Issue - meetings

Report CEF22009 

The report provided an outline of the final DSG allocation for 2022/23 and an overview of how this would be spent. 

The overall position of the DSG was summarised as follows:

Strict guidelines were in place concerning how the DSG was spent.

Schools’ Central Block

There had been a reduction of 2.5% in this block.  There would continue to be a year-on-year reduction of 2.5% until the block reached the level considered to be appropriate by DfE.  The reduction had been slightly compensated by pupil numbers although overall there had been a reduction of £43,000. 

The Council continued to provide funding to address the gap between expenditure and grant received.  Expenditure had been reviewed with some changes in the amounts allocated through the DSG, but broadly expenditure remained the same.

In response to a question, the Head of Children, Education and Families Finance confirmed that the contribution made by the Council in 2021/22 was £410,000 with the contribution increasing by £50,000 for 2022/23.

The Forum noted that expenditure in the Schools’ Central Block related to areas within the Education Department such as access and admissions, licenses and pupil support.

Early Years Block

Funding for Early Years had reduced by £1.6m year-on-year due to a reduction in pupil numbers.  Pupil numbers had dropped considerably and there were various reasons for this.  The risk regarding the way the block was funded was that if pupil levels began to increase between January and April 2022, the increases would not be funded for the first five or six months of the year and this could lead to a further deficit in the DSG.

The DfE had increased rates for 2022/23 by 21p for 2-year-olds and 17p for 3- and 4-year-olds.  LBB was proposing to increase rates by 6p for 2-year-olds and 12p for 3- and 4-year-olds.  Consequently, grant funding for 2-year-olds would be approximately £6.03 per hour with the funding provided by LBB being £6.64 per hour.  The grant funding for 3- and 4-year-olds would be £5.22 per hour with the funding provided by LBB being £5.10 per hour.  This would be reviewed later in the year when it was hoped numbers would stabilise.  The Local Authority was required to pass through 95% of the grant funding and continued to more than meet these requirements set by DfE.

The Schools’ Forum noted that there was the potential that low numbers in Early Years Setting could feed through and impact funding for the Schools’ Block in future years.  It was agreed that further information would be circulated following the meeting.  The Director of Education reported that it was still too early to analyse the impact on future Reception rolls.  The September 2021 intake had been slightly down, and the position was being closely monitored.  More  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25

Report CEF22009

The report provided an outline of the final DSG allocation for 2022/23 and an overview of how this would be spent.

The Head of Education and Children’s Social Care Finance confirmed that no funding had been transferred between the Schools’ Block and the High Needs Block.  The Local Authority followed the strict guidelines from the DfE for the distribution of funding to schools under the National Funding Formula.  The Sub-Committee also noted that the Minimum Funding Guarantee was set at 1%.

In response to a question, the Director of Education confirmed that the School Admissions Team was resilient and whilst it was the Team’s busiest time of year, staff were holding up well in terms of the pressures.  The Sub-Committee noted that an experienced Admissions and Transport Manager had been recruited.

RESOLVED: That the Portfolio Holder be recommended to approve the Dedicated Schools Grant allocation and the methodology of its distribution.