Meeting documents

Apologies were received from:

·         Mr J Bajina

·         Mr A Nobbs

·         Ms K Duckworth

·         Ms C Glasgow

·         Ms D Rutley

·         Ms J Freeman

·         Ms L Grexhammer

·         Ms A Coneron

·         Mr M Moore

There were no declarations of interest.

To agree the minutes of the meeting held on 21 March 2017 as a correct record and signed by the Chairman

The minutes of the meeting held on 21 March 2017 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Matters Arising

Item 5- Ms J Try relayed a response from  the legal department as follows:

‘There is nothing in the Constitution dealing with appeals and it would not be appropriate for the Managing Director to hear appeals since he/she has already delegated the decision to the Forum.  With any delegation the decision is usually final and provided the Forum has considered the bid I am not sure why they consider an appeals process is necessary’.

Main points from the discussion following this were:

·         Cressex Community School made an appeal, initially there was no process; this had to be put in place for a decision to be made. The appeal was upheld that included a substantial amount of funding.

·         In the history of the contingency fund how many appeals could there have potentially been? There was the process of resubmission.

·         Criteria had been established;  an independent group need to be set up

·         Judicial Review was the current route that could be taken

·         Were the forum happy to put in an extra cycle of resubmitting the application rather than an appeals process.

·         Work to be done offline to go to legal for clarification

Item 6- Green Ridge-The fund had been agreed. An exceptional case had been bought to light; this would not set a precedent and would not continue. Growth fund would come back to the September forum.

The annual review of the Schools Forum Constitution

A review of the schools forum constitution took place; changes were made and would be circulated for review.

Update report presented by Mr J Huskinson setting out the proposed new de-delegations for 2017-18 following consultation and meetings of a maintained schools working group

The  report update was presented by Mr J Huskinson, outlining the proposed new de-delegations for 2017-18 following consultation and meetings of a maintained schools working group

Recommendations

1.    That maintained primary and secondary representatives of Schools Forum agree to a de-delegation of £2.45 per pupil (£15.55 less than the original proposal in budget shares) to cover the activities set out in the detailed proposals below.

2.    That special school and PRU representatives on Forum agree a charge of £9.80 per place for their contribution for the activities set out in the detailed proposals below.

3.    That maintained schools (of any type) agree to the proposal to add £117k of de-delegated funding held on reserve to the contingency for schools in financial difficulty

4.    That the Forum reps support the proposal for the contingency panel to retrospectively address any unresolved claims from 2016/17.

5.    That the Forum notes the position on de-delegation for schools converting to academy.

Resolved, with Maintained and special schools voting-

1-  2x secondary, 2x primary- Agreed

2- Agreed.

3- 6- Unanimously Agreed.

4- To be amended to say- 2016/17 up to a maximum of £117k- Unanimously Agreed

5- Unanimously Agreed.

The Chairman thanked Mr Huskinson for the update.

Verbal update from Mr J Huskinson

This was covered under another agenda item.

Verbal update from Mrs S Callaghan

Ms S Callaghan gave a verbal update on the Education and Skills Strategy; the main points were highlighted as follows:

·         It was felt that the schools forum underpinned the financial strategy.

·         Outcomes were being explored for more vulnerable groups.

·         Dates had been circulated for people to come forward to have discussions.

·         The dates for the meetings were the 10 and 12 July 2017.

·         The political situation had shifted; there was a real opportunity to look at resources in the Local Authority, schools and other services to work smarter.

·         10 people had currently committed to being part of a working group. Drawing from the expertise within the field as well as within the County Council.

·         Needs to be a level of transparency around decision making. There were still opportunities to be innovative within the restraints of the constitution.

·         In whatever format the Local Authority create a group; roles would need to be very clear as to which group were addressing what. a strategic division would be required with clear outlines on  what the added value would be for positive outcomes on for young people. .

·         The MAT service was not a commissioned service by the County Council; this was an income generation project from the BLT.

·         BLT capacity to complete the priorities/commissioned service were being explored, no decision had been made yet.

·         There had been historic commitments to strategic goals that had been set which had not been met.

The Chairman thanked Ms Callaghan for the update.

·         It was requested that De-delegation notes were sent to schools at the earliest convenience due to starting redundancy programmes.

ACTION: Mr J Huskinson

·         The Chairman thanked The Cressex School for hosting the meeting.

Items for future meeting:

·         To confirm the Membership levels as to whether they are correct - to be done at the September 2017 meeting due to changes in the new school year.

ACTION: Ms C Beevers

·         A Member requested clarity on where schools were significantly overspent and the LA’s position and the forums position.For a paper to be prepared as reassurance to the representatives to say how this was able to happen and what would be put in place to ensure it could not happen again.

ACTION: Mr J Huskinson

11 July 2017, 1.30pm Knight Hall, Green Park, Aston Clinton

Tuesday 11 July 2017, 1.30pm, Knight Hall, Green Park, Aston Clinton