Agenda item

Report ED17042

Members considered a report providing an overview of the second stage consultation documents including DfE presentation and worked examples relating to Bromley and to individual schools.  The second stage of the DfE consultation on the proposed National Funding Formulas (NFF) for Schools and for High Needs was launched on the 14th December with a closing date of 22nd March 2017. LA Officers had recently attended a number of DfE led presentations and seminars which had helped with their understanding of the proposals which were very detailed and complex.

The Schools’ Forum had also met to discuss the consultation on 9^th March 2017 and its response had been circulated to the Sub-Committee in advance of the meeting with copies tabled at the meeting.

In opening the discussion, the Chairman noted that he had reviewed the response provided by the Schools’ Forum and had further noted that the Head Teacher of Chislehurst School for Girls had expressed some dissatisfaction with the response.  The Director of Education explained that the concerns of secondary head teachers rested on the ratio between primary and secondary and further reported that secondary schools, in particular, were feeling the effects of budget cuts as a result of the Post-16 Funding regime changes.

The Head of ECHS Finance reported that at its meeting on 9^th March 2017, the Schools’ Forum had been unable to reach a consensus of opinion in relation to some of the consultation responses.  However, it was important that a measured response was provided to the consultation and Officers had tried to achieve this in the response that had been drafted and tabled for the consideration of the Sub-Committee.  The Head of ECHS Finance emphasised that there had been a need to provide a collective response from the Schools’ Forum and where individual schools were dissatisfied with the response that had been drafted and agreed they were able to submit their own response to the DfE reflecting the unique circumstances of their schools.

The Sub-Committee noted that the Government had previously funded the first year of a free school but were no longer adopting this approach.  This had significant implications for Local Authority budgets due to the way in which funding was received.  A Member endorsed the comments made in the draft response surrounding the importance of any new free school being a viable size.  It was felt by Members that anything opening as a free school below 2 or 3 form entry was not viable.  This was a national issue that needed to be addressed.  The Director of Education also highlighted that whilst a free school may open as 2 form entry they may not be able to recruit pupils to fill all the available places.  Any new school that opened also needed to demonstrate that there was sufficient demand in the area.

In relation to the draft response for Question 17 – Do you support our proposals to limit the reductions on local authorities’ central school services block funding to 2.5% per pupil in 2018-19 and in 2019-20?, the Chairman suggested that it may be worthwhile to point out that Bromley had a high level of academy conversions.

RESOLVED: That

(1) the Local Authority provide a joint response to the second stage consultation on the Schools National Funding Formula and High Needs National Funding Formula; and

(2) the draft response circulation prior to the meeting be endorsed, subject to the minor amendment to Question 17 outlined above.