Agenda item

To consider the attached report of the Assistant Director, Finance and the Assistant Director, Education.

Consideration was given to a report of the Assistant Director of Finance and the Assistant Director of Education with regard to DSG Funding for 2021-22, which provided information regarding the allocation of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) funding for 2021-22.

Members of the Forum were informed that the provisional DSG settlement for 2021-22 of £229.965m was received on 17 December 2020.  It was explained that all DSG funding must be deployed to schools and/or pupils in accordance with the School and Early Years Finance (England) Regulations 2020.

A breakdown of the latest settlements for the four blocks of DSG was provided, as follows:

It was explained that the increase of £13.163m in Schools Block was related to the increase in pupil numbers, roll in of the teachers’ Pay and Pension Grants, uplift for RPIX and increase in DfE funding rates.

The increase in High Needs Block funding was explained as relating to an increase in pupil numbers along with the ‘per head’ gain Tameside has seen as a result of the National Funding Formula (NFF).

With regard to the Early Years Block, Members were informed that the increase was related to the increase in DfE funding rates.  Similarly, the increase in the Central Schools Services Block (CSSB) also related to an increase in DfE funding rates, which included an element of funding for the roll in of the central teachers’ pension grant, along with increased pupil numbers.

It was explained that the Schools Block was the largest element of Dedicated Schools Grant funding and provided the majority of funding for mainstream schools and academies, with additional elements potentially being allocated through the Early Years and High Needs Blocks.  It was outlined that the Schools Block settlement from the Department for Education was made up of the following funding:

1. A primary unit of funding (PUF) of £4,601.57
2. A secondary unit of funding (SUF) of £5,902.47

This core school funding covered all pupil and school led factors in the funding formula.  Members of the Forum were made aware that Primary and Secondary units of funding were multiplied by the pupil numbers in Reception to Year 6 plus pupils aged 4 to 10 who were not assigned to a year group for Primary, and pupils in Years 7 to 11, plus pupils aged 11 to 15, not assigned to a year group for Secondary.

• Premises – this includes Private Finance Initiative (PFI) and business rates which were based on historical spend
• Mobility – to support schools in which a high proportion of pupils first join on a non-standard date
• Growth – this was calculated using the difference between the Primary and Secondary numbers on roll on the October 2019 and October 2020 school censuses

The report detailed the total Schools Block settlement for 2021-22 was £183.801m which included £7.574m of protected funding for the teachers’ pay and pension grants.  With regard to the proposed funding formula for Mainstream Schools, reference was made to the previous decision of Schools’ Forum to support a disapplication request to the Secretary of State in order to move 1% from the Schools Block to the High Needs Block. 

Forum Members were informed that a 1% transfer was not affordable within the funding settlement, whilst adhering to National Funding Formula (NFF) rates, as previously agreed with Schools’ Forum.  Therefore, should the disapplication request be approved, a transfer of 0.575% would be made, resulting in a £1.009m transfer from the Schools Block to the High Needs Block.

As Schools’ Forum had also previously agreed to support a 0.5% transfer, in the event of the disapplication request being rejected, it was outlined that this would result in a £0.877m transfer of Schools Block funding to the High Needs Block.  Members were informed that the £0.132m remaining would be added to the growth fund as unallocated growth in order to support any additional, unknown growth requirements.

It was explained that PFI funding continued to be de-delegated to the relevant schools and these figures had been uplifted by RPIX of 1.56%, which reflected the increase in the unitary charge paid for the delivery of PFI services,  it was also explained that this element of funding would be recovered by the LA in 2021-22, as had been the case in previous years.

With regard to business rates, Members were made aware that these were funded to the equivalent value of the business rates charge for 2021-22.  An estimate of business rates had been calculated, as the actual charges would not be available until late March/early April 2021, with adjustments being be made accordingly, once charges were confirmed.

Members were informed that, for 2021-22, LAs were able to set the Minimum Funding Guarantee (MFG) between +0.5% and +2% per pupil.  In the Schools’ Forum paper, November 2020, proposals had been outlined to include a 0.5% MFG, which was the rate MFG had now been set.

Members were informed that for 2021-22, the gains cap required was 3.64% as opposed to the 3.21% which had been consulted on.  This means that a gaining school will receive up to a 3.64% gain (0.5% as MFG plus 3.14% cap) on pupil led funding. Any gain above this is used to partly offset the MFG and allow a balanced DSG budget to be set.

