Agenda and minutes

To elect a Chair of Schools Forum for 2023-24.

Nominations were sought for a Chair for the forthcoming year. On the nomination of Graham Shore, seconded by Michele Chilcott, it was:

Resolved:

The Schools Forum elected Lisa Percy as Chair of the Schools Forum for the forthcoming year 2023-24.

To elect a Vice Chair of Schools Forum for 2023-24.

Nominations were sought for a Vice-Chair for the forthcoming year. On the nomination of Lisa Percy, seconded by Catriona Williamson, it was:

Resolved:

The Schools Forum elected Graham Shore as Vice-Chair of the Schools Forum for the forthcoming year 2023-24.

To note any apologies, substitutions and changes to the membership of the Forum.

Apologies for absence from Members were received from:

·       Helen Carpenter

·       Georgina Keily-Theobald

·       Emma Osmund

·       Giles Pugh

·       Ros Sutton

·       David Whewell

Further apologies were noted from:

·       Helean Hughes (Co-Director – Education & Skills)

·       Richard Hanks (Co-Director – Education & Skills)

·       Lucy Townsend (Corporate Director – People)

The Chair announced the following Membership changes:

·       It was confirmed that Helen Carpenter had taken over from Ian Tucker as the Chair of WASHH and the Secondary Academy Representative.

·       It was confirmed that Mike Thomas had taken over from Jon Hamp as the Special School Academy Representative.

The Chair welcomed the new Members and thanked Ian Tucker and Jon Hamp for their contributions while a part of the Schools Forum.

To approve as a correct record and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 8 June 2023(copy attached).

The minutes of the previous meeting held on 8 June 2023 were presented for consideration.

Following which, it was:

Resolved

The Schools Forum approved and signed the minutes of the previous meeting held on 8 June 2023 as a true and correct record.

To receive any announcements from the Chair.

The Chair made the following announcements:

·       Liz Williams was welcomed back to the Schools Forum after rejoining Wiltshire Council as the Finance Lead – High Needs Block Sustainability.

·       Depending on the length of the meeting, a comfort break may be had at an appropriate time.

To note any declarations of interests.

There were no declarations of interest.

Schools Forum welcomes contributions from members of the public who are able to ask questions or make a statement in relation to the responsibilities and functions of the Forum at each meeting. A maximum of 15 minutes will be allocated to this at the start of each meeting, and each question or statement should last no longer than 3 minutes. Please register with the Officer named on this agenda, and in accordance with the deadlines below.

Statements

Members of the public who wish to submit a statement in relation to an item on this agenda should submit this electronically to the Officer named on the agenda no later than 5pm on Tuesday 3 October 2023 (1 clear working day before the meeting). Statements must not be defamatory, frivolous, offensive, vexatious, unlawful or otherwise improper. They must not name or identify individual service users, members of staff or members of partner agencies.

Questions

Those wishing to ask questions are required to give notice of any such questions to the Officer named on the front of this agenda no later than 5pm on Thursday 28 September 2023 to allow a response to be formulated.  Questions are limited to a maximum of 2 per person/organisation. A response will be given as either a direct oral answer or a written reply. Questions must not require the disclosure of confidential information. The Chair’s ruling on rejection of a question is final.

There were no questions or statements submitted.

The Forum will be asked to note the minutes/updates from the following meeting:

·       Joint meeting of the School Funding Working Group and SEN Working Group – 25 September 2023

The Chair raised the update from the last joint meeting of the School Funding and SEN Working Group held on 25 September 2023. There being no questions or comments on the updates, it was then:

Resolved:

The Schools Forum noted the update from the last joint meeting of the School Funding and SEN Working Group held on 25 September 2023.

The report of Lisa Pullin (Democratic Services Officer/Clerk to Schools Forum) seeks to inform that a review of proportionality, Forum membership and terms of reference have been carried out and that no changes are proposed.

A report on the Wiltshire Schools Forum Proportionality, Membership and Terms of Reference was presented by Lisa Pullin, Democratic Services Officer.

Members were reminded that the Membership of the Schools Forum was reviewed on an annual basis, with all those who make appointments of named representatives being asked to confirm those persons for the ensuing academic year. As such, it was confirmed that on 25 August 2023, officers had conducted a review of the balance of Membership between Maintained Primary Schools, Maintained Secondary Schools and Academies, and Special School Members. This showed that the current Membership would not need to be amended as it reflected the current breakdown of the total numbers on roll in schools as at the October 2022 census and updated for Academy conversions.

Furthermore, the Terms of Reference of Schools Forum were last reviewed by the Forum at their meeting on 6 October 2022, and subsequently approved by the Cabinet Member for Children, Education and Skills on 4 January 2023. As there were no changes to the proportionality, it was proposed that no changes to the Terms of Reference were required.

Following which, it was:

Resolved:

a)    The Schools Forum noted that the proportionality of the Forum had been reviewed and that no changes were recommended.

b)    The Schools Forum noted that no changes to the Terms of Reference as at 4 January 2023 were recommended.

c)    The Schools Forum noted the current Membership details of the Forum.

d)    The Schools Forum recommended that any vacancies for Schools Forum be appointed to.

The report of Debbie Williams (Schools Strategic Financial Management Adviser) presents the position of revenue balances for Wiltshire maintained schools as at 31 March 2023 and identifies those in surplus and deficit.

Grant Davis, Schools Strategic Financial Support Manager, referred to the report which presented the position of revenue balances for Wiltshire maintained schools as at 31 March 2023, and identified those in surplus and deficit. The following was highlighted:

·       The net surplus balances for the financial year 2022/23 were confirmed as £12.2m with 104 schools holding surplus balances of £14.4m and 12 schools in deficit to a value of £2.2m.

