Issue - meetings

Report ED16012

The Sub-Committee considered a report providing information on the Dedicated Schools Grant 2016/17 and how it would be allocated. 

The Dedicated Schools Grant was made up of three blocks comprising High Needs, Early Years and Schools.  In December 2015, the Department for Education had released the final Dedicated Schools Grant for 2016/17 based on the final units of funding that were released in July 2015.  Dedicated Schools Grant income was generally in line with what was expected and what had been received in previous years.  In 2015/16, a balanced budget had been set at the start of the financial year which took into account planned expenditure to be funded from the unspent Dedicated Schools Grant carried forward from previous years as agreed by the Schools’ Forum.  Based on the most recent estimates it was likely that the Dedicated Schools Grant budget would be overspent by approximately £52k for 2015/16, and by approximately £4m for 2016/17 due to a range of pressures including the need for bulge classes and the demand for special educational needs provision. 

The Local Authority was very concerned about this situation as it demonstrated that the current budget was not sustainable and that further savings would need to be identified in future years.  Officers were working to identify potential savings within the High Needs and Early Years blocks, as well as within the central spend in the Schools block.  However, it was anticipated that some savings might also need to be found within the Schools block, and the Schools’ Forum had been asked to consider this as part of the Formula Review in preparation for the introduction of the National Funding Formula.

The Finance Manager reported that the Schools’ Forum had discussed the Dedicated Schools Grant 2016/17 at its meeting on 14^th January 2015.  In recognising the funding pressures, the Schools’ Forum had agreed to expand an existing working party initially formed to review the funding formula for 2017/18 to include Early Years and Special Schools representatives and to work to review Dedicated Schools Grant expenditure as a whole.  The Working Party would be supported by Local Authority Officers to identify areas where potential savings could be made and how this would impact on provision, and would report its findings to the meeting of the Schools’ Forum on 14^th April 2016.

In considering the report, the Chairman was concerned at the initial projected overspend of approximately £4m for Dedicated Schools Grant for 2016/17 for which savings had been identified to mitigate.  There were also measures in place to help contain the future projected overspend, such as the planned alternative provision at Beacon House which would reduce the need for high cost out-of-Borough placements.

In response to a question from the Portfolio Holder for Education, the Head of Schools’ Finance Support confirmed that schools managed their finances differently.  Larger schools had their own finance officers and multi-academy trusts often shared finance officers.  Part of the remit of the Schools’ Finance Support service was to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26

The Forum considered a report providing information on the 2016-17 Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) and how it would be allocated.  In December 2015, the Department for Education (DfE) released the final DSG for 2016/17 based on the final units of funding that were released in July 2015.  The final units of funding increased marginally from 2015/16 (from £4,545.22 to £4,548.24) to include funding for non-recoupment academies/free schools that were previously funded separately.  The DSG income was generally in line with what was expected and what had been received in previous years.  In 2015/16 a balanced budget was set at the start of the financial year (taking into account planned expenditure to be funded from the unspent DSG carried forwards from previous years) as agreed by the Schools’ Forum.  Initial calculations indicated that the DSG was likely to be overspent by around £4 million in 2016/17.  Additional pressures on the budget included special schools, bulge classes, SEN services and licenses.  It had previously been agreed as part of the 2015/16 budget process that £1m per annum of previously unspent DSG would be used to support expenditure in 2015/16 and 2016/17.  Further savings had been identified by officers from the Central Spend areas to reduce the overspend with a further £1.25m from the DSG carry forward to balance the budget for 2016/17.  The previous DSG underspend was now almost fully spent and as such the Local Authority would no longer have this as a resource on which to draw down.  The Local Authority was very concerned about this situation as it demonstrated that the current budget was not sustainable and that further savings would need to be identified in future years.  Officers had already begun the task of identifying potential savings within the High Needs and Early Years Blocks and within the central spend in the Schools Block.  However, it was anticipated that additional savings may also need to be found within the Schools Block, and the Schools’ Forum was asked to consider this as part of the Formula Review in preparation for the introduction of the National Funding Formula which was due to be announced early in 2016 as part of a full consultation process.

Members questioned when the savings from Beacon House, in relation to SEN spending, would be built into the budget.  The Finance Manager reported that the anticipated 25 places at Beacon House had already been built into the budget and that the savings from this were containing a further increase in expenditure.  The high level of expenditure (£11,954,041) on SEN Outborough fees was noted by the Forum and Members noted that if this issue could be adequately addressed the budget pressures facing other areas would be eased.  In response, the Head of Schools Finance Support stressed that this budget was targeted at a small number of pupils (around 200) with high level complex needs and that the Local Authority had very little discretion surrounding this funding stream.  As all of the Special Schools in Bromley  ...  view the full minutes text for item 71