Agenda and minutes

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.

The Schools’ Forum noted that this was the last meeting that the Finance Manager would attend.  Members expressed their thanks for the support that the Finance Manager had given to the Schools’ Forum.

All meetings are at the Bromley College of Further and Higher Education unless otherwise stated.