Agenda and minutes

Andrew Downes was nominated as Chairman.  This was seconded and the nomination was agreed.

David Bridger was nominated as Vice-Chairman.  This was seconded and the nomination was agreed.

RESOLVED that Andrew Downes be appointed Chairman and David Bridger be appointed Vice-Chairman for the 2011/12 municipal year.

Apologies were received from Nick Cross, Secondary Academy Head Teacher.

The Chairman was pleased to welcome Councillor Stephen Wells, the Portfolio Holder for Education and Dr Tessa Moore, Assistant Director: Education to the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

In considering the minutes of the previous meeting, the Head of ECS Finance confirmed that guidance on the constitution of the Schools’ Forum and the role of its representatives would be circulated following the meeting.

The Assistant Director: Education noted the discussion that had taken place around Item 3: Outcome of Consultation with Schools on Proposed Funding Reform around de-delegation of behaviour support services for maintained schools.  The Head of Schools Finance Support confirmed that the Local Authority wished to formally consult schools on this issue before any decision was made and that this would be included in the consultation document on proposed funding reform which would be provided to schools across the Borough shortly.

The Vice-Chairman noted that the Schools’ Forum working party had not yet met to review the proposed secondary schools split which had been developed by Officers based on historical information of all the transferred grants involved.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 12^th July 2012 be agreed and that matters arising be noted.

Report ED12039 

Members of the Forum considered a report outlining all revenue and capital balances held by Primary, Secondary and Special Maintained Schools as at 31^st March 2012, and providing a comparison to the balances held at the same time in the previous year. 

In considering the report, the Head of Schools Finance Support confirmed that all schools with high level balances had now provided a response to the Local Authority and that plans for management action had been put in place by each school to reduce the balances held.

RESOLVED that the financial position of Primary, Secondary and Special Maintained Schools at the end of the 2011/12 financial year be noted.

Report ED12040

Members of the Forum considered a report providing information on the Department for Education consultation currently being undertaken around the draft School and Early Years Finance (England) Regulations 2013, together with additional grant conditions for the Dedicated Schools Grant.  The consultation would end on 21^st September 2012 and the Local Authority had provided a draft response to the proposed adjustments to how the Early Years Single Funding Formula would operate for disadvantaged two year olds, which members of the Forum were invited to comment on prior to submission.

The Head of Schools Finance Support highlighted a number of changes that had been made in the draft School and Early Years Finance (England) Regulations 2013, which included the extension of the definition of the schools’ budget to include expenditure on young people aged 19 to 25 with learning difficulties, that the Schools’ Forum must approve the criteria on which any funding for pupil growth was allocated (such as for bulge classes and additional infant class funding) and for budgets to be determined by 15^th March for maintained schools and pupil referral units.  The changes in regulations also allowed local authorities to apply to the Secretary of State to include exceptional premises factors in their formula, to exclude factors from the minimum funding guarantee and to vary the basis of the pupil number count.  Under this change to the regulations, Bromley had already made an application to the Secretary of State for permission to exclude payments for bulge classes made in 2012/13 to prevent any duplication of funding and this had been agreed in principle but was not yet confirmed.

Alison Regester added her support to the draft consultation response to the proposed adjustments to how the Early Years Single Funding Formula would operate for disadvantaged two year olds, and noted the importance of building capacity in early years provision for younger children.

RESOLVED that the details within the consultation be noted and that the comments of members of the Forum on the proposed responses to the specified questions on funding for disadvantaged two year olds be noted.

Report ED12041

Members of the Forum considered a report outlining the final Dedicated Schools Grant allocation for 2012/13.  Bromley’s final allocation had been confirmed as £220,809,000, which was an increase of £346,000 on the estimated figure of £220,463,000.  As the additional funding largely related to increased pupil numbers for three and four year olds, it had been added to the Central Schools’ Budget, which included Early Years Funding and it was anticipated this funding would be used to offset any overspend in relation to the increase in pupil numbers for three and four year olds.

In considering the additional funding, Alison Regester confirmed that it was difficult to anticipate the number of pupils that would be attending early years settings, and that more pupils were now moving on to the Reception year as September starters.

RESOLVED that the final Dedicated Schools Grant allocation for 2012/13 be noted.

Report ED12044

Members of the Forum considered a report providing the provisional final outturn position for 2011/12 which had also been considered at the meeting of Education Budget Sub-Committee on 31^st July 2012.  This showed that the Dedicated Schools Grant had been under spent in 2011/12 by £1,698,000 and this surplus would be carried forward into the 2012/13 financial year.

RESOLVED that the Children and Young People Outturn Report 2011/12 be noted.

Report ED12043

Members of the Forum considered a report outlining a range of proposed financial modelling options for the new funding formula as part of the 2013/14 funding review.  Twelve versions of the funding model had been developed following the meeting of the Schools’ Forum on 12^th July 2012, where members of the Forum had considered a report outlining feedback from schools on the basic principles underlying the new funding formula.  The modelling had been undertaken using the prescribed number and type of factors laid down by the Department for Education, applying variations within the factors based on the findings from the first stage of the consultation.  For each version of the financial modelling, the current overall levels of funding for Primary, Secondary and Special Schools had been maintained to ensure that no particular sector was adversely affected by the proposed changes. 

