Issue - meetings

Report CEF21024

The report provided information on the levels of use of the falling rolls fund.

The Forum noted that some schools with surplus places would have received bulge class funding and these bulge classes may not have filled as much as anticipated however those schools would not receive falling rolls funding.  In relation to why some schools were struggling to fill places, the Forum noted that this was often down to demand in local areas and parental choice.  It was noted that falling rolls funding would not be given for more than two consecutive years.

The Forum recognised that although only 3 schools qualified for falling rolls funding this year, feedback across the sector indicated that there were likely to be more schools qualifying for falling rolls funding in future years.  It was clear that this was not an issue just affecting schools in Bromley as pressures were being reported across London. 

A Members suggested that there were two key issues driving falling rolls, firstly, the pandemic – due to the national situation some parents had not realised that they should have applied for a school place whilst other families had taken the decision to move to cheaper areas outside of London.  Secondly, there had been an impact arising from Brexit as some EU citizens had taken the decision to return to the EU.

It was recognised that the issue of falling rolls was a difficult one to manage.  However, it was noted that schools would be facing further pressures arising from Covid recovery and it was therefore not the right time to withdraw falling rolls funding.  It was also recognised that many smaller schools were already managing additional pressures as they were not able to utilise economies of scale.

The Chairman noted that the Fairer Funding consultation published by the DfE earlier in the day sought comments around growth and falling rolls funding.  It was agreed that further consideration would be given to this issue at the next meeting.

RESOLVED: That

1.  Falling Rolls funding for 2021-22 be agreed subject to further clarification from the appropriate schools; and

2.  It be noted that the decision for final release of any funding rests with the Director of Education once the final evidence has been obtained from schools and assessed to determoned whether any evience satisifies the criteria.