The Business Advisor (Schools) will present Document HE, which summarises the decisions and recommendations that the Schools Forum is asked to make in setting the allocation of the DSG and final formula funding arrangements for the 2017/18 financial year. The Forum will be asked to take decisions / make recommendations on the items listed under the following main headings:

 

·         Schools and Early Years Block Central and De-Delegated Items

·         Growth Fund Allocations

·         The High Needs Block

·         The Allocation of Available One Off Monies

·         Early Years Funding and Pro-Forma

·         Primary & Secondary Funding and Pro-Forma

 

Recommended –

 

The Forum is asked to make final recommendations and decisions on the allocation of the 2017/18 DSG and the one off monies available.

 

(Andrew Redding – 01274 432678)

 

The Business Advisor (Schools) presented on the 11 January, Document HE, which summarised the decisions and recommendations that the Schools Forum is asked to make in setting the allocation of the DSG and final formula funding arrangements for the 2017/18 financial year. The Forum was asked to take decisions / make recommendations on the items listed under the following main headings:

 

·         Schools and Early Years Block Central and De-Delegated Items

·         Growth Fund Allocations

·         The High Needs Block

·         The Allocation of Available One Off Monies

·         Early Years Funding and Pro-Forma

·         Primary & Secondary Funding and Pro-Forma

 

Please note that the ‘option 4’ that is referred to in the list of decisions list  below relates to the Document 3 that was presented to the Schools Forum meeting 18 January 2017.

 

Recommended –

 

Please note that the ‘option 4’ that is referred to in this decisions list relates to the Document 3 that was presented to the Schools Forum meeting 18 January 2017.

 

 

1.         SCHOOLS & EARLY YEARS BLOCKS CENTRAL AND DE-DELEGATED ITEMS 2017/18

 

FUNDS FOR THE 2017/18 FINANCIAL YEAR AGREED BY SCHOOLS AND ACADEMIES MEMBERS ON A RELEVANT PHASE SPECIFIC BASIS (EARLY YEARS, PRIMARY AND SECONDARY):

 

Resolved –

 

(1)  Schools Forum Costs: agreed to continue the DSG budget at the 2016/17 value of £10,000.

 

(2)  School Admissions: agreed to continue the DSG budget at the 2016/17 value of £577,600.

 

(3)  DSG Matched Contribution to School Improvement: agreed to ratify the decision already made by the Schools Forum on 6 January 2016, but with the additional amendment agreed within the application of ‘option 4’, to

 

a.    Continue for the period 1 April 2017 to 31 August 2017 at reduced values (the values for the period 1 April 2015 to 31 August 2015 reduced by 25%) plus a further reduction of £24,121 (from the application of adjustment no. 9 under ‘option 4’).

 

b.    Cease at 31 August 2017, with the sums released to Primary, Secondary and Early Years delegated budgets in 2017/18 and 2018/19.

 

(4)  Education Services Grant Centrally Retained Duties: agreed to passport to the Local Authority’s budget 95% of the ESG Centrally Retained Duties Grant that has been transferred into the DSG Schools Block, at £1.331m in 2017/18, in support of the statutory duties delivered by the Local Authority on behalf of all state funded schools and academies. This incorporates the 5% reduction agreed within the application of ‘option 4’ (adjustment no. 8).

 

(5)  Early Years Single Formula Adjustments: agreed to hold a contingency of £200,000 within the EYSFF (Early Years Block) to meet the costs of in year adjustments relating to the termly recalculation of nursery funding and any specific EYSFF exceptional circumstances allocations.

 

 

SCHOOLS MEMBERS REPRESENTING MAINTAINED SCHOOLS ONLY AGREED THE FOLLOWING VALUES OF DE-DELEGATED FUNDS AS PER DOCUMENT HC AND ITS APPENDICES 1 AND 2 FOR THE 2017/18 FINANCIAL YEAR:

 

(6)  ESBD School Support (Primary only): continue de-delegation from the primary phase at the 2016/17 per pupil value.

 

(7)  Costs of FSM Eligibility Assessments: continue de-delegation from both the primary and secondary phases at the 2016/17 per FSM values, with contributions containing to be taken using FSM Ever 6 data.

 

(8)  Fisher Family Trust: continue de-delegation from the primary phase at the cost of subscription. The representatives of maintained primary schools agreed for the Chair and Vice Chair to work with officers to agree the final subscription option for the primary phase. Agreed not to de-delegate for this purpose from the secondary phase.

 

(9)  Trade Union Facilities Time – Negotiator Time: continue de-delegation from the early years, primary and secondary phases at the 2016/17 per pupil values.

 

(10)       Trade Union Facilities Time – Health and Safety Time: continue de-delegation from the early years, primary and secondary phases at the 2016/17 per pupil values.

