Agenda item

In relation to the accuracy of Minute 29, two Members stated that they did not recall that the Forum had noted Sam Parrett and Neil Miller were representatives from the same multi academy trust.  The Chairman clarified that this had been mentioned at the very end of the meeting and stressed that no decision had been taken.  Following discussion, the Vice Chairman suggested that as there was not unanimity concerning the discussion at the end of the last meeting the reference should be left in the minutes.  The Chairman confirmed that Sam Parrett remained the 14-19 Partnership Representative and that in terms of more than one representative from the same multi academy trust (MAT) the issue was ensuring that no school or MAT had disproportionate influence.

In relation to Minute 28, the Chairman tabled the email (sent at 09:23 on Wed 25/01/17) that had accompanied the electronic circulation of the minutes from the meeting on 12^th January 2017.  This noted that:

“Following the meeting of the Schools Forum last week there are a number of issues that were raised in the meeting where we would like to add some additional points of clarification.

Schools Forum report number ED 17032  page 13 paragraph 3.16 – due to an administrative error the AWPU values for all schools show a decrease of £58 per pupil. Please note that these figures are incorrect and the correct figures are as follows:

Primary AWPU reduced from £2,938 to £2,930 ( reduction £8)

Secondary  KS3 AWPU reduced from £4,168 to £4,160  (reduction £8)

Secondary KS4 AWPU reduced from £4,559 to £4,550  (reduction £9)

Please be assured that all other figures in the report have been thoroughly re-checked and we can confirm that they are correct.

LA officers have checked and confirmed that email notifications were received to confirm receipt of all previous consultation responses.

As the maintained school members of the Schools Forum did not agree to the proposed de-delegation relating to statutory duties previously funded through the ESG the proposed budget no longer balances with a shortfall of £97,590. As it is not practicable to adjust school’s funding levels at this late stage it is proposed that this funding will be found from within the £3m growth fund.”

Some members reported that they had not seen the email before and the Director of Education asked those Members to check their email inboxes.  The evidence on the email was that the information was sent to all Members and Officers would need to confirm that they had the correct email addresses and that there were no other problems with the delivery of emails to Schools’ Forum Members.

The Head of ECHS Finance reported that on 31^st January 2017, the Education Budget Sub-Committee had noted the comments made by the Schools’ Forum around funding and had agreed the budget with no changes.  The budget had then been ratified by the Executive on 8^th February 2017.

In response to a question from the Vice-Chairman, the Head of ECHS confirmed that the changes outlined in the email of 25^th January 2017 had not changed the budget.  The Forum also noted that the Chairman had been sent copies of the acknowledgements confirming that the consultation responses had been received by DfE.

The minutes of the meeting held on 12^th January 2017, were approved, and signed as a correct record.