Funding Formula Research Articles

Allocating Grant to the UK's Devolved Territories by Needs Assessment: Lessons from School Funding Formulae in England and Scotland

AbstractThe UK's devolved governments (DGs) receive block grants to finance almost all their expenditure. The Barnett formula used to calculate these grants is often criticised because it does not consider the DGs’ spending needs. However, the feasibility of allocating block grants by needs assessment is often questioned, given the contestability of spending needs.This paper compares the formula used within England to assess the education spending needs of local authorities there with the equivalent Scottish formula, by using each formula in turn to calculate the relative spending needs of the UK territories. The rationale is to consider how similar the two formulae are in how they estimate the territories’ relative spending needs for education, a major responsibility of the DGs.The results show that the English and Scottish education allocation formulae produce similar estimates of the territories’ relative education spending needs. This suggests that it may be more feasible to allocate education resources to the UK's devolved territories based on needs assessment than some have suggested. The results also suggest some inequity in current patterns of education spending across the UK.

Free childcare – but at what cost?

With the introduction of both a new funding formula in April and the 30-hour offer in September, it is no exaggeration to say that 2017 could be a make or break year for the sector, and for government policy.

Do your sums add up for delivering the 30 hours?

The Government's new Early Years National Funding Formula is deisgned to support the roll-out of the 30-hour childcare offer. Purnima Tanuku unpicks the detail and highlights the factors that could jeopardize its success.

Beyond Inclusion: Critical Race Theory and Participatory Budgeting

Critical Race Theory (CRT) researchers maintain that mainstream liberal discourses of neutrality and colorblindness inherently reify existing patterns of inequality, and that privileging the voices of people of color and the marginalized is essential to addressing issues of equity and equality. Participatory budgeting (PB) aims, too, to include the voices of the marginalized in substantive policy-making. Through a CRT lens, I examine the ways in which the New York City PB process has thus far worked to simultaneously disrupt and maintain racial hierarchies. I pay particular attention to how social constructions of the “good project” shape the discourses around community priorities and winning projects—especially in the areas of security/policing and education. While the New York PB process has successfully reached out to and effectively enfranchised traditionally marginalized constituents, including communities of color, its current focus on districts and the voting phase, alongside limited work on critical praxis, limits the extent to which these newly enfranchised constituents can problematize larger funding formulas and criteria in public budgets.

Aging and Vision Advocates Unite to Move the Bar for Older Persons who Are Visually Impaired: A Call to Action

Almost two decades ago, the following information on the development of a national agenda on vision and aging was published in the From the Field section of the Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness (JVIB): ... the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) and the National Aging and Vision Network have launched the development of a national agenda on vision and aging. The concept of a national agenda began with a survey that AFB's National Aging Program team sent to National Aging and Vision Network members in December 1997.... [A]t the March 1998 Josephine L. Taylor Leadership Institute, aging work-group participants, comprised of professionals and consumers, worked on identifying critical issues for the agenda to address (National Agenda on Vision and Aging, 1998, p. 850). The issues identified at the conference became a list of goals, which had the intended purpose of shaping public policies and attitudes in order to ensure the full participation in society of individuals aged 55 years and older. The goals of the agenda were: * develop a self-advocacy skills training curriculum for inclusion in vision rehabilitation programs serving older persons who are visually impaired; * increase public awareness about age-related vision loss and vision-related services; * carry out advocacy efforts to increase federal funding for the Title VII, Chapter 2 Program of the Rehabilitation Act (Independent Living Services for Older Individuals Who Are Blind [OIB]); * increase the supply of qualified personnel providing vision rehabilitation services to older individuals who are visually impaired; * expand access to employment opportunities for older persons with visual impairments; and * promote the coordination of data collection and outcome measurement efforts, which support the targeted goals of increased consumer self-advocacy, greater public awareness of vision rehabilitation services, sufficient funding for services, increased supply of qualified personnel, and expanded access to information and community resources. OUTCOMES OF THE FIRST NATIONAL AGENDA ON VISION AND AGING By 2005, the National Aging and Vision Network (formed by AFB) accomplished two objectives from the third goal of the agenda on vision and aging (Orr, Scott, & Rogers, 2005): * achieve the $13 million threshold established by Congress in the Rehabilitation Act as the trigger level for Chapter 2 formula funding to ensure that each state receives a minimum level of funding; and * achieve a funding level of at least $26 million for the Title VII, Chapter 2 program, a funding level established by state agency directors as the base amount needed to establish a nationwide service delivery program. These achievements established a framework to fund a nationwide service delivery program, ensuring money for every state to provide OIB services. Although the Aging and Vision Network worked diligently toward its goal, since 2005, no united effort has been sustained. Thus, it is time to renew the call to action to meet the needs of millions of aging baby boomers who are losing vision at a time when national, state, and local resources are stretched and overwhelmed. With the exception of stimulus funding, the OIB program has received approximately the same amount of funding annually, and the numbers of individuals being served by this program appear to be declining. During fiscal year 2005, 63,766 individuals were served with a federal allocation of $33,227,040 (U.S. Department of Education, 2009). According to the Rehabilitation Services Administration's 2012 report, only 67,273 individuals nationwide benefited from independent living services provided through this program (U.S. Department of Education, 2014). The latest published reports (2013) indicate that 59,133 received services (U.S. Department of Education, 2016). …