 

(11)       School Maternity / Paternity ‘insurance’ fund: continue de-delegation from early years (nursery schools) and primary phases at a value forecasted to afford the scheme for a full year and repay the 2016/17 overspending. Cease de-delegation for / access to this scheme for the secondary phase at 1 July 2017 (so no new claims after 1 July but with existing claims honoured until these expire), with a full year de-delegation contribution initially taken and an end of year reconciliation of cost with reimbursement back to contributing schools (where necessary).

 

(12)       School Staff Public Duties and Suspensions Fund: continue de-delegation from the early years (nursery schools) and primary phases for a full year, providing a total budget of £40,000. Cease de-delegation from the secondary phase for this purpose from April 2017 (meaning that no fund will be available to the secondary phase in 2017/18).

 

(13)       School Re-Organisation Costs (Safeguarded Salaries): continue de-delegation from both the primary and secondary phases for the actual cost of continuing safeguarded salaries.

 

(14)       School Re-Organisation Costs (Sponsored conversions budget deficits): de-delegate from the primary phase to provide a sum of £150,000 that will be available to meet the cost of deficit balances of primary schools that convert to academy status under sponsored arrangements during 2017/18. The Schools Forum to be provided with in year monitoring reports where this provision is used.

 

(15)       Exceptional Costs & Schools in Financial Difficulty: continue de-delegation from the primary phase to provide a budget of £100,000. Cease de-delegation from the secondary phase for this purpose at 1 April 2017 (meaning that no fund will be available to the secondary phase in 2017/18).

 

 

ALL FORUM MEMBERS BY CONSENSUS AGREED THE PRINCIPLES BEHIND THE MANAGEMENT OF THESE FUNDS, THAT:

 

(16)       Funds set for 2017/18 will continue to be managed by the Schools Forum. The Forum will be provided with monitoring reports during the year, especially showing the impact of further conversions of maintained schools to academy status between April and September.

 

(17)       Any over or under spending against these 2017/18 funds will be written off from, or added back to, the DSG’s de-delegated funds in 2018/19 on a maintained school phase specific, fund specific, basis i.e. if maintained primary schools overspend in the maternity / paternity insurance scheme fund the value of the fund created through de-delegation in 2018/19 will need to compensate for this.

 

(18)       These decisions set the position for the 2017/18 financial year only. All de-delegated funds are required by the Regulations to be reviewed for 2018/19. It is expected that de-delegation will be required to cease across all areas at 1 April 2019.

 

 

2.         GROWTH FUND ALLOCATIONS AND PROVISION 2017/18

 

ALL SCHOOLS AND ACADEMIES MEMBERS BY CONSENSUS AGREED TO:

 

(19)       That the allocations from the Growth Fund for existing & known expansions and bulge classes in 2017/18, listed for reference in Document 8 (the values of these allocations are slightly amended following the application of the adjustments numbered 5 to 7c under the agreed ‘option 4’ – the value of confirmed allocations is £1,634,161).

 

(20)       That an additional planned budget of £980,000 to be held for new in year allocations for both Primary and Secondary schools and academies. This planned budget is split £300,000 Primary and £680,000 Secondary.

 

 

3.         THE HIGH NEEDS BLOCK 2017/18

 

ALL FORUM MEMBERS BY CONSENSUS AGREED:

 

(21)       To retain all current budget allocations within the High Needs Block in the 2017/18 financial year unless otherwise specifically stated. This is done on the understanding that the review and re-commissioning of SEND teaching support services may mean that centrally managed budgets are re-aligned during the financial year.

 

(22)       To retain the existing structure of the High Needs Funding Model (Place-Plus) to calculate delegated allocations for the 2017/18 financial year but with the following amendments:

 

a.    To adjust the cash budget protection factor applied to special schools, DSPs and the primary behaviour centres, so that this factor limits a setting’s reduction in Place-Plus funding to 3.0% of last year’s allocation.

 

b.    To establish at April 2017 a small setting funding factor for resourced provisions attached to mainstream settings, which would be applied for the funding of DSPs (not ARCs) and the primary behaviour centres.

 

(23)       To calculate the initial planned cost of High Needs Block spending in 2017/18 on the allocation of places for Bradford-located settings outlined in Document HE Appendix 2. To reduce however, the value of planned budget for the creation of additional places by £152,200 (this is the additional adjustment no. 15 agreed under the application of ‘option 4’).

 

(24)       To help support meeting the funding gap in the overall DSG that is the result of the growth in pressure in the High Needs Block, and to continue to secure efficient use of monies, by making the following adjustments:

 

a.    Reduce the rates of Top Up in the HNB Funding Model for all Place-Plus calculated budgets by 1.5% (‘option 4’ no. 2).