The funding of Special Schools would not be allocated through the proposed financial modelling options and members of the Forum were advised that representatives of the Local Authority would meet with representatives of the Special Schools to agree individual arrangements around the number of places and level of funding provided.

Members of the Schools’ Forum considered the elements of the proposed models which would apply to primary and secondary schools.

In considered the level of attainment at which to base the funding, it was noted that a child attaining 73 points or less was likely to be working just below age related expectations and was more likely to have been identified as having a special educational need and/or a disability, whereas a child attaining 78+ points may be considered to be working at age related expectations and as having reached a good level of development.  The members of the Schools Forum generally agreed that it would be most appropriate to base this measure at those attaining 73 points or less, although Richard Sammonds was concerned that these measures did not reward the school for the progress made by children as they progressed through the key stages.  Following a vote on whether to use the 73 points or less Foundation Stage Profile, 12 members were in favour and 1 member abstained.  It was therefore agreed to use this measure

In response to a query regarding how the figures for Deprivation/Attainment/English as an Additional Language had been derived, the Head of Schools Finance Support confirmed that the figures had been based on current total funding allocations and that work had been undertaken to find a lump sum that could be common to both the primary and the secondary sector to ensure a similar level of funding was available to children and young people with special educational needs.  Karen Raven highlighted the way the funding was split between the primary and secondary sector.  This split had been applied consistently throughout the modelling, however there was potential to revisit how the pools of Primary and Secondary funding were split to ensure levels of funding were appropriate across both sectors. 

Members of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

Report ED12042

Members of the Forum considered a report outlining changes to the Schools’ Forum constitution proposed by the Local Authority following the introduction of the Schools Forums (England) Regulations 2012, which would come into affect from October 2012. 

The Head of ECS Finance outlined the main changes which included the inclusion of a representative of the Pupil Referral Unit to the membership of the Forum, new restrictions to voting arrangements which would allow only school and academy representatives (and private, voluntary and independent sector members) to vote on the funding formulae, and a requirement for Forum meetings to be public and for Forum papers, minutes and decisions to be published on the Local Authority website.  The Education Funding Agency would also be given Observer Status on the Forum and would be able to attend future meetings. 

In response to a question from Anna Bosher, the Head of ECS Finance confirmed that changes to voting arrangements had been introduced to give schools more responsibility for the allocation of funding.  With regard to absence from meetings, the Head of ECS Finance confirmed that members of the Schools’ Forum could individually nominate a substitute to attend a meeting where they would be absent, and that this would be clarified in the Constitution.

RESOLVED that the proposed changes to the Schools’ Forum constitution be endorsed.

Report ED12046

Members of the Forum considered a report outlining details of the Department for Education consultation on proposals to introduce a new mechanism to distribute Local Authority Central Spend Equivalent Grant (LACSEG) from the current top slice of individual local authorities to a single national formula grant.  The consultation would end on 24^th September 2012 and the Local Authority had provided a draft response to the proposal, which members of the Forum were invited to comment on prior to submission.

The Head of ECS Finance confirmed that it was proposed to top slice £168 per pupil from local authorities and for this funding to be provided directly to academy schools.  The Local Authority currently spent £86 per pupil which meant that the new mechanism would leave Bromley with a significant shortfall of funding, impacting the Local Authority’s ability to deliver a range of other education services. 

The Portfolio Holder for Education confirmed that the Local Authority had met with representatives of the Department for Education and the Treasury to discuss the impact of this new mechanism on the Local Authority and potential ways to mitigate the impact of any change of funding mechanism, such as the introduction of a minimum funding guarantee.  A further meeting would be held with David Laws, Minister of State for Schools at the end of October 2012. 

In considering the draft Local Authority response to the consultation, the Vice-Chairman proposed that the Schools’ Forum draft a statement supporting the concerns of the Local Authority around the operation of the new funding mechanism to be submitted alongside the Local Authority response and this was generally agreed.

RESOLVED that the Chairman draft a statement on behalf of the Schools’ Forum supporting the concerns of the Local Authority around the operation of the new funding mechanism to be submitted alongside the Local Authority response

The Chairman was pleased to announce that the Schools’ Forum agenda and papers were now available on the Bromley Council website, but highlighted the need for the Schools’ Forum page to be easily located through the search function.

All meetings are at the EDC unless otherwise stated.

4.30pm, 18^th October 2012

All meetings would be at the Education Development Centre unless highlighted below:

Thursday, 18^th October 2012

Thursday, 22^nd November 2012

Thursday, 13^th December 2012

Thursday, 10^th January 2013

Thursday, 7^th February 2013

Thursday, 14^th March 2013