The Business Advisor (Schools) will present a report, Document GG, which provides an early indicative view of the 2017/18 Dedicated Schools Grant position and identifies the cost pressures, which the Forum will have to consider in making final recommendations in January 2017.

Recommended –

The Schools Forum is asked to consider and to note the  overview provided.

(Andrew Redding – 01274 432678)

The Business Advisor (Schools) presented a report, Document GG, which provides an early indicative view of the 2017/18 Dedicated Schools Grant position and which also identifies the cost pressures, which the Forum will have to consider in making final recommendations in January 2017.

The Chair introduce this item by explaining that this is the starting point for the Forum’s consideration of the key matters that will pervade its meetings over the coming months. The flow of agenda items is as follows:

·        An overview of DSG indicative position for 2017/18 (Document GG item 9).

·        Update on announcements made over the summer on the National Funding Formula for the Schools and High Needs Blocks (Document GH item 10).

·        Presentation on the DfE’s consultation on Early Years National Funding Formula (Document GI item 11).

By this point Forum Members will have an awareness of the scale of the funding challenge we face in 2017/18 and beyond, summarised as:

·        Pressure in High Needs and needing to significantly increase the quantity of provision without sufficient additional funding from DfE in the short term (in 2017/18) and then without any certainty at this point about the longer term funding position (whether the National Funding Formula will give us sufficient funding to expand and sustain our quantity of provision).

·        The likely need to take a substantial contribution from the Primary & Secondary formula in 2017/18 to meet High Needs Block pressures. The impact that this may have on delegated budgets and pressures felt by schools and academies.

·        Schools Block National Funding Formula probably will be in place at April 2018 but there is still a great deal of uncertainty. The ring-fencing restriction relating to the Schools Block will likely come in at April 2018, with an overall formula result that is probably not good for Bradford. This is suggested by the theme of the Early Years National Funding Formula proposals (an inadequate weighting towards deprivation).

·        Reduction in Early Years funding, with very significant potential financial implications for Nursery Schools, at the same time as seeking to continue to raise quality and to deliver the Government’s extended 30 hours entitlement.

The Business Advisor (Schools) confirmed that the critical action points for the Forum at this meeting are:

·        Agreeing areas of consensus for our response to the DfE’s consultation on Early Years Funding reform, which must be submitted tomorrow (Document GI Appendix 1).

·        Agreeing the funding of the 1st tranche of 120 additional SEND places, from January 2017 (Document GJ item 12).

·        Agreeing to the publication of our consultation on Bradford’s 2017/18 primary & secondary school funding formulae and Schools Block centrally managed funds criteria (Document GK item 13).

In responding to the Business Advisor (Schools) presentation of the Document GG Appendix 1, Forum Members asked the following questions and made the following comments:

• That the DfE’s proposals for the reform of Early Years funding, which includes a reduction of £3m in the funding available for the delivery of the 3 and 4 year old free entitlement and the introduction of a universal base rate, will have a devastating financial impact on the District’s Nursery Schools.
• Clarification was sought on whether the outline suggestion for the Early Years Block to contribute £300,000 for the cost of the Early Years Inclusion Panel budget was based on the current level of contribution this Block makes to High Needs costs? The Business Advisor (Schools) confirmed that this is a correct understanding.
• Clarification was sought on the figure mentioned in the presentation of the document regarding the gap between the funding of mainstream EHCP’s / Statements and the cost of provision (salaries of support staff). The Business Advisor (Schools) confirmed that an average gap of £2.65 per hour has been calculated and that this gap has come from, and been increased by, the increased cost of salaries resulting from national changes in employer costs when funding has remained cash flat. He stressed that this was an average calculation.
• A Primary Members reminded the Forum of the view that the primary phase is currently subsidising secondary and he also stated that the time taken for the assessment of children with additional SEND meant that the primary phase is being under funded for the costs of meeting the needs of children with SEND. A Secondary Member disagreed with the statement that the primary phase is subsidising secondary. Further information was asked to be provided on the number of assessments / referrals for Education Health and Care Plans / SEN Statements by phase.
• That the situation, where expenditure pressures are increasing at the same time as income is reducing, has not been seen since the 1990s. What will happen to school carry forward balances? Members agreed that it would be useful for the Forum to see further information on the cumulative impact on delegated budgets of possible reductions in funding as well as increases in costs (such as salary costs for pay awards). The Business Advisor (Schools) explained that some schools are better placed that others to manage further substantial pressures in 2017/18. He also added that the ability of schools to manage will also be affected by the National Funding Formula going forward e.g. we have already warned that the current value of our lump sum funding is already at risk under national arrangements, which would have clear implications for the budgets of smaller schools

 (1)      That the information in Document GG be noted.

(2)       That information is provided to the next Schools Forum meeting on the number of assessments / referrals for Education Health and Care Plans / SEN Statements by phase.

(3)       That further information is provided, which will enable Forum Members and schools to understand the cumulative impact on delegated budgets of possible reductions in funding as well as increases in costs (such as salary costs for pay awards).