Minutes:
A Primary Academy Headteacher advised members that he had been speaking with the LBB Head of Strategic Place Planning with regards to the current situation of primary school places allocations. Four new primary schools had been established to meet the school places demand predicted for 2023 – Langley Park Primary School, Harris Primary Academy Beckenham, Harris Primary Academy Shortlands and La Fontaine Academy. The Local Authority had expected a school places allocation surplus of 5%, yet during the transition period, primary schools in Beckenham had a surplus of 10%, and across the Borough the surplus was envisaged to be greater than 5%.
At the previous meeting of the Schools’ Forum, members had discussed the pros and cons of the National Funding Formula and the Bromley Funding Formula, and had considered that the only schools that would effectively lose out would be those not at capacity. Now, as a result of these four new schools being established, others schools that were usually full were now under capacity and it was highlighted that an additional surplus of places would result in a loss of funding that a school would receive.
The Head of Schools Finance Support said that whilst she was aware of the points made, she had not been given an opportunity to discuss this with the LBB Head of Strategic Place Planning prior to the meeting. It was noted that these four additional primary schools were Free Schools that were effectively imposed on the Borough, as the LA had not requested them and therefore had no involvement in where they were geographically situated. There was a similar situation in the secondary sector, with two new Free Schools being established. Eden Park High School had opened in September 2017, and subject to planning permission, Bullers Wood Boys School was due to open in September 2018.
The Head of Schools Finance Support advised members that there was a facility within the Funding Formulas for the Local Authority to have a ‘Falling Rolls Fund’ for those school that faced a drop in numbers. However there were stringent factors for accessing this type of fund – the school must have experienced a significant drop in numbers, and had an Ofsted rating of ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’. The Head of Schools Finance Support said that any suggested changes to the Funding Formula would need to go out to full consultation with all schools during the autumn. The views of the Schools’ Forum could then be discussed at the meeting in January 2019, following which agreement could be sought from the Council’s Executive. It was noted that if any future alterations to the Funding Formula were approved, they would not be made retrospectively and would be implemented from April 2019 for Maintained Schools and September 2019 for Academies.
The Head of ECHS Finance advised members that he would contact the LBB Head of Strategic Place Planning to see if the report being produced could be circulated, as if so, would forward on to the clerk for distribution. Members of the Schools’ Forum requested that an update on the situation be presented at the next meeting on 20th September 2018.
A Primary Academy Governor noted that the accounts for 2017/18 were not finalised, but enquired if there was any balances that would have an effect on the following year. The Head of ECHS Finance responded that accounts were currently speculative, and the closing account report would be presented to the meeting of the Education, Children and Families Budget and Performance Monitoring Sub-Committee on 18th July 2018.
It was envisaged that the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) would have a surplus that would be carried forward, which it had been agreed would be used to pay for elements within the central DSG block. It was not expected that there would be a huge surplus to carry forward into 2019/20, as there were ongoing pressures, especially within the High Needs Block that was experiencing a huge amount of demand. The Head of ECHS Finance advised that it was anticipated for information impacting on the 2019/20 budget to be received from the DfE by the end of the summer term, and would be circulated to members.