Issue - meetings

Report ED15032

The Sub-Committee considered a report outlining the early estimates of how the Dedicated Schools Grant for the 2015/16 financial year would be allocated.

The Dedicated School Grant was made up of three blocks comprising High Needs, Early Years and Schools.  Following the release of the Fairer Funding Review in 2014, the Schools Block allocation for 2015/16 had been confirmed as £4,545.22 per pupil, which would total an estimated £189,416,865.  Added to the 2013/14 figures for the High Needs Block and an estimated figure for the Early Years Block, it was projected that the Dedicated Schools Grant for the 2015/16 financial year would total approximately £246m.

A number of changes would come into effect for the 2015/16 financial year.  This included a reduction in the Two Year Old funding, which would now be funded on a participation basis, and changes within the High Needs Block to reflect savings identified within individual services.  Additional funding would be provided to the Local Authority to support it in calculating the funding for any free schools within the Borough, but this would be recouped by the Department for Education.  Individual school and academy funding had been calculated using the formula element from revised Option One, as agreed at the meeting of Education Budget Sub-Committee on 16^th October 2014, and therefore included the additional allocation of £19.5m.  Two areas of additional funding had also been identified for consideration which comprised primary growth funding for bulge classes and a need to review the Early Years Funding Formula.

RESOLVED that the proposed allocation of Dedicated Schools Grant for the 2015/16 financial year, including the potential shortfall in funding, be noted.