Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Patrick Foley.

The Chairman welcomed Ms Rebecca Cottage and Mr Andrew Ferguson to the Schools’ Forum.

The Schools’ Forum noted that the previous Vice-Chairman of the Schools’ Forum, Mr David Bridger, had recently resigned.  Mr Bridger had been a Member and Vice-Chairman of the Bromley Schools’ Forum almost from its inception.  Wishing Mr Bridger well for the future, the Chairman and Schools’ Forum recognised the invaluable contribution that he had been made over the years recognising that his presence would be missed.

As there was currently no immediate candidate for Vice-Chairman, it was agreed that an item would be added to the agenda for the next meeting to enable all members to reflect on a suitable candicate for the role.

RESOLVED: That the election of the Vice-Chairman be postponed until the next meeting of the Schools’ Forum.

The minutes of the meeting held on 5 November 2020 were approved, and signed as a correct record.

Matters Arising

The Schools’ Forum noted that training for Members of the Schools’ Forum would be conducted at the end of March 2021.

Report CEF21001

The report provided an outline of the final DSG allocation for 2021/22 and an overview of how this would be spent.

The final Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) funding for 2021/22 had now been provided to all LAs to reflect the October 2020 census data.  The final DSG for 2021/22 was divided into four blocks – High Needs, Early Years, Schools and Schools Central with the expected income detailed below

In opening the discussion, the Chairman thanked the Officers from the Local Authority for the work they had undertaken, noting the very tight timescales involved in the production of the report.

Schools Central Block

The Forum noted that the increase in the Central Block has been mainly due to the inclusion of the Teachers’ Pay and Pension Grant for centrally employed teachers which had now been merged into the DSG.  This year the Council would be contributing £410,000 to support the Central Block.

Early Years Block

There had been an increase in the Early Years Block due to the increases in the hourly rates payable and expenditure was predicted to match income.

The Schools’ Forum noted the anxiety that existed with some Early Years providers around the funding in light of possible closures arising from the Covid-19 pandemic.  The Director of Education recognised the anxiety that existed and explained that the Local Authority had sought to do all it could to support local Early Years settings by offering additional funding protection within the grant conditions set by the DfE.  Consequently, no significant fluctuations in the Early Years Block were anticipated.

The Schools’ Forum supported the decisions that had been taken to ensure that Early Years Settings were fully funded during the period of closures arising from Covid-19.

Schools Block

The Schools’ Forum noted that the Schools Block funding had been calculated using the October 2020 census pupil numbers and the per pupil units of funding calculated for 2021/22. Based on the published figures the Primary unit of funding had increased from £4,282 to £4,595, an increase of around 7.3% and the Secondary unit of funding had increased from £5,408 to £5,863, an increase of around 8.4%. Funding had risen significantly year on year (by £19.4m between 2020/21 and 2021/22), however the majority of this (£11m) was due to the teachers’ pay and pension grant which had now been rolled into the DSG allocation.

The main changes to the NFF for 2021/22 were as follows – (a) Funding previously received through the Teachers Pay Grant (TPG) and Teachers Pension Employer Contribution (TPECG), including the supplementary fund, to mainstream schools for pupils from Reception to Year 11 had now been added to the baseline. (b) Unit values had typically increased by 4%.  (c) Minimum per pupil funding levels were now compulsory and had been set  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21.

There was no other business.

To be confirmed.

The Schools’ Forum noted that an additional meeting would be held in March 2021.  Meetings for the next municipal year would be circulated as soon as they were available.