 

b.    Reduce all centrally managed / non-Place-Plus HNB budgets by 5% (‘option 4’ no.s 4 and 10).

 

c.    That, for the mainstream SEN Funding Floor, the variable values are reduced by 1.5%, and the lump sum values, reduced by 25% (‘option 4’ no.s 3 and 13).

 

d.    Remove the specialist equipment budget for special schools (‘option 4’ no.s 11 and 12), meaning that no additional funding will be allocated to special schools for this purpose in 2017/18.

 

e.    Reduce the DSG’s planned budget on alternative provision by £100,520 through the amendment of the formulaic basis of the funding of pupils without EHCPs from September 2017. How this saving is to be delivered (via either a direct reduction in funding allocated to provisions or through reimbursement from the BACs) is to be further discussed with the provisions and the BACs Strategic Group. (‘option 4’ no. 14).

 

(25)        That the Early Years Block will make a contribution of £300,000 in 2017/18 to match fund the existing High Needs Block budget of £300,000 (‘option 4’ no. 1). This will create a total budget of £600,000 for Early Years SEND Inclusion. How this budget is to be allocated, building on current practice, will be considered by the Early Years Working Group, with recommendations to be presented to the Schools Forum in March.

 

 

4.         THE ALLOCATION OF ONE OFF MONIES (DSG UNDERSPEND)

 

ALL FORUM MEMBERS NOTED THAT:

 

(26)       Further approval is not sought for the allocation of the £75,724 relating to funds to be retained for the same purpose or re-allocated back to delegated budgets in 2017/18 (as this is a requirement of the Finance Regulations).

 

(27)       No value of one off monies is allocated generally into delegated formula funding budgets in 2017/18.

 

(28)       £3.544m of the £5.798m has already been committed to be spent after 1 April 2017 by decisions taken by the Schools Forum taken at previous meetings (shown in sections 1 and 2 of Document HB Appendix 2). Members are not being asked to revisit these:

 

a.    Financial Support for Beckfoot Upper Heaton Academy                                  £1.938m

b.    Post Opening Diseconomies of Scale – Bradford Forster Academy             £0.324m

c.    Joint Improvement Investment Fund (retained balance)                                   £0.294m

d.    Behaviour Support monies                                                                                       £0.338m

e.    Deficit of a Secondary School Converting to Academy Status                       £0.650m

 

 

ALL FORUM MEMBERS BY CONSENSUS AGREED TO:

 

(29)       Retain £500,000 to be spent in 2018/19 to provide some additional protection, for 2018/19 only, against the reduction in funding rates for the 3 and 4 year old free entitlement provision that will come from the DfE’s national early years funding reform at April 2018. How the £500,000 will be allocated into the Early Years Single Funding Formula in 2018/19 will be further considered by the Early Years Working Group.

 

(30)       Earmark £520,790 of reserve to be used to offset the gap in the 2017/18 DSG budget following the application of ‘option 4’ should this be necessary (should the spending position of the DSG not change during 2017/18 to the negate the need to call on this reserve).

 

(31)       Retain the remaining £1.232m as the DSG’s resilience reserve.

 

 

5.         EARLY YEARS FUNDING AND PRO-FORMA 2017/18

 

SCHOOLS AND ACADEMIES MEMBERS (BY CONSENSUS ON A PHASE SPECIFIC BASIS) AGREED:

 

(32)       To ‘ring-fence’ the Early Years Block in 2017/18 and to apply this principle in future years. Ring-fencing means that:

 

a.    Contributions are not taken from the Early Years Block in support of pressures in any other DSG Block, with the exception of the funding of the Early Years SEND Inclusion budget, where it is expected that the Early Years Block will contribute alongside High Needs Block resources and that the Early Years Block’s contribution will increase where spend on Early Years SEND Inclusion increases.

 

b.    Increases and decreases in both expenditure and income relating to the Early Years Block are contained within the Early Years Block i.e. the Early Years Block manages its own pressures.

 

c.    Any over or under spending in the Early Years Block in 2017/18, that is not dealt with in 2017/18, will be recycled back into or written off from the 2018/19 Early Years Block.

 

d.    Within the Early Years Block, the budget for the 2 year old offer is treated discretely from the budget for the 3 and 4 year old offer with a ‘passporting’ principle applied. This means in 2017/18 that the increase in the 2 year old rate of funding within the DSG is passed on to 2 year old hours providers and that the decrease in the 3 and 4 year old funding rate within the DSG is passed on to 3 and 4 year old hours providers.

