Issue - meetings

Report CEF20044

The report provided an outline of the final DSG allocation for 2021/22 and an overview of how this would be spent.

The Sub-Committee noted that there had previously been concerns in terms of the sufficiency of the funding received for the High Needs Block which had been part of past lobbying activity.  It was pleasing that over the past two years there had been considerable uplift in the funding received which was very much needed however there remained ongoing pressures on the High Needs Block and lobbying would continue until this was recognised and appropriate funding allocated to meet the ongoing pressures.

The Head of Children’s Services Finance provided an overview of the report explaining that adjusting for the recoupment for High Needs, overall DSG funding amounted to just over £312m.  The Central Block mostly covered the Local Authority central services and continued to receive a contribution from the Council as year-on-year funding continued to be cut.  This year, although funding for the Central Block had increased, £240,000 of this had been the result of an additional grant put into the Block as a result of this, in real terms funding had decreased.  Funding for the Early Years Block had remained static with some additional funding due to increases in the hourly rates payable via the grant.  Funding from the Schools Block was nearly all distributed to schools with a small amount retained for growth funding.  The Sub-Committee noted that the Teacher’s Pay and Pension Grants had been amalgamated into the DSG and this accounted for the majority of the increase in funding.  The National Funding Formula was used to allocate funding to schools.  The Committee noted that at this point there were no particular issues with the funding to schools with some schools still having a minimum funding guarantee.  In relation to the High Needs Block, there were a number of pressures on this block with significant increases in the number of Education Care and Health Plans (ECHP) and these significant pressures would continue.  Challenges in the High Needs Block would continue in the coming years with one key issue being the lack of clarity in terms of funding beyond 2021/22 and whether there would be sufficient funding to meet demand coming through.

In response to a question, the Head of Children’s Services Finance confirmed that in previous years the Local Authority had contributed £1m to the School Central Block as a contribution to the High Needs Block in addition to the £1m that was transferred from the Schools Block to the High Needs Block.  The current contribution of £450,000 was in recognition of the decreases in the Central Schools Block that would be implemented over time.

The Head of Children’s Services Finance confirmed that £500,000 would be transferred from the Early Years Block to the High Needs Block as some of the costs covered by the High Needs Block were related to early years high needs services that were being delivered.

In response to a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5