Apologies for absence were received from Clare Grainger. Clare is no longer working in a Bromley school and is therefore unable to continue in her role on the Schools’ Forum.

Apologies were also received from Ian Travis.

The minutes of the meeting held on 24^th November 2022 were approved and signed as a correct record.

MATTERS ARISING

A Forum Member raised the question of whether any further information/data had now been received regarding comparison data with Bromley’s statistical neighbours. In response the Director of Education confirmed that some data had been received, although variable in quality and he was not currently able to publish the full details. Neighbouring boroughs did have a range of DSG deficits, with some considerably higher, and Bromley being in a better position than the vast majority. The data had been requested from the DFE, but as they declined to provide it, the data had been sourced from internet research.

The Head of CEF Finance introduced the Report and stated that it had also been presented to the CEF Budget Sub-Committee on 19^th January 2023. Comments from the Schools’ Forum meeting would be forwarded to the Portfolio Holder for consideration in order to move forward with approving funding.

With the overall DSG of £356m there were many constraints on how the funding was used across four various-sized funding blocks - High Needs, Early Years, Schools and Schools Central.

Starting with the Central Schools Block, The Head of CEF Finance stated that funding had decreased by £45k with the grant expected to fall by £50k per year for the next four years. The Council continued to underpin the expenditure within this block, with an additional contribution of £50k planned for 2023/24.

Funding within the Early Years Block had increased due to an increase in rates. The estimated funding levels would change once data from the January census was analysed by DfE and again in July.

As referenced in Section 3.11 of the Report, a Schools’ Forum member raised a question regarding Bromley being an outlier in comparison to other LAs. In response the Head of CEF Finance explained that for 2-year-olds Bromley were paying a higher rate, but it had now been lowered to nearer DfE rates. For 3 and 4-year-olds, other LAs were paying lower rates, so a balance had been needed to meet the overall position of the Early Years DSG balance.

The Director of Education acknowledged that Early Years Services had undertaken engagement with representatives from Early Years Providers and questions had been raised regarding funding for 3 and 4-year-olds. A question had been raised whether if funding for 2 year-olds was maintained at the same level i.e. no 6p increase, would this facilitate an increase in funding for 3 and 4-year-olds? The Director of Education confirmed that this would not be the case due to the disparity between the size of the cohorts.

In addition, the Director of Education explained that unfortunately there was no real room for any movement in the various funding rates as the reality was that there had been a deficit within the Early Years Block in successive years and this needed to be addressed. The Head of CEF Finance added that a lot of analysis had been undertaken with the Head of Service, Adult Education, and the team to maximise the figures, but within the restriction of making the funding Blocks balance. The data would be reviewed in July following the census data.

Following questions and a discussion with Forum Members regarding funding levels and deficits, the Director of Education stated it was important for the Forum to acknowledge that often the figures mentioned or announced by Government, in reality did not match with the actual figures received. The LA was accountable and responsible for having a sustainable DSG and could not add to the current predicted deficit by allowing areas to overspend.

The Head of CEF Finance reported that funding  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

There was no other business.

THURSDAY 13^TH JULY 2023

THURSDAY 14^TH SEPTEMBER 2023

(Subject to change)

It was noted that the next meetings would take place at 4.30pm on Thursday 13^th July and Thursday 14^th September 2023 via MS Teams (subject to change).