 

e.    The specific funding added by the DfE into the Early Years Block for the Nursery School Supplement is spent only on supporting our nursery schools. In 2017/18, this funding is utilised in maintaining 2016/17 rates of funding for the delivery of the 3 and 4 year old offer in the nursery schools.

 

(33)       To the structure of the Early Years Single Funding Formula (EYSFF) for 2017/18. In summary, allocations for early years providers will be calculated as follows:

 

a.    Using the technical, administrative, payment and counting arrangements, and timetable, that are already established and have been used to calculate and pay allocations in the current 2016/17 financial year. The full details of these arrangements are set out in the Technical Statement. The administration of the extended 30 hours offer from September 2017 will be brought into these existing administrative arrangements.

 

b.    The 2 Year Old Offer:

 

                                  i.    The simple universal rate of funding per hour for all types of provider, without supplement, will be retained.

 

                                ii.    This rate is set at the value of the rate the Government funds the Early Years Block (EYB) i.e. 100% pass through of the Government’s rate to providers, which has BEEN confirmed at £5.20 in 2017/18.

 

c.    The 3 and 4 Year Old Offer, incorporating the extended 30 hours entitlement:

 

                                  i.    Continue to use 3 different Setting Base Rates (nursery classes, nursery schools and PVI providers). The same rates will be used to fund the 15 and the 30 hour entitlements in each type of setting.

 

                                ii.    Continue our current Deprivation and SEN Supplement, using the 3 year average of Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) data. Our total spending will be reduced from 13.2% of budget currently to 10%.

 

                               iii.    Cease the separate (and additional) formula funding for looked after children, currently funded at £333 per term. Looked After Children will continue to receive additional funding through the Early Years Pupil Premium.

 

                               iv.    Bring the catering supplement for nursery schools into the nursery school setting base rate and deprivation rate funding (this is a technical change that does not change levels of funding allocated to individual schools).

 

                                v.    Continue Bradford’s nursery school sustainability supplement, without reduction, but bring the extended 30 hours into the calculation of this from September 2017.

 

                               vi.    Maintain 2016/17 rates of funding for the delivery of the 3 and 4 year old offer in the nursery schools (utilising the DfE’s specific Nursery Schools Supplement).

 

                             vii.    Reduce 3 and 4 year old funding rates according to the needs of affordability (so that the overall Early Years Block balances for 2017/18) with reference to the expected trajectory of the Government’s funding reform, as set out in Document HD Appendix 5.

 

(34)       To approve the Early Years Pro-Forma for 2017/18, set out in Document HD Appendix 5. This pro-forma sets out the proposed setting base rates of funding under the full EYSFF for 2017/18 as well as the mean deprivation and SEN rate. Please note that deprivation and SEN rates for individual providers will be confirmed once January 2017 postcode data is available to calculate updated IMD scores. 

 

 

6.         PRIMARY AND SECONDARY FORMULA FUNDING AND PRO-FORMA 2017/18

 

SCHOOLS AND ACADEMIES MEMBERS (BY CONSENSUS ON A PHASE SPECIFIC BASIS) AGREED:

 

(35)       The value of the DSG’s contribution to the Building Schools for the Future affordability gap for 2017/18 set at £6,607,720, which is the 2016/17 value plus an estimated 3.5% RPIX (an increase of £223,449). That this contribution be split between schools on the same % basis as in 2016/17 (based on the school’s unitary charge value).

 

(36)       That all the ‘option 4’ adjustments relating to reductions in the values of delegated formula allocations for primary and secondary schools and academies, as set out in Document 3 – numbers 5, 6, 7a, 7b and 7c - be applied. This has the effect of transferring to the High Needs Block in 2017/18 the sum of £5.605m from the delegated formula funding budget within the Schools Block. Added to the additional £94,178 transferred from the centrally managed Schools Block under option 4 (adjustment numbers 8 and 9), it is agreed that a sum of £5.70m in total is transferred to the High Needs Block in 2017/18 from the Schools Block.

 

(37)       The Primary and Secondary Pro-forma for the 2017/18 financial year, using Document 9 as a reference point. Members understood that, in agreeing the application of ‘option 4’ consent is also given for the submission on the Pro-forma to the Education Funding Agency calculated on this basis. That the final Pro-forma be circulated to Members for their reference.

 

(38)       That updated information is provided to the March meeting on the anticipated volume of conversions of maintained schools to academy status in Bradford and the likelihood of liabilities resulting from the conversion of schools holding deficit budgets.

 

(39)       That additional information is provided to a future Forum meeting on the causes of the changes (reductions) in the percentages of primary-aged children recorded in the October 2016 Census as eligible for Free School Meals under the Ever 6 Free School Meals measure. That the information to be presented also gives sight of the extent of difference in FSM% recorded for pupils in Year 6 vs. pupils in Reception.