How Sophisticated Was DCC's Analysis?

Remember the 'more sophisticated analysis' done by DCC, that Alan Charles referred to in his letter to Tom Levitt?

Well, we think DCC needs to get more sophisticated still.

They claim that spending on Combs School is £136,181 per annum, but the actual spend in the last financial year was £105,528.06. That's a huge difference in the average cost per pupil - a key figure in DCC's proposal.

That's not all. Because Combs School has been under-spending, an accumulated surplus - money that was available to the school but which wasn't spent - of close to £70,000 is sitting in a DCC bank account, gathering interest. DCC wrote to tell us about it.

So, DCC appears to have been fattening up Combs School like a Christmas turkey, ready for the chop.

Chairman of the Governors, Nye Rowlands, commented, "Despite under-spending, OfSTED still called the school 'outstanding value for money', and had no reservations about either the accommodation or the resources. So where does the fault lie? Should the school be closed when the proposal from DCC is based on budget formulae that are out of line with the real situation? And shouldn't there have been an opportunity to discuss this before the axe was raised?"