·       When comparing the figures to those of last year, it was confirmed that there had been a slight reduction in the net surplus balances of £1.1m. However, the number of Local Authority (LA) maintained schools had decreased from 126 to 123 over the period of 31 March 2022 to 31 March 2023. Furthermore, it was highlighted that the data did not include those schools which had converted to academies during the financial year.

·       Paragraph 5 of the report was highlighted which presented a breakdown of the movement in net revenue balances over the last 3 financial years and showed that the balances were generally coming down across Primary, Secondary, and Special schools over that period.

·       Appendix 1 of the report was then highlighted which showed a breakdown of all individual maintained schools’ revenue surplus and deficit balances. It was noted that there were two trigger points in which the Department for Education (DfE) could request further information from LAs and these were detailed in Paragraph 8 of the report.

·       Appendix 2 of the report was then raised which analysed the 2022/23 maintained schools’ revenue balances to categorise those that were in surplus and above 15% of their school budget share, those in surplus but below 15% of their school budget share, and those in deficit. As such, it was highlighted that there were 40 schools in the first category, 64 in the second, and 12 in the third, giving an indicative position across the maintained schools sector.

·       Appendix 3 of the report was then raised, and it was noted that an investigation could be triggered by the DfE as per Paragraph 8a of the report, as there were 13 schools that had held a revenue balance of 15% or more of their school budget share over the past 5 years.

·       Appendix 4 of the report was then raised, and it was noted that an investigation could be triggered by the DfE as per Paragraph 8b of the report, as there were 4 schools that had held deficit balances of more than 2.5% and £10,000 over the past 4 years.

·       Paragraphs 12 through 16 of the report were then noted as the key points for the Schools Forum to consider, with Paragraph 17 detailing the indicative position for 2023-24.

In response to a question, it was explained that Abbeyfield School was in deficit which had built up due to tight school funding and investments made to accommodate an anticipated growth in pupil numbers which did not come to fruition over 5 years ago. Furthermore, it was highlighted that Abbeyfield School was a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 39.

The report of Marie Taylor (Head of Finance – Children and Education) seeks to present budget monitoring information against the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) for the financial year 2023-24 as at 31 August 2023.

Marie Taylor, Head of Finance – Children and Education, referred to the report which presented the budget monitoring information against the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) for the financial year 2023-24 as at 31 August 2023. The following was highlighted:

·       It was noted that an overspend of £1.971m across all four Blocks of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) was forecast against the overall schools budget, with the main driver for the variance being the ongoing pressures on the High Needs Block (HNB). This was noted as being in addition to the planned DSG deficit reserve transfer of £16.648m.

·       Paragraphs 4 to 6 of the report, including Table 1, was explained and it was noted that the strategy deployed by officers allowed for tighter budget monitoring and to hold more budget managers to account.

·       Each of the individual Blocks were then raised, in the order that they were detailed in the report.

·       It was noted that the Early Years Block budgets were projected to underspend by £0.157m, with the budgets having been decreased by the planned transfer to the DSG reserve. Thus, facilitating improved budget monitoring and reflecting the Department for Education’s (DfE) post-year adjustment of the variance. Paragraphs 8 to 9 of the report were then detailed, and it was highlighted that the post-year adjustment to the 2022/23 financial year resulted in an uplift of £35,133, and, the in-year adjustment for the 2023/24 financial year had resulted in an uplift of £77,322, both of which were welcomed by officers.

·       The table in Paragraph 8 was highlighted, with officers drawing attention to the Inclusion Support Funding (ISF). It was explained that officers had changed the way in which ISF had been allocated to better reflect children’s needs with more children getting a lower-level grant.

·       The HNB budgets were then detailed, and it was noted that the projected overspend was £2.211m, with the budgets being increased by the planned drawdown from the DSG reserve to facilitate improved budget monitoring, target setting, and methods of measuring success in respect of recovery planning.

·       Paragraphs 12 to 13, including both tables, were then explained.

·       The DSG reserve and management plan were detailed as per Paragraphs 15 to 18 of the report.

Following which, it was:

Resolved:

The Schools Forum noted the forecast budget monitoring position including the balance on the Dedicated Schools Grant reserve at the end of August 2023, together with the update on the High Needs Block recovery plan and Safety Valve programme.

Liz Williams (Finance Lead – High Needs Block Sustainability) and Ben Stevens (Sustainability Strategic Lead – High Needs Block) will update Schools Forum and give a presentation on High Needs Sustainability: the Safety Valve Programme.

Liz Williams, Finance Lead – High Needs Block Sustainability, presented an introduction to the Safety Valve Programme; the slides of which can be found attached to these minutes. The following was highlighted:

·       It was explained that the previous meeting of the Schools Forum had received an update on the Delivering Better Value (DBV) in SEND Programme. In the time since the last meeting, Members were informed that Wiltshire Council had received an invitation to join the Department of Education’s (DfE) Safety Valve Programme which was a different level of intervention from the DBV Programme. As such, work on the DBV Programme had now ceased in place of the Safety Valve Programme.

·       Members were given context behind the High Needs Block (HNB) from a national perspective, as per Slide 1 of the presentation.

·       Slide 2 provided a Wiltshire Council specific perspective in respect of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) deficit and linked to the figures as detailed within the previous Agenda Item, Dedicated Schools Budget – Budget Monitoring 2023-24. It was noted that Wiltshire Council’s cumulative DSG deficit of £35.2m at the end of the 2022/23 financial year had triggered the DfE to look into incorporating Wiltshire into the Safety Valve Programme.

·       Slide 3 went into the reasons for deficit, analysing the expenditure and activity against the HNB, and how it correlated with the data gleaned through the DBV High Impact Analysis.

·       Slide 