Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest from Members of the Board.

Consideration was given to the minutes of the meeting of Schools Forum, which was held on 7 March 2023.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the meeting of Schools Forum, which was held on 7 March 2023, be approved as a correct record

Consideration was given to a report of the Director of Resources and the Assistant Director of Education, which outlined the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) outturn position for 2022-23 and provided an update of the budget position for the financial year 2023-24.

It was noted that the financial implications statement on the report title page should be amended from £3.606m to £3.306m and that there was a discrepancy in the header of Table 2 of the report, which should have displayed brackets around surplus rather than deficit.  Members noted the amendments and it was agreed that the agenda pack would be updated to reflect these changes.

The outturn position against the 2022-23 DSG was provided for Members and it was noted that there was an overall deficit of £0.063m.  Members were made aware that the surplus of (£0.353m) on the Schools Block related to (£0.355m) unallocated growth, a minor variation of (£1k) on an academy conversion, which was offset by a £3k retrospective business rates charge.  It was proposed that any surplus from the Schools Block be used to contribute towards the DSG deficit. 

Continued pressure on the High Needs Block was discussed and Members were made aware that this had closed with an in-year deficit of £1.972m, which reduced to £1.018m with the (£0.954m) Schools Block transfer.

It was explained that the Early Years Block surplus, which was currently (£0.617m) related to (£0.614m) in-year surplus and (£4,000) additional funding from the final 2021-22 Early Years allocation from  DfE.  Estimations suggested that there would be a funding reduction of £0.016m for the 2022-23 financial year as the final settlement would be based on census date from January 2023.  With this in mind, it was noted that the final settlement for Early Years would be announced in July/August 2023 and that the surplus would contribute to the overall DSG deficit.

Provisional Early Years data from 2022-23 was presented to Members with distribution/spend based on actual payments to provider over the summer, autumn and spring terms for 2,3 and 4 years olds.  It was noted that the final outturn indicated an underspend of (£0.494m) for 3 and 4 year olds and (£0.084m) for 2 year olds.  Members were also made aware of an estimated surplus of (£0.028m) for the Disability Access Fund and an overspend of £0.026m on Early Years Pupil Premium.  Early Years participation rates were also discussed.

Members were informed that there was an overspend of £0.127m on the SEND Inclusion Fund (SENDIF), which was offset by an underspend of (£0.149m) on the centrally retained budget.  It had been agreed during the previous meeting of Schools’ Forum that the SEND Inclusion budget be increased for 2023-24 to meet continued demand in this area.  This had been afforded through an increase in funding rates from DfE and would be closely monitored, with updates provided throughout the financial year.

The current DSG settlement for 2023-24 and forecast distribution/spend was provided for Members.  This included the £0.694m (0.345%) transfer from the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

Consideration was given to a report of the Director of Resources and the Assistant Director of Education, which provided an update on the current DSG deficit position along with updates on the Delivering Better Value programme and the action plan to address spending pressures

Members were informed that the DSG reserve brought forward at the beginning of 2022-23 was (£3.243m) and the in-year deficit on the High Needs Block in 2022-23 was (£1.018m) after a transfer from the Schools Block of £0.954m.  It was explained that this had been offset by an underspend on the Early Years Block of £0.617m and an underspend on the Schools Block of £0.353m.  However, it was noted that these were not expected to continue, following revisions to the assumed Early Years uptake.

It was confirmed that the High Needs Block in year deficit had reduced in 2022-23 compared to previous years and suggested that this was due to a number of factors, including strong Maintained Special School (MSS) provision growth with 122 additional commissioned places in maintained special schools for September 2022 and write-offs of prior year recoupment liabilities.

It was explained that High Needs expenditure was continuing to grow rapidly, being set to more than double between 2023 and 2028.  Members were informed that, whilst growth in provision in the maintained special school sector had been a strength (with 122 additional commissioned places in September 2022 and a further 77 planned for September 2023), the DBV future year forecasts assumed that, after these planned expansions have taken place, maintained special schools would again reach capacity and usage of higher cost independent placements would increase.

It was noted that the rapid growth in EHCPs, which had historically been very low compared to GM neighbours had not been matched with growth funding due to the cap on High Needs Block gains (7%) and this had been the main factor in the High Needs Block deficit.  With this in mind, it was explained that the goal of the Delivering Better Value programme (DBV) was to identify sustainable changes to the local SEND system, which could drive high quality outcomes for children and young people with SEND and culminate in an evidence based grant application to assist in the implementation of these changes.

A detailed outline of modules 1 and 2 of the DBV programme were outlined for Members and the two main focus areas of the DBV were highlighted as:

1.   Inclusion - create an Inclusion Quality and Outreach Team, linked to existing Special Schools and Resource Provisions, and introduce a programme of training and workforce development (including parents and carers as appropriate).

2.   Transitions – establish a new Early Years Assessment Centre with co-located wrap around services. The plan to improve the effectiveness and confidence surrounding transitions will also be supported through supporting the clearance of the backlog of annual reviews and identifying those pupils that may struggle at transition and providing early support.

It was explained that these identified high impact areas also crossed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Consideration was given to a report of the Director of Resources and the Assistant Director of Education, which provided an update on the surplus balances held by schools at the end of 2022-23 financial year.

Members were made aware that overall balances had increased by £0.453m or 5% compared to 2021-22 and in particular:

•     Primary balances had reduced by £0.395m or -8%

•     Secondary balances had increased by £1.111m or 38% and

•     Special balances had reduced by £0.262m or -19% but this was largely due to an academy conversion

•     The above movement also includes the clawback of schools 2021-22 excess surplus balances of £0.197m and the writing out of balances due to schools converting to academy of £0.330m

Members were reminded that, under the Balance Control Mechanism, a school was classed as carrying an excess surplus balance if their year-end balance had either:

•     exceeded the approved surplus balance submitted to the Local Authority in June 2022

•     or,

•     school didn’t submit a return to hold balances above the sector threshold.

It was noted that a review of the 2022-23 year-end surplus balances had identified 9 schools with excess surplus balances, totalling £0.659m and shown below.  This represented a reduction compared to 2021-22, where there were 17 schools totalling £1.350m.

Members were informed that a number of schools had utilised the Capital Reserve within the scheme and current level of balances held in the Capital Reserve was £1.065m.  This represented an increase on the 2 schools that earmarked a total of £0.390m in 2021-22.

It was stated that all schools with excess balances in either Year 1 or Year 2 had been notified  There were 3 schools at risk of clawback, each of whom had submitted information they wished to be considered as exceptional circumstances, resulting in the excess surplus.

It was explained that views would be gathered from the Schools’ Funding Group, and a recommendation would be brought forward to the September meeting of School’s Forum in order for decisions to be taken in relation to invoking clawback.

Discussion ensued and it was noted that unfunded pay rises also need to be taken into consideration along with bulge years due to increased birth rates, which had significantly impacted some secondary schools, in particular.  It was noted that schools had an opportunity to provide a detailed plan and outline specific reasoning for any surpluses held and that any decisions would need to be taken sensitively and based on the individual circumstances presented.

RESOLVED

(i)  That the contents of the report and the position of schools balances at the end of 2022-23 be noted

(ii)That it  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

RESOLVED

That the next meeting of The Schools Forum be held remotely on 26 September 2023 at 10am.