Accounting for the rise in unfunded public pension liabilities: faulty counterfactuals and the allure of simple gain/loss summations

AbstractThis paper provides a methodological critique of an influential method for assessing the impact on the Unfunded Accrued Liabilities (UAL) of the gap between assumed and actual investment returns over extended periods, and offers a sound replacement. The method in question simply sums over time the components of the annual actuarial gain/loss report. This implicitly assumes that in the counterfactual exercise, the interest on the additional UAL is covered dollar-for-dollar by amortization. But under actual funding formulas amortization usually varies less than interest. This means there are large intertemporal interactions between the gap in investment returns and subsequent shortfalls between contributions and interest. Using the actual funding formula in the counterfactual can lead to much higher estimates of the UAL impact of the gap in investment returns because it does not assume away these interactions. This method can more accurately inform policy-makers, regarding the importance of cutting the assumed rate of return.

Make your budget stretch

While the national funding formula (NFF) has been postponed for another year, Kaley Foran suggests ways in which primaries could make their budgets go further.

New early years funding formula creates uncertainty for councils

Proposed childcare funding arrangements to raise uptake of the free entitlement will see councils having to pass more money to providers, which could affect the amount of area-wide support they offer to boost provision, say experts

Negotiations have begun on new national GP funding formula

Negotiations have begun on new national GP funding formula

Benefit or Burden? On the Intergenerational Inequity of Teacher Pension Plans

Most public school teachers in the United States are enrolled in defined benefit (DB) pension plans. Using administrative microdata from four states, combined with national pension funding data, we show these plans have accumulated substantial unfunded liabilities—effectively debt—owing to previous plan operations. On average across 49 state plans, an amount that exceeds 10% of current teachers’ earnings is being set aside to pay for previously accrued pension liabilities. To the extent that the costs of the unfunded liabilities drag on teacher compensation, they may exacerbate problems of teacher recruitment and retention. We briefly discuss three policy changes that could end or reduce the accumulation of unfunded liabilities in educator pension plans: (1) transition teachers to defined-contribution retirement plans, (2) transition teachers to cash-balance retirement plans, and (3) tighten the link between funding and benefit formulas within the current defined-benefit structure.

Funding variations for pupils with special educational needs and disability in England, 2014

This study explores the funding variations by English local authorities (LAs) in January 2014 for pupils with special educational needs and disability (SEND). Two quintile groups ( n = 30) are used for comparing LAs with low and high levels of statements and case studies are presented to further explore the allocations. The research findings provide a baseline for LA critical self-reviews and benchmarking of any revised funding formulae. Authorities that make limited use of statements are found to have significantly lower budgets for SEND pupils with and without statements, are more inclusive and make use of statements to primarily access special settings. Evidence is presented to affirm that the government’s current allocation methods, in part based on past levels of funding, can seriously challenge and undermine those LAs with a policy of inclusion and controlled use of statements, as these latter LAs may also wish to make vigilant use of education, health and care plans from September 2014.

Special Education Funding in Pennsylvania: The Effects of a Policy of Neglect

The past 10 years have seen substantial changes in special education enrollments and funding in Pennsylvania. School district enrollments have been declining slightly, while the number of special education students in charter schools has been increasing. District expenditures for special education have steadily increased, while state subsidies for special education have stagnated for the past six years and the state share of support has declined. This state policy choice has resulted in an increase in districts’ costs of over $500 million to replace the lost state share. Along with the charter school enrollment increases have come substantial district tuition payments to charter schools, totaling over $1 billion from 2009–2010 through 2013–2014. Over half of these payments, $550 million, are in excess of the charter schools’ reported expenditures for special education, providing charter schools with a disguised subsidy for their general operations. The new special education funding formula from the legislature, while a step in the right direction, has not yet provided enough new money to make any substantial difference for district budgets.

