Primary schools across the country are to have access to business managers, as part of the government’s latest efforts to cut spending.
The Department for Children, Schools and Families will spend £5 million on employing 250 school business managers next year. A further 250 will be employed in each of the following three years.
Each business manager will work across three or four schools in a local authority, offering advice on cutting procurement costs, partnership working and other ways to save money.
Schools secretary Ed Balls said that a business manager could help a school save up to £30,000 a year. “They help heads save money and allow them to maintain the record numbers of teachers and teaching assistants in classrooms across the country,” he said.
Balls has also set out plans on how the DCSF will attempt to save cash.
Initiatives include reducing spending on government agencies by around £135 million, cutting costs on back office and communications, and reducing bursaries for initial teacher training.
The savings total £300 million over the next 2 years, with more to follow.