Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Patrick Foley, Keith Seed and Matthew Apsley.  Janice Box attended as alternate for Patrick Foley.

The Clerk invited nominations for the position of Chairman of the Schools Forum.

David Bridger proposed that David Dilling be elected Chairman of the Schools’ Forum.  The motion was seconded by David Wilcox.

Following a vote David Dilling was elected Chairman of the Schools Forum.

The Chairman invited nominations for the position of Vice-Chairman to the Schools’ Forum.

Karen Raven proposed that David Bridger be elected Vice-Chairman of the Schools’ Forum.  The motion was seconded by David Wilcox.

Following a vote David Bridger was elected Vice-Chairman of the Schools’ Forum.

RESOLVED: That David Dilling be elected Chairman and that David Bridger be elected Vice-Chairman of the Schools’ Forum.

David Dilling declared that he was the grandparent of children in one of the schools receiving falling rolls funding.

It was agreed that the list of declarations of interest should be recirculated at the next meeting to enable Members of the Schools’ Forum to update their interests if necessary.

The minutes of the meeting held on 20^th September 2018 were approved, and signed as a correct record.

Report ED18085

The Schools’ Forum considered a report which outlined the estimated Dedicated Schools’ Grant (DSG) allocation for 2019/20 and provided an overview of how the grant would be spent.  Due to the overall position for the DSG the LA felt it was important to share this information with the Schools’ Forum at the earliest opportunity.

The indicative DSG funding for 2019/20 was based on October 2017 pupil numbers and would be uplifted in December 2018 to reflect the October 2018 census data.  The DSG for 2019/20 was divided into four blocks (High Needs, Early Years, Schools, and Schools Central) and for indicative purposes the expected income was, subject to any adjustments made as a result of the October 2018 census data :

Schools Central Block

This newly established block was showing a small overspend of around £24k.  This was based on the assumption that there would be a contribution of £250k from Council reserves to offset the deficit. However, should the Council contribution not be agreed significant savings in this area would need to be identified or DSG reserves used to offset this as in previous years.  It was noted that the £1m contribution from the Council was currently a projection as no decisions around this funding had been taken.

In response to a question from the Vice-Chairman, the Head of ECHS Finance confirmed that any deficit at the end of the year would be funded through DSG reserves.  The Director of Education confirmed that the Local Authority was reviewing all options to reduce expenditure and that as part of this it would be helpful for the Schools’ Forum to be provided with a detailed breakdown of expenditure in order to fully understand how funding was utilised.

Early Years Block

The Early Years Block was showing as being balanced however, the income was based on October 2017 pupil numbers which were likely to change considerably in October 18 to reflect the impact of the additional 15 hours which was introduced last year.  There was a particular pressure on this block due to the fact that historically Bromley has funded two years olds at a higher rate than that received in the DSG. If there was any pressure on this block then this would likely be the first area to be considered rather than adjusting the 3 and 4 year olds funding formula.  The Head of ECHS Finance confirmed that fluctuations in pupil numbers in this block would lead to a corresponding fluctuation in funding and if pupil numbers dropped the DfE wold claw back funding.

In response to a question from the Vice-Chairman, the Head of Schools Finance Support emphasised that currently there were no proposals in place that would affect the 2 year old funding.  There would need to be detailed modelling of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.

Membership of the Schools Forum

The Vice-Chairman requested an update on the action that was being taken to address the growing number of vacancies on the Forum.

The Head of ECHS Finance circulated a paper outlining the current vacancies on the Forum which were:

2 x Primary Academy Governor

1 x Special Maintained School Head/Governor

1 x Secondary Academy Governor

1 x Maintained PRU Head/Governor

1 x Non-Schools Representative (Joint Teacher Liaison)

It was noted that this would have been Keith Seed’s lasts meeting as he is due to retire at the end of the year and as a result of this there will be a further vacancy for a Special Academy School Head/Governor.  It was also suggested that following the expansion of London South East Colleges, Sam Parrett should be contacted about a 14-19 Representative to ensure that the sector was represented at meetings.

In addition to this, Paul Murphy had indicated that he would be standing down and this would create a vacancy for a Secondary Academy Head Teacher Representative.

It was agreed that the relevant Head Teacher Forums should nominate a representative and inform the clerk of the nomination in writing.

The Head of ECHS Finance confirmed that Governor Representatives would be sought through the Schools’ Circular.  In relation to the Maintained PRU Head/Governor, this position applied to only one school and the school was due to convert to an academy.  It was therefore agreed that no action would be taken in this instance.  The Local Authority would make contact with the Joint Teacher Liaison Committee and request a representative.

The Schools’ Forum noted that all appointments would be subject to the conditions laid out in the Schools’ Forum Constitution regarding members being from the same School or MAT.  The Secondary Head Teacher representative highlighted that it was often difficult to know which School or MAT Governors came from.  It was agreed that this information would be included on the agenda front sheet for relevant members.

The Head of ECHS Finance emphasised that the Local Authority was trying to achieve as wide a representation on the Schools’ Forum as possible.  As Multi Academy Trusts across the Borough grew in size the existing MAT rule within the Constitution may make this problematic and may need to be reviewed.  It was noted that the Head of ECHS Finance would review the Constitution and bring any amendments to the next meeting.  Any revisions would then require ratification by the Education, Children and Families Budget and Performance Monitoring Sub-Committee.

Date of Next meeting

The Head of Schools Finance Support reported that the timing of the next meeting would not give the Forum sufficient time to contribute to the DfE return in a meaningful way.  It was therefore agreed that the next meeting would be held a week earlier, at 4.30pm on Thursday 10^th January 2019.