 Participation in RBCs was strongly encouraged by the stipulation of the funding arrangements that the council's right to retain and spend the funds for broadband connectivity was conditional upon their participation in an RBC.Councils which did not participate in an RBC were required to "devolve" the funds to schools, though there was a lack of clarity on what that meant and even less clarity on whether anything like it actually happened.The funding level had now (2001) risen to an aggregate £44 million pa. At a meeting on 27 September 2001, the leading NGfL officer, Doug Brown, formally requested the ten RBC managers to produce a plan for connecting up their networks.