Issue - meetings

Report ED15086

The report provided an update on the criteria agreed by the Schools Forum in December 2012 for funding pupil growth covering all points of admission – i.e. Reception, Year 3 and Year 7. Since 2012, the budget for this had increased significantly from £970k in 2012/13 to £1.5m in 2015/16, but despite this there was likely to be an overspend in the current year of £800k, including £200k rental costs for modular buildings. In response to this officers proposed that a working group be established to review the situation and produce proposals for consultation in the autumn, and the report listed the main issues to be considered.

Some members suggested that it would be useful to start with an assumption that bulge class funding should not be needed, and question whether it was an appropriate approach, and others called for more clarity on funding in recent years as well as projections of future need.

It was proposed that the Working Group hold its first meeting at 1pm on 8^th July 2015 at Parklands Nursery.  

RESOLVED that a Working Group be set up to examine bulge class/expansion funding comprising Andrew Downes, David Dilling, Patrick Foley, Karen Raven, Alison Regester, Mandy Russell and Robert Bollen. 

(The Chairman, Andrew Downes, declared at the start of the debate on this item that his school was in dispute with the Council over bulge class funding for 2015/16 – however, the report concerned future years.)