Agenda item

Report CEF22065

The report provided an update on the production of Bromley’s Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) Deficit Recovery Management Plan (DRMP) and invited comments on the key areas being considered under the development of the DRMP.

The Director of Education introduced the report and highlighted that pressures on the DSG had been growing considerably in recent years and Bromley’s DSG had now entered a deficit position which was forecast to grow.  The Forum noted that Bromley was one of the last LAs in London to enter into a deficit on its DSG.  The LA had been working closely with partners to manage the pressures on the DSG and to develop the DRMP.

The Director of Education outlined the pressures on the DSG and provided further detail surrounding the work being undertaken to mitigate these pressures.

In response to a question, the Director of Education confirmed that in his view the amount of transformation required to manage the deficit was achievable.  Work on the mitigations had already started and the LA and its partners was well placed to meet the challenges.  It was clear that costs would continue to increase, and the LA would continue to lobby the DfE for additional resources to meet these increasing costs.

A Member of the Schools’ Forum noted that deficits in DSG was a national problem resulting from chronic underfunding over a number of years with the situation growing ever desperate.  The key issue was that there was simply not enough funding and pressures would continue until  such time as this was acknowledged and addressed by the DfE.

In response to a question the Director of Education confirmed that at this point the LA was not proposing to make direct reductions in services and that the intention was to drive efficiencies through transformation.  Whilst it was clear that there were some challenges there was a clear plan in place and there were excellent partnerships and relationships in Bromley.

In relation to affecting transformation, the Director of Education confirmed that reducing the cost of independent non-maintained provision would be one of the more difficult areas to address.  There had been various approaches to address this however the shortage of placements meant that costs remained high.

The Forum noted that there was need to ensure that all schools had consistent access to all the support that was available for children with additional needs.  This would help to ensure that all schools were as inclusive as they could be and that the need for statutory assessment was reduced. 

The Forum also noted that there was a need to work with parents to manage demand for EHCPs.  The Director of Education highlighted the need to increase the confidence of parents that their child’s needs could be met locally in mainstream provision with additional support as appropriate to their child’s needs.  Parents seeking named provision would continue to be a factor and engagement would need to continue with parents with a need for further partnership working to raise the confidence of parents.  Members of the Forum noted that it would be increasingly hard to raise the confidence of parents as the number of support staff decreased due to reduced funding.

RESOLVED: That the report be noted and the 7 key areas for deficit mitigation and management be endorsed.