FINANCIAL BENCHMARKING In 2019 the Department for Education ran a consultation entitled Financial transparency of local authority maintained schools and academy trusts and has begun implementing the proposals as per the government response. The School Information (England) Regulations 2020 take effect from 1 January 2021 and require maintained schools to publish on their website a link to the specific page on the Schools Financial Benchmarking dedicated to their school using the unique reference number allocated to the school by the Department for Education.