Looking at the increasing trend for local authorities to charge
for exclusions and the legality of this under the relevant funding
regulations.
In our work with schools and academies, we have seen an
increasing number of local authorities seeking to charge schools
and academies where a pupil is permanently excluded and moves to
another school/academy or a pupil referral unit. These charges are
often presented as part and parcel of the allocation of funding
which is required to follow the pupil when they are excluded;
equally, they are presented as an additional charge (or even as a
fine). The rationale often given by local authorities for these
charges is that the money is needed to fund local authority-run
pupil referral units. Given the climate of austerity and financial
constraint, this approach is understandable. However, it is not one
which local authorities are permitted to take under the legal
framework which governs school funding and exclusions.
