DIOCESAN SCHOOL PROPERTY

Most Catholic Schools, and the land they are built on, are owned by the Diocese. They are held on charitable trust by Diocesan Trustees, appointed by the Diocesan Bishop. The role of the Diocesan Trustees is to administer the property of the Diocese in accordance with its Trust Deed, making it available to the Diocese led by the Bishop.  Schools owned by Religious Orders have their own Trustees and Trust Deeds, but are nevertheless within the authority of the Diocesan Bishop

Trustees (Diocesan or Religious Order) provide the land and buildings thereon (the School Premises) for use as a Catholic School so that those granted permission to occupy those premises may conduct a Catholic School on their behalf, under the supervision of the Diocesan Bishop.  VA School Governors or MAT Directors are granted permission to occupy the premises subject to the Trustees’ objects and any other parameters laid down by them. Whilst the Trustees permit the occupation of their school site for the time being, they do not confer any proprietary rights and controls to the occupiers. Decisions relating to the School Premises rests with the Trustees.   It is also important that school premises are correctly insured and the Trustee recommends schools arrange 100% insurance through RPA – The Risk Protection Arrangement for Schools, details of the RPA and how to join can be found on the DfE website here.

In order to allow schools to maintain and improve their buildings and grounds, the Department for Education allocates funding each year for capital projects. These funds are allocated to responsible bodies for distribution to schools and academies.  The funding streams are:

• School Condition Allowance (SCA): Allocated to the diocese for VA schools and to the MATs for their academies.
• Condition Improvement Fund (CIF): Allocated via a bidding process for MATs and some VA bodies.
• Devolved Formula Capital (DFC): Allocated directly to schools for capital projects as decided by the individual school.

Eligibility details for each of these funding streams can be found on the school capital funding pages of the DfE website by clicking here.  Guidance on the types of projects and spending timeframes for each funding source can be found in the DfE document Condition Grants Spend Guidance.

The Diocese is the responsible body for the allocation of SCA funding to VA schools and has set out a process for schools to follow in applying for SCA funding.  Please see below for our SCA Application Form and Guidance Notes.  To help governors identify and record capital work priorities we have created an Asset Management Plan template which can be downloaded below.

Whilst DFC is allocated to individual schools to spend on capital projects of their choice, the Trustee still requires a permission for works form to be completed prior to any work commencing, you can download the form below.

Please address any queries regarding school property, insurance and capital spending to Diocesan Property Services on 01604 712065 or email propertycoordinator@northamptondiocese.com