Meeting documents

For decision.

The Chairman confirmed that Buckinghamshire County Council had now received up to date DSG figures and had revised the budget accordingly.

Ms E Williams, Head of Finance, Children’s Services, explained that in light of the new funding of £1.3m in both 2018/19 and 2019/20 made available for the High Needs Block (HNB) since the December meeting, the DfE had suggested that all Schools Forums may wish to review their decision on transfers to the HNB from Schools Block.  This was outlined in the report circulated with the agenda. Ms Williams also gave a presentation which would be appended to the minutes.

Members of the forum raised and discussed the following points:

• Ms Callaghan, Service Director for Education, explained that initial figures for reducing placements were now believed to be unrealistic. She felt more comfortable with the revised target and would be able to provide regular updates on progress.
• Ms Williams explained that cost reductions were an ongoing piece of work which involved reviewing the cost of all interventions against their impact.
• Ms Williams explained that all costs in the report were based on predicted levels estimated from current needs and were therefore subject to change. She stated that without knowing exactly what support would be required throughout the year when setting the budget it was not possible to give a definitive figure.
• The Chairman suggested a working group to review the format for presenting the data. It was felt it would be useful to review each of the seven priorities against their own budgets to see how they were performing. It was agreed the next Schools Forum Funding Group meeting, on 8 March 2019, would address this and would be open to all forum members.

ACTION: Schools Funding Forum Group

The meeting then considered the potential transfer from Schools Block to High Needs

• Several forum members stated that their colleagues had asked them to vote for a 0% transfer to HNB due to a lack of confidence in BCC actions regarding the Healthy Pupils Capital Fund. Feedback was that head teachers felt:
  • Opportunities for the County Council to work and communicate with schools had been lost.
  • Schools would prefer to keep the funding within their own budgets and direct the spend themselves.
  • This made those head teachers reluctant to agree to a transfer.
• Ms Callaghan stated that the funding was not going directly to BCC but to the schools who support SEN students regardless of their placement type. She felt that BCC had taken steps to ensure their actions were both legally compliant and in line with what other authorities were doing.

The eligible members of the forum (all head teachers and governors) voted on the following recommendations:

a)    To continue with the model agreed in December 2018, updated for the latest data and allocations, including a transfer of £0,5m from Schools Block to High Needs Block as set out in model 1a.

b)   To agree a £0 transfer from Schools Block to High Needs block, in light of the additional £1.3m funding for High Needs, as set out in modal 3a.

RESOLVED: Members of the forum AGREED to support option b).

RESOLVED: the Schools Forum Funding Group on 8 March 2019 would review the format of High Needs budget data and would be open to all Schools Forum members.