A preliminary analysis of California’s New Local Control Funding Formula

California recently overhauled its K–12 public education finance system. Enacted in 2013, the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) replaced California’s 40-year-old funding formula. The LCFF increases district officials’ fiscal flexibility; provides more resources to districts serving larger proportions of low-income, English learner (EL), and foster youth students; and requires district officials to engage community members in district decisions. This article expands on a study conducted by a team of 12 independent researchers that investigated the early implementation of the LCFF. The study sought to answer three research questions: (a) how are district officials using their newfound budget flexibility? (b) how are district officials engaging parents and other stakeholders? (c) what are the opportunities provided to districts under the LCFF and the challenges it creates for them? Data include 71 semi-structured interviews with district stakeholders across 10 diverse districts in California and 22 interviews with county office of education (COE) officials across the state. Findings include that respondents were cautiously optimistic about the LCFF. District officials appreciated increased budget flexibility and the focus on community engagement. Inevitably, however, district and COE officials experienced challenges in implementing the law during its first year.

‘Scant detail’ in DfE's fairer funding formula consultation

– New research shows extent of funding crisis facing secondary schools – Fears remain that ‘fairer funding’ will see many schools lose money

Funding formula needs to be flexible

MA Education Ltd, St Jude's Church, Dulwich Road, London, SE24 0PB. neil.henty@markallengroup.com

The real reason for the huge NHS overspend?

40 British Journal of Healthcare Management 2016 Vol 22 No 1 © 2 01 6 M A H ea lth ca re L td behaviour is effectively removed and small number monthly variation is minimised. The periods of high unexplained death shows up in a running 12-month total as an inverted ‘V’, where the upward slope represents a step-like increase in deaths lasting for somewhere around 12 months, and the downward slope simply shows the dilution of the running total after cessation of the step-change. The magnitude of the step-change is shown by the difference from trough to peak and, as can be seen in Figure 1 can be very large or even seemingly absent on some occasions. Differences in timing between local government areas can be discerned, and these differences arise from very small area spatial spread of an as yet unidentified agent (Jones, 2015c-f). Increased medical admissions and bed occupancy mirrors the increase in deaths (Jones, 2015b; 2015h–i; 2016). Figure 1 illustrates the principle that something strange—probably infectious–is happening, which affects levels of medical admission and costs. Also note that the funding formula does not contain any correcting factors to account for this behaviour (Jones, 2013). Table 1 quantifies the magnitude of these step-like increases in death for a variety of the largest regions (in italics) and counties during a number of these suspected infectious outbreaks. Both maximum step-up and step-down are shown in the last two columns simply because the value of the step-down gives an alternative measure for the strength of each event. Immediately apparent is a wide range in percentage increases between regions for each event, with the 2004 (and to a lesser extent 2002) event being below the limit of detection (n/a) in a range of locations. Generally speaking, the 2012 and 2014 events are the highest in magnitude, with 60% of all local government areas in England and Wales having the greatest magnitude of increase in deaths (and hence medical admissions) in 2014, and as such will have the greatest impact upon NHS financial pressures. However, the principle observation is that different locations will experience different cost pressures, such as Essex (+5.4%) in the 2010 event versus +0.6% in Rod Jones The real reason for the huge NHS overspend?

Government funding framework for South African Higher Education Institutions

Since the early 1950s, only four funding formulae have been used for public funding of higher education institutions in South Africa. From the introduction of the Holloway formula in 1953 to the current New Funding Formula (NFF), implemented in 2004, the underlying factors that determine the base of funding for higher education stayed the same. Some principles, such as weighted stu-dent numbers, changed the calculation of students, but student intake, student output and research output still determine funding. While the basis of funding did not change much, the amounts per unit changed significantly, especially since 2001. Research became the focus of some universities, while others in-creased their student intake in order to generate the maximum amount of in-come from government subsidies. The NFF continues to evolve and managerial staff needs the necessary knowledge on the basics of subsidy to make informed decisions. With the new cycle for enrolment planning being done from 2014 to 2019, knowledge of the NFF is more important than ever.

