Christmas without the Presents

Springtime- a new financial year and, eyes gleaming, I can’t wait to get my hands on the budget. Not only do we have next year’s spending to plan for, but there is also a reasonable carry forward to allocate to priority projects- new lap tops, lathes and a white board or two. It’s just like Christmas- but in May. Money drives all initiatives. This is how we make things happen.

Also, we’ve been carrying devolved capital for a couple of years to pay for some smart building projects which will total nearly £750K. So we’ll have new Photography, Media and Dining facilities in the autumn if all goes to plan. It’s a remarkable bang for our buck. And we have a dozen or more administrative changes to make where staff are changing roles, increasing or decreasing hours or filling entirely new posts.

There are complex decisions around each of these issues. To make everything happen, we need to have our Finance Team both physically available and mentally switched on to what we’re trying to achieve. They are ten seconds walk away from my Office and one of the four is always available unless they are on bursar training. I’m in and out of Finance, sometimes hourly.

Financial and strategic decisions are rarely separate. They are also sometimes pretty personal to the school, about staff pay and grades- not the sort of thing you want to discuss with a stranger. So when I was asked recently to think about the benefits of ‘outsourcing’- letting a private company do the work for us, I couldn’t think of any.

Whilst I have no problem, for example, with payroll running the salary cheques each month or the bank holding our accounts, I want to be in control of the decisions. These outsourcing companies do what we tell them because their remit is limited. I would never let my bank manager make decisions for me.

The South Dartmoor Finance Team are totally focussed on the project- our school. Three of them were in our Sixth Form! They are involved in everything we do- a constant source of advice, a check against error and part of the human face of South Dartmoor. But they can also be scarier than any auditor- and they have a direct line to the Chair of Governors who drops in each week. Dare anyone send a non-order invoice? Try using your credit card to buy something at the last minute and see the reaction.

Achieving value for money? It’s in their DNA. A Subject Leader has just been told that Finance can negotiate a 30% reduction on a large text book order, saving us £700. As for cheap rail deals, they could compete with any travel agents. Value added is not just about exam results. This is our money, our school, our students and it matters to us all.

We run our own catering and cleaning operations and have an expert ICT team. All the staff are our employees with a commitment to our values and aspirations. So, for example, our ICT technicians know how to grow our system and respond to site specific problems. Imagine if they were outsourced, the frustration in having to ring a help desk and be put on hold for twenty minutes.

The Finance Team cost just 1.14% of the total budget. To provide the same level of service, a private company would have to lease its employees to us. So could they do that and still make a profit? I can see them eyeing up that carry forward and funding for buildings. It would be Christmas in the spring- but we might find our stockings would be empty.

Footnote:
South Dartmoor Community College has 1650 students on roll, 250 employees (120 teachers) and an annual budget income of £8.02 million.