Agenda and draft minutes

Yusuf Erol                             Finance Officer

Emma Moncado                   Head Teacher, St Josephs R.C Primary School

Paul Turney                          Deputy Chief Finance Officer

Carina Vitti                            Principal – Holy Cross College

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 15 November 2022 attached

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 5 January 2023 attached

It was agreed:

1.          That the Minutes of the meeting held on 15 November 2022 be approved as a correct record of the meeting.

2        That the Minutes of the meeting held on 5 January 2023 be approved as a correct record of the meeting subject to the inclusion of apologies from Joanne Hurst and recording that Katherine Ashworth was in attendance as a substitute.

Isobel Booler reported that there were still a number of Member vacancies to be filled and the Forum was currently without a Chair .

Isobel had reported the outstanding  vacancies to headteacher groups.

Richard Ainsworth stated that he would raise the issue with the Governors Forum.

An update will be given at the meeting.

Membership list attached  

The Membership of the Forum was attached to the agenda and the item was discussed in matters arising above.

Report attached

Alison Vidler presented the Schools & Academies Funding update and explained that the focus of the Forum meeting was to consider and make recommendations on the 2023/24 funding factors that are required to be submitted to the DfE by the 21st January 2023 deadline. The recommendations will also be included in the Council budget setting requirements which go to full Council for approval on 22nd February 2023.

1.    Dedicated Schools Grant

Following the publication of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) allocations on 16 December 2022, which takes into account the fully validated October 2022 pupil census, the 2022-23 DSG for Bury was summarised in the table set out in the report. the 2022-23 baseline shown below includes the Supplementary Grant in the Schools Block and additional DSG in the High Needs Block. This is for the purpose of demonstrating the actual variance as these have been incorporated into the 2023-24 DSG.

2.    Schools Block

(a) Formula Unit Values

Schools’ Forum is required annually to recommend the formula unit values to be applied to all Mainstream Schools & Academies funding allocations. The formula unit values applied to Bury Schools and Academies funding formula already directly mirror the DfE National Funding Formula (NFF) unit values. For information the Unit Values applicable to 2023-24 and were detailed in the report provided.

(b)Mainstream Schools additional grant

The 2022 Autumn Statement announced that the core schools’ budget will increase by £2 billion in the 2023-24 financial year, over and above totals announced at the Spending Review 2021. In the 2023-24 financial year, mainstream schools will be allocated this additional funding through the mainstream schools additional grant (MSAG) 2023-24. This is in addition to schools’ allocations through the schools national funding formula. From 2024-25 onwards, the intention is that this funding will be incorporated into core budget allocations in the Schools Block of the DSG. For Mainstream Schools and Academies, the 2023-24 indicative allocation for Bury is £5,118,450. School-level allocations will be published in May 2023.

The funding rates consist of the following 3 elements, which are based on factors already in the schools national funding formula:

· a basic per-pupil rate (with different rates for primary, key stage 3 and key stage 4)

· a lump sum paid to all schools, regardless of pupil numbers

· a per-pupil rate for pupils who are recorded as having been eligible for free school meals at any point in the last six years (FSM6), with different rates for primary and secondary pupils

Grant will be calculated by multiplying the relevant funding rates using data from the October 2022 census. The Area Cost Adjustment (ACA) will then be applied.

(c)De-delegation

Schools’ Forum (Maintained Mainstream only) is required to recommend the De-delegated items

In 2022-23, the DfE grant was reduced by 50% and Forum agreed to de-delegate £7.50 per pupil. In 2023-24, following removal of the remaining grant, the proposal is to increase the de-delegated rate to £15.00 per pupil. The remaining de-delegated values have remained at the same rate for a number  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Report attached

The DSG has four separate funding blocks, of which one is the high needs block (HNB), with a deficit of £21,214,351 at the end of financial year 2021/22. The HNB deficit has been subject to a Safety Valve Agreement with the DFE since March 2021.

The HNB collectively funds specialist education provision for children and young people up to 25 years old with Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND). The main areas of funding within the HNB are for:

•  special school and further education (FE) college places including out of borough places

•  top-up funding for nurseries, mainstream schools, special schools, FE colleges and independent schools linked to Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs)

•  support for the provision of special services provided by schools and the local authority (LA), which include but are not limited to, the Sensory Service and resource provision in mainstream schools

The HNB pressure has been recognised on a national level, and forms part of the governments SEND review, including looking at how to better equip mainstream settings identify and support children and young people’s needs, instead of being met by EHCPs or specialist provision.

There was an ambitious target of £3.3m of savings to be achieved in 2022/23, which was detailed within the report. £2.9m of the planned savings have been achieved.

The report set out national demand, demand in bury, impact on capacity in the Bury SEND system, independent and non-maintained special school placements. The developments set out mean that progress in reducing the DSG deficit is slower than anticipated and it will be very challenging against the increasing activity.

Schools Forum in the past has agreed to a 0.5% transfer to the High Needs Block (HNB) from the Schools Block. For 2023/24, the Council has not proposed a transfer at that level and is proposing a smaller transfer of 0.35% instead. This decision has not been made because of there being less need in Bury. It has been made for the following two reasons:

1.           To make sure that schools are in receipt of no less than the unit values attached to the National Funding Formula factors; and

2.           There is an acknowledgement across the Council, that whilst the HNB is under severe pressure, many school are also under significant financial pressures This is a decision which can only be made annually and therefore whilst it is anticipated a further transfer will take place in future years this cannot be included within the financial model at the current time.

It was explained that the financial forecast is disappointing, particularly given the efforts made to deliver the PSV project. As a result, all aspects of High Needs Funding are subject to ongoing review and there will be further difficult decisions required and a general commitment towards ensuring the graduated approach is used to meet needs earlier.

Report attached

It was reported that the the Forum should note that the Early Years Block specifically will be adjusted in-year 2023-24 in respect to fluctuations in Early Years participation. The final funding allocation is based on two sets of January census data:

•      January 2023 accounts for April 2023 to August 2023 (5/12ths)

•      January 2024 accounts for September 2023 to March 2024 (7/12ths)

Therefore, the funding received from the DfE is based on take up of places as at the two census dates. Forum members should note that the Authority funds Early Years providers on actual take up of places, as notified by providers through the Early Years Portal. The initial indicative funding for 2023-24 was set out in the report.

Local authorities are required to pass-through at least 95% of their 3 and 4-year-old funding from the government to early years providers. This pass-through requirement ensures that most of the government funding reaches providers so that they can deliver the government’s free entitlements. The pass-through rate in Bury is 96.7%.

The percentage retained by Local Authorities is used to contribute to Early Years SEN Inclusion costs, central support services covering advisory support, sufficiency requirements, free entitlement eligibility checking, and management and administration of the complex Early Years Single Funding Formula determinations, allocations, systems, and statutory reporting requirements.

Following a consultation process, the DfE have made some changes to the formula applied to the Early Years block which impacts on the funding rates received by each Local Authority. This includes the former Teachers Pay and Pension Grant funding for Page 25 Agenda Item 7 2 Early Years settings which has been incorporated into the unit funding values for 2023-24.

The DfE funding rates for Bury were set out within the report.

RECOMMENDATION 4:

Bury’s Schools’ Forum agree the Early Years Hourly Rates specified for 2, 3 and 4 year olds.