The details of the report outlined growth within the borough.  This was related to the Growth Fund policy agreed by Schools’ Forum in June 2019.  Forum members were made aware of the definitions of both explicit and implicit growth; how explicit growth related directly to the Growth Fund and how implicit growth related to adjustments to pupil numbers when calculating the funding; in this case for new and growing schools.  Forum members were made aware that the estimated Growth Fund required in 2021-22 was £0.544m and, as stated in the Growth policy, the final growth allocation would be based on numbers taken from the October 2021 census.

As in previous years, Members of the Forum were asked to consider supporting safeguarding in the borough; through making a contribution of £0.103m towards the cost of Tameside Safeguarding Children Partnership (TSCP).  All schools were asked to support the continuation of this arrangement for 2021-22, which equated to approximately £2.90 per pupil.

It was stated that, in December 2020, the provisional 2021-22 High Needs Block allocation of £28.277m (before Academy recoupment) was released.  Members of the Forum were made aware that this was an increase in funding of £3.852m compared to the 2020-21 budget settlement. 

It was explained that the number of commissioned places has been agreed with Special Schools and Resourced Units for September 2021 and an outline of commissioned places was provided for Members.

Forum Members were made aware that, as part of the High Needs Review, the LA had identified a review of Top Up rates.  It was explained that this would be an extensive piece of work, of which the first stage was the launch of the Matching Need to Provision (MNTP) document.  It was outlined that future stages would include mapping current pupils onto the new document and costing these placements.  With regard to this, Members were informed that data was currently being collected from special schools and it was expected that there would be no changes to funding until April 2022.  With this in mind, current rates would remain for the financial year 2021-22.

Members were informed that COVID-19 had caused unavoidable delays with regard to the SEND review announced by DfE in September 2019.  It is now expected that a consultation process would commence early this year with the intention that any outcome would inform 2022-23 funding.  It was explained that this review would focus on:

• how the system has evolved;
• how the system can provide high quality support for SEND pupils as they prepare for adulthood including employment;
• support parents in making decisions on their pupils support;
• making sure support is joined up across health, care and education services;
• striking the balance between mainstream and specialist places; and
• understanding what is behind the rise in Educations, Health and Care Plans (EHCP’s).

With regard to Early Years Funding, the report outlined that the increase in funding for 3 and 4 years olds and 2 year olds was as the result of an increase in the rates.  It was explained that the rate the LA was funded for 3 and 4 year olds had increased by £0.06 from £4.59 to £4.65 and by £0.08 for 2 years olds, from £5.38 to £5.46.

It was stated that further consultation would need to be held with Early Years providers, regarding the increase and, therefore, an additional Schools Forum meeting would be required to agree the rates of allocation for this element of funding.  Members were informed that a report would be completed for this additional meeting, with further information on the funding arrangements for the LA and for providers.  It was agreed that this meeting would be scheduled for Tuesday 16 March 2021.

Consideration was given to the Central School Services Block (CSSB) and it was explained that this brought together:

·         funding previously allocated through the retained duties element of the Education Services Grant (ESG);

·         funding for ongoing, central functions such as admissions, which were previously top sliced from the Schools Block; and

·         residual funding for historic commitments, of which there were none for Tameside MBC.

It was stated that the total allocation to the LA for 2021-22 was £1.114m.  This was based on a per pupil element of £29.28 for ongoing duties, totaling £1.018m.  An additional unit of funding for centrally employed teachers of £2.77 had also been included to fund the pension increase (formally funded through the Teacher’s Pension Grant) for central teachers providing £0.096m of funding.  As National Copyright School Licenses were also funded from this block, the amount for 2021-22 is £0.180m.

It was further explained that operational guidance for 2021-22 required the Local Authority to formally request approval from Schools’ Forum on central retention of the following:

·         School Admissions;

·         servicing of Schools’ Forum; and

·         contribution to responsibilities that LAs hold for all schools (the retained duties element of the ESG)

RESOLVED

(i)    That the contents of the report be noted and supported

(ii)  That the Funding Formula for mainstream schools be approved

(iii)That the Growth Fund be approved

(iv)That contribution to Tameside Safeguarding Children’s Partnership be approved

(v)  That the allocation of the Central Services Block be approved