Agenda and draft minutes

The Co-chairs welcomed everyone to the meeting. The meeting was chaired by Andy Gillespie.

Apologies were received from Jo Robertson, Bradley Taylor and Gareth Drawmer.

There were no declarations of interest.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the Schools Forum meeting held on 16 January 2024 be agreed as a correct record.

To be presented by Jonathan Carter, Schools Accountant

The purpose of the report was to review the membership of schools forum to ensure it was in line with the pupil numbers in academies and maintained schools, and to confirm that no changes were needed to the constitution.  Elections were currently being held for vacancies on the schools forum. Members were asked to promote this.

An overview was given of the current sub-groups:-

Funding Group met before the Schools Forum and acted as a sounding board for the Forum. It was good to have a cross representation of schools.

Maintained Schools Sub Group included maintained schools only. The Group considers the proposals for de-delegations, normally meeting once each year.

Contingency Panel met once a year and had delegated authority from the Service Director to make allocations of funding to schools from the Schools Specific Contingency Fund. In considering applications for support except those relating to errors in budget shares, in all cases the school was required to demonstrate that financial difficulty would result.

The Delivering Better Value Group was part of the DBV programme which was funded by the Department for Education and aimed to support local authorities and their partners to improve the delivery of SEND services for children and young people whilst working towards financial sustainability.

Marieke Foster, Julie Manning and Suzanne Best put their names forward for the Funding Group. It was noted that all maintained schools were invited to the Maintained Schools Sub-Group. Any Members should notify the Chairman if they were interested in any of the Sub-Groups.

RESOLVED that the Forum note the actual representation to ensure the various sectors were in line with the current constitution.

To be presented by Sarah Fogden Head of Finance, Children’s Services

The purpose of the report was to update the Forum on the local funding formula for 2025-26 and to seek agreement for the continuation of the exceptional rent factor.

In the Autumn Term, the Forum would normally consider the updated Schools Revenue Funding Operational Guide issued by the DfE and agree the principles for the local funding formula in 2025-26.  Earlier this year the DfE announced that Councils would not be given an updated tool to model the 2025-26 funding formula and that the NFF values would also be delayed.  The Council had therefore been unable to provide the usual initial modelling and estimated DSG funding levels.  

The DfE had indicated that the publications usually available in July – the NFF allocations and supporting documentation would be available end of November with funding allocations available late December. Guidance had been published late last week and there was a meeting with the DfE next week where clarification would be sought on certain issues. In order to move forward with modelling quickly in December, the Council were using the following assumptions, in line with previous years, when calculating the local funding formula for 2025-26:

a)  Adopt the National Funding Formula factors.

b) Adopt the Minimum Per Pupil funding levels at the values defined in the NFF and prorate (scale) of all other factors in the formula to match the available allocation of funding from the DfE. 

c) Set a Minimum Funding Guarantee (MFG) at 0%, while last year the MFG was set at 0.5% this year the DfE have opted to uplift the baseline figure instead.

There was no need to consult with schools as there was technically no change to the MFG or on any proposals to move funding between DSG blocks.   

The DfE required Councils to apply every year to use the exceptional rent factor and as part of the application the Forum should be consulted. The factor was used to support those schools that required additional premises, currently the Council funded three schools at a total of £94,855 for this factor, from the general schools block.

In response to a question, it was noted that there were three schools affected where they did not have sufficient facilities within their site currently. Two schools hired a village hall and another school used their local leisure centre. The schools had been consulted and asked what the impact would be if the facilities were removed. This had been an ongoing cost in the formula for many years.  Another question was asked whether this could be reduced in the long term by purchasing other buildings. In response it was noted that this would need to be discussed with the Service area and availability of capital funds and whether best value was being obtained.

The Head of Finance reported that the Schools Block remained largely unchanged except:-

·         Rolling in the 2024 / 25 teachers’ pay additional grant (TPAG), the teachers pay employer contribution grant (TPECG) and the core schools budget grant (CSBG) into the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To be presented by the Chairman of the Sub-Group

The purpose of the report was to set out the proposals for existing de-delegations and former ESG funded services de-delegations 2025-26 for consideration by Schools Forum. The Maintained Schools Committee met on 8th November 2024 with an open invitation to representatives from maintained schools.  The recommendations from that meeting were included in the report.

