decision to lease their new equipment and use the capital they have available to carry out repairs immediately. 

Use frameworks to get best value for money

Frameworks give schools assurance that approved suppliers of goods and services have been quality checked and provide value for money. For example, Everything ICT is an ICT procurement framework for education and other public sector organisations; this framework works with over 150 trusted suppliers to get schools the best deal on their required equipment.

Sale-and-leaseback

As the current financial pressures on the education sector have come unexpectedly, schools may have previously purchased equipment over the summer period but now feel that the money could be better spent elsewhere. 

As an example, instead of having to cut spending, schools can sell their equipment to Room 12, who will then immediately lease the equipment back. This allows schools to release their capital and spread payments over several years. 

Install LED lighting

LED lighting could be used as a solution to reduce electricity bills as it significantly lowers consumption – LED lights are up to 80% more efficient than traditional lighting, so schools can achieve the same light quality at a far lower cost. Additionally, LED lights last up to six times longer than other types of lights, reducing the need for frequent replacements. 

Of course, we are aware that installing LED lighting can be expensive, and may seem out of reach due to restricted budgets; however, it can be affordable through a compliant lease, as this allows schools to spread the cost over several years -schools pay for the lighting as they are making savings on their electricity bills. 

Install solar panels

Schools can also reduce their electricity bills by installing solar panels, which allows settings to generate their own electricity. This would not only be a great investment for the short term during the current energy crisis, but also in the long term as the cost savings will benefit the school for over 25 years. 

Solar panels can also reduce the school’s carbon footprint and provide a way for the school to model sustainable behaviour – this ‘live’ example of renewable technology could inspire the whole community and improve engagement in learning about sustainability. 

Like LEDs, solar panels can also be compliantly leased, allowing schools to spread the cost over several years.