Agenda item

The report of Grant Davis (Schools Strategic Financial Support Manager) seeks to update Schools Forum with the results of the recent Autumn consultations relating to:

-      De-delegation of central services - Maintained Schools only

-      De-delegation in support of former LAMB grant – Maintained Schools only

-      Transfer of funds from Schools Block to High Needs Block – all schools.

The survey results will help to inform Schools Forum decisions for setting the budgets for the 2024-25 financial year.

Grant Davis, Schools Strategic Financial Support Manager, updated the Schools Forum on the results of the recent Autumn consultations relating to:

·       De-delegation of central services – Maintained Schools Only

·       De-delegation in support of the former Local Authority Monitoring and Brokering (LAMB) Grant – Maintained Schools Only

·       Transfer of funds from the Schools Block to the High Needs Block – All Schools

The following was then highlighted:

De-delegation of Central Services

·       Paragraph 3 was briefly reiterated alongside the list of services consulted on as part of the process as per Paragraph 4 of the report.

·       The full set of questions and responses could be seen in Appendix 1 of the report, with a breakdown of the responses and the conclusions drawn detailed for Members as per Paragraphs 6 and 7.

De-delegation in Support of the Former LAMB Grant

·       The context behind the consultation was briefly recapped as per Paragraphs 8 to 10 of the report.

·       Paragraphs 11 to 13 were then detailed which included a breakdown of the responses and conclusions drawn. Officers noted that it was widely recognised that there was a lower response rate due to the majority of Wiltshire schools’ confidence in the decisions being made by the Schools Forum on their behalf.

Transfer of Funds from the Schools Block to the High Needs Block

·       Paragraphs 16 to 20 of the report were detailed, which noted past transfers from the past 5 financial years, the agreement of the Schools Forum to allow for the flexibility of moving up to 0.5% of the School’s Block funding, and the current Safety Valve agreement in place.

·       The full set of questions and responses could be seen in Appendix 2 of the report, with a breakdown of the responses and the conclusions drawn listed in Paragraphs 22 to 25. It was emphasised that any decisions in relation to any transfer from the School’s Block to the High Needs Block would need to be considered in the context of the Council’s Safety Valve agreement which would be discussed under Agenda Item 14.

In response to a question, it was confirmed that approximately 104 Maintained Schools could have responded to the consultations, thereby giving a response rate of roughly 25%. Despite this, officers emphasised that as the Schools Forum was comprised of elected Members, many Maintained Schools were confident with the decisions being made by the Schools Forum on their behalf and therefore did not feel the need to respond to the consultation as they were happy with the direction of travel. However, Members associated with the Primary Heads Forum and WASSH (Wiltshire Association of Secondary and Special School Heads) noted that they would raise the topic at relevant future meetings.

Members discussed the transfer of funds from the School’s Block to the High Needs Block and stressed that affordability was the key criteria in order to ensue that schools could continue to be funded at the National Funding Formula.

Finally, it was highlighted that with regard to central services, some of the services had changed over the years across the County which at times, had led to reduced basic support on the ground for schools.

At the conclusion of the discussion, it was:

Resolved:

a)    The Schools Forum noted the local consultation responses in relation to the Schools Delegated Budget for the 2024-25 financial year.

b)    The Schools Forum made ‘in principle’ decisions in accordance with the consultation responses as below:

a.    De-delegation of central services for Maintained Schools

                                               i.     FSM – Primary and Secondary

                                             ii.     Licences – Primary and Secondary

                                           iii.     Trade Union – Primary and Secondary

                                           iv.     Maternity – Primary and Secondary

                                             v.     Ethnic Minority Support – Primary Only

                                           vi.     Traveller Education – Primary Only

                                          vii.     Behaviour Support – Primary Only

b.    Delegation of funding to support school improvement services for Maintained Schools. To continue to fund at the rate of 100% loss in funding (£459k).

c.    Block transfer between the Schools Block and the High Needs Block, subject to affordability when school funding for 2024-25 had been confirmed:

                                               i.     In principle, transfer of 0.5% of the Schools Block to the High Needs Block, the maximum allowable without Secretary of State approval, which equates to approximately £1.8m

                                             ii.     To support the transfer of 0.55% of the Schools Block to the High Needs Block, subject to both affordability and approval from the Secretary of State. Such a transfer would equate to £2m and would require the submission of a disapplication request to the Secretary of State.