The Business Advisor (schools) will present a report, Document JK, which asks the Forum to consider the consultation document, which outlines the proposals for the Schools Block, the formulae to be used to calculate budgets for Primary and Secondary schools and academies for the 2019/20 financial year and the criteria that will form the basis of the allocation of additional funding to schools (and academies where appropriate) from DSG centrally managed funds.

Recommended –

The Schools Forum is asked to agree that the consultation (Document JK Appendix 1) is published.

(Andrew Redding – 01274 432678)

The Business Advisor (Schools) presented a report, Document JK, which asked the forum to consider the consultation document setting out the proposals for the schools block, the formulae to be used to calculate budget shares for primary and secondary schools and academies for the 2019/20 financial year and the criteria that would form the basis of the allocation of additional funding to schools (and academies where appropriate) from schools block centrally managed funds. The business advisor emphasised that forum members are only asked at this stage to agree to the publication of the consultation document.

The Business Advisor explained that the 7 decisions that are required to be taken in setting 2019/20 Schools Block arrangements are mostly similar to those required last year but are technically simpler as we have now made the more significant move to use national funding formula at local level. The headline proposal within the 2019/20 document is the transfer of £2m from the Schools Block to the High Needs Block. This proposal directly influences a number of the other decisions, including the value at which the Minimum Funding Guarantee for primary and secondary schools and academies is set. In discussing this proposal within the consultation document, the extent to which the Schools and High Needs Blocks are inter-connected has been emphasised.

The Business Advisor stated that the 3 Formula Funding Working Group meetings have been helpful in providing the opportunity for the Authority to discuss further with Forum Members the context and reasons for the proposal to transfer £2m to the High Needs Block. 2 key pieces of feedback from the FFWG meetings are that the Authority is not yet showing how the pressure (the forecasted deficit) within the High Needs Block is to be resolved and that it will be helpful in the discussion on how this is to be resolved for the Authority to set out the contributions that will need to be made from the Schools Block in the future. The Business Advisor stated that the Authority will be working as a priority to set out our High Needs Block future 5 year financial strategic plan. Balancing the High Needs Block in the future however, in the absence of the release of the national funding formula damping, will be extremely challenging. On current information, it is not realistic to assume that this damping will be substantially released over the medium term. In this context, further contributions to the High Need Block from the other blocks within the DSG are likely to be necessary.

The Vice Chair stated that this strategic plan must incorporate health and social care; these agencies have a part to play and a financial contribution to make. The knock on consequences of pressures and actions must be assessed and worked through holistically. This statement was strongly supported by Forum Members.

An Academies Member asked whether the SEND funding information attached to the consultation has been presented in this way previously. The Business Advisor responded that, although notional SEND information is published, we have not brought the notional SEND, AEN and EHCP funding information together in the same way before. The Member added that this analysis shows that 50% of the DSG’s SEND funding in Bradford is in the Schools Block with 50% in the High Needs Block. How this relates to other data should be more closely assessed; 1.1% of our school’s population is in specialist provision, which is the same as the Leeds City region, but is lower than Manchester, for example, where 2% of the school’s population is in specialist provision.

Resolved –

That the consultation document, as attached to Document JK, be published.

LEAD:                        Business Advisor (Schools)