The Broad Implications of the First Nation Caring Society Decision: Dealing a Death-Blow to the Current System of Program Delivery On-Reserve & Clearing the Path to Self-Government

On January 26, 2016, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (the “Tribunal”) released a watershed decision in a complaint spearheaded by the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada, its Executive Director, Dr. Cindy Blackstock, and the Assembly of First Nations (the “Caring Society” decision). The complaint alleged that Canada, through its Department of Indigenous and Northern Affairs (“INAC” or the “Department”), discriminates against First Nations children and families in the provision of child welfare services on reserve. In its decision, the Tribunal found that INAC’s design, management and control of child welfare services on reserve, along with its funding formulas, cause a number of harms to First Nations children and families that amount to discrimination, most notably among these is the systemic underfunding of such services. Canada has decided not to appeal the decision. The decision is the first in Canada to begin to examine the problems and harms existing within the current system of program delivery in First Nations communities. These problems and harms are not unique to the delivery of child welfare on reserve, but extend to all core services including health, social welfare, assisted living, daycare, education, housing and infrastructure, policing and emergency services. In First Nations communities, all of these services, although delivered by First Nations themselves, are governed by a complex web of federal funding directives, policies and funding agreements, wherein the primary program delivery standard is ‘comparability’ with the provinces/territories services. The current system of program delivery on reserve has been variously described as “program devolution,” “self-management,” and “self-administration.” Unless referring to a specific feature of this system, I generally refer to all of it herein as the current system for program delivery on reserve, or “CSPD” for short. Over the years, the Auditor General of Canada has raised numerous concerns with CSPD. In 2011, the Auditor General went so far was to say that it “severely limit[s] the delivery of public services to First Nations communities and hinder[s] improvements in living conditions on reserves.” The CSPD, which has been in place for decades despite several calls for reform by the Auditor General and others, is so convoluted that it is almost impenetrable. But the Caring Society decision has shed light on some of it ugly features and, most importantly, arms First Nations with the necessary tools to finally dismantle this entirely unacceptable system. In this paper, I detail how CSPD has come to be, how it operates and how it has persisted over numerous decades despite several calls to implement self-government in its stead. Next, I shed a light on all of its ugly features by setting forth an inventory all of the problems and the harms it causes First Nations people. Systemic underfunding is but one among many of the serious harms caused by CSPD. Finally, I discuss how the Caring Society decision has discredited significant parts of CSPD and how the decision can be used to unravel the rest. I argue that the decision points us to the one true alternative to this unacceptable system — First Nations self-government — which is long overdue.

Infectious-like spread of an agent leading to increased medical hospital admission in the North East Essex area of the East of England

This work documents the spread of a new type of infectious-like outbreak leading to a step-increase in emergency medical admissions. It employs a running 12 month sum of emergency medical admissions to detect step-like changes in admissions from small areas, namely Mid Super Output Area (MSOA) geographical areas and from GP practice enrolled patients. A general 25% step-like increase in emergency medical admissions occurred around November of 2008 in North East Essex due to gradual spatial spread of an infectious-like agent. Earliest incidence seems to be around August 2007 at a GP surgery in the Castle ward of Colchester leading to a 21% increase in medical admissions. The next major incidence appears to be around January of 2008 at a GP Surgery in the Shrub End ward of Colchester with a 32% increase in admissions. Sporadic occurrences can be seen in April and May of 2008 in four small areas with 21% to 65% increases in medical admissions. The major outbreak occurred in October, November and December of 2008, hence the apparent November 2008 date seen in the aggregated data for the entire area. Further sporadic spread continues through to October 2009. Several small areas appear to have escaped the outbreak, notably a rural GP practice in the village of Lawford and an area of Colchester dominated by student bed sits. More deprived elderly communities represent the social groups most affected. The outbreak shows strong age dependence which is reminiscent of what is termed ‘original antigenic sin’, i.e. age at first exposure to a strain of an infectious agent determines the quality of the immune response to later exposure to different strains of the same agent. There is evidence to suggest that residents of nursing homes are affected earlier and more strongly than others while those who die in hospital show only a modest increase, i.e. the infection generally leads to sustained poor health rather than death. Analysis of the primary diagnoses for those admitted to hospital strongly suggests that the agent may be the common herpes virus cytomegalovirus and this is consistent with the apparent time cascade in disease which emanates out of each outbreak. Other explanations may be possible. These findings have profound public health implications regarding the infectious origin of disease, to the funding formula used to distribute health care funds both in the UK and elsewhere and to the interpretation of age-standardized admission rates for medical admissions.

Outcomes‐Based Funding: Origins and Implications for the SEM Practitioner

Recently there have been greater calls for accountability within higher education, with a particular emphasis on retention and completion. More frequently than not, this accountability manifests itself through state funding formulas in which a percentage of state funds are directed towards performance. This article examines the history and trends associated with “outcomes‐based funding” and potential impacts for strategic enrollment management work.