The Chairman reported that there was a paper from the unions requesting an increase to the per pupil contribution. Information on this had also been included in the de-delegation minutes. This proposal would be considered at the January meeting. Further clarification was asked from the unions on what budget they required and details on what this would be spent on.

A union representative spoke on behalf of the NEU regarding delays on the funding which should be in place already. Schools had not been reimbursed for the summer term. There was concern that there was no rationale for the 50p rate. Funding was not for paid volunteers it was more releasing them from their normal duties so schools could reclaim that funding. Another union representative asked for further clarification on what details needed to be submitted as information had already been sent to the Council. The Head of Finance reported that the information she had currently received did not provide enough evidence for increasing the rate and should include further detail e.g. number of visits undertaken, number of officers supported, number of hours it took to complete a task, number of hours released for union representatives. The union representative asked that this information be laid out clearly so that this could be provided for the next meeting.

The DfE Operational Guide made no changes to the De-delegation definition or guidance, however the DfE had issued a clarification that “the holding of “surplus” balances whilst holding an overall deficit was not permissible”, this meant that balances considered as carry forward from prior years were no longer available. The guidance included provision to allow the de-delegation of funds to support core and additional school improvement activity.  It was important to budget carefully for the future because of this, otherwise funding could be lost in the high needs deficit. In response to a question, it was noted that if there was an overspend then this would be part of the whole DSG deficit pot.

RESOLVED that the proposals for de-delegation in 2025-26 based on the recommendations of the Maintained Schools Committee be agreed.

To be presented by Sarah Fogden Head of Finance Children’s Services

The report updated the Schools Form on the decisions of the Schools Specific Contingency Panel at its meeting on 21st May 2024 for support with eligible costs incurred during 2023-24. 

The brought forward balance to meet any claims was £249,749.   The group considered applications from 14 schools totalling £631,167. Of these schools, four claims were considered to not meet the criteria.  Claims were supported that met the Contingency Fund criteria, the majority of the agreed applications were in respect of additional costs for Head Teacher absences, unforeseen additional staff costs and costs associated with increased numbers of pupils. Appendix 1 showed details of anonymised applications and payments agreed for this financial year. Claims of £168,749 and appeals of £7,223 were agreed, this left £73,777 in the contingency balance.

The contingency fund balance would be insufficient to meet a further year of claims at the level agreed for 2023-24.

The Head of Finance reported that the last paragraph in the report had not been updated since the DfE guidance had been issued.

RESOLVED that the outcomes of the Schools Specific Contingency Panel meeting held in May 2024 to review applications be noted.

To be presented by Sarah Fogden, Head of Finance Children’s Services

Appendix (click on link below)

Agenda for Schools Forum on Tuesday, 3rd December, 2024, 1.30 pm - Modern Council

Buckinghamshire Council was required to have a Scheme for Financing Schools, which defined the financial relationship between the authority and the schools in its area.  The scheme covered such matters as banking, accounting, and audit arrangements. The statutory guidance required the Council to consult on any changes to scheme for financing schools.  The updates brought the scheme into line with the latest guidance.   The only change was to section 5.8 relating to Schools Borrowing, this was due to the introduction of International Financial Report Standard 16 (IFRS16).  The standard removed the distinction between an operating lease and a finance lease.  The revised scheme now took into account all of the latest guidance.

RESOLVED that the Scheme be noted.

To be presented by the Service Director for Eduction, Michael Jarrett

The Service Director for Education and Inclusion provided a verbal update. The Council had been awarded a £1million grant from the DfE to help with Delivering Better Value and were in project wave 3. There were a number of deliverables expected as part of the funding. The Programme was on track despite a late start and included the following:-

·         The SEND and Inclusion Strategy had been developed with health partners, parents and carers and children and young people and the consultation on this closed next week. There were 78 responses to the consultation currently and a response would be published. There were ten additional posts to help implement the Strategy which had been filled such as pathway practitioners and advisers.

·         There had also been a restructure within the Service area which had been necessary to keep up with service demand. There were also SENCO champions of which 19 had been appointed from a range of education settings who would look at good practice within schools.

·         Some sufficiency work had also been undertaken as this was a priority with the number of children requiring SEND places. This would be key to delivering additional places urgently needed.

·         There was earlier work around phased transfer particularly looking at the post-16 cohort which was being developed.

·         Work had also been undertaken on preparing for adulthood and a conference had been held on this in Wycombe in September which helped with developing local networks.

·         There was a local offer for parents and carers who could write in and ask for any services to be added to the directory where relevant.

·          The Council were working with special schools on the side by side project to increase some of the support available in mainstream settings.

During discussion the following points were answered:-

·         The funding that had been awarded was for one year and non-recurrent funding to facilitate a change in processes to address the challenges in this area. The bid put forward to Government which was successful was to establish strategic changes which would address the mounting financial pressure due to increased numbers of children needing EHCPs. The additional posts introduced were short term fixed contracts for a year and therefore there were risks after this time period. The practitioners had made a big impact in a short period of time which would support the restructured service.

·         This was a national programme and with learning available from the previous waves the Council were keen to understand lessons learnt and to see if the additional funding had managed to impact on mitigating both increased demand and providing better value. The Council were also linking in with other councils with significant overspends who were part of the safety valve programme. This was a government programme looking at Council’s who had been identified with extremely high needs deficits.  The Council had also written to the Secretary of State for Education to set out concerns about the funding received and the demand pressures and also met with local MPs to set  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

To be presented by Ms S Fogden Head of Finance (Children’s Services)

The report updated the Forum on the current forecast for the Dedicated Schools Grant budget for the 2024-25 financial year, based on spend to 30^th September 2024 (period 6). The overall Dedicated Schools Budget was currently projected to overspend by £13.1m. There was £0.3m in respect of Central Block consisting of a budgeted contribution of £0.2m and overspends on premature retirement costs. The £0.5m overspend forecast on Schools Block included the drawdown of £0.2m in respect of contingency panel and drawdown of the growth funding. There was a £12.3m adverse variance on the High Needs Block. The variance on the High Needs Block was due to increased demand for support. The numbers of young people with Education & Health Care Plans had increased by circa 800 since September 2023. This had led to increased spend on EHCP top-ups to mainstream schools to £21m, an overspend of £1m.

The overspend on Buckinghamshire Council Special Schools of £4.5m was mainly due to the annual review of pupil needs. This review had identified an increase in the support required and therefore increased the funding required for  special schools places. Although the average cost of places in BC Special Schools had increased, placing children in BC Special Schools remained the more cost effective compared to places in the independent sector. In addition, there were an additional 57 placed pupil numbers in all settings, since the budget was set.

The increase in demand for special school places, and lack of places had led to an increase in the use of independent settings. The overspend was £3.7m due to commissioning an additional 55 places compared to budget. In addition, alternative provision was forecast to overspend by £1.8m as more young people were supported through dedicated wrap round packages.

In order to deliver a balanced budget, there would need to be an immediate reduction in expenditure of £12.3m. Most of the funding within high needs either paid for school places, supported the requirements of Education, Health & Care Plans or provided support to individual learners, it was therefore difficult to reduce expenditure quickly. There was therefore a focus on increasing sufficiency of places and working on the Delivering Better Value in SEND plan.

There was a question on integrated therapies which was £866k underspent and how the underspend was being addressed. The Head of Finance reported that this related to the underspend on the contract due to lack of staff. The Council had to commission some separate therapy services because of this. The Service Director reported that all the contracts would be reviewed in conjunction with health colleagues to ensure that this underspend would not cause problems further down the line. A Member made reference to the previous work that had been carried out for the 16-19 cohort to ensure better value through extensive contract review, which needed to be replicated for all providers to ensure best value was being achieved in all areas.

RESOLVED that the Forum noted the revenue budget monitoring position at the end of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

To obtain schools’ views regarding the April 2025 pay award.

This would be discussed at the next meeting in January 2025.

21 January 2025 at 1.30pm

21 January 2025 at 1.30pm