Regional Improvement Collaboratives (RICs), funding and auditing: FOI release

Information requested

 

How much funding has the Scottish Government provided to each RIC so far?

How is the money provided to each RIC (for example, is it given to one of the member councils who assumes responsibility for it, or is it managed centrally)?

Does the Scottish Government have any role in auditing, authorising or otherwise recording the spending of individual RICs?

 

Response

 

1. In answer to your first question, following agreement with COSLA on the establishment of the RICs, 2018/19 is the first year that the Scottish Government has offered funding support to all 6 of Scotland’s RICs. The following Scottish Government Grant Offers were made in response to individual resourcing requests received from each collaborative, to support their regional capacity building and planned RIC activity over the 2018/19 school year:

1. Forth Valley and West Lothian Improvement Collaborative - £899,270

2. Northern Alliance - £1,086,067

3. South East Improvement Collaborative - £1,205,029

4. South West Improvement Collaborative - £471,072

5. Tayside Collaborative - £592,550

6. West Partnership - £828,488

The actual level/s of funding that will be drawn down under these arrangements is ongoing and is subject to each Collaborative's continued development over the current school year. Further information on the Grant Offer process is included in the answers to questions 2 and 3 below.

 

2. The Scottish Government and COSLA have agreed that it is for each RIC to establish the governance and resourcing models which fit their circumstance. The answer to your second question is therefore that, in March 2019, each RIC will submit to the Scottish Government Grant Claims to draw down their first funding from the Scottish Government, including details of the local authority account/s to which that funding should be transferred.

 

3. In answer to your final question, the Scottish Government has a role in ensuring that funding transferred to each RIC under the Grant Funding arrangements outlined above is used for the purposes agreed. On receipt of each Grant Claim, the Scottish Government shall determine the amount of expenditure which they consider the Grantee has reasonably and properly incurred and shall reasonably and properly incur in connection with the Programme or activity having regard to that claim.

The Scottish Government has no role in recording or auditing the spending of RICs in areas not covered by these Grant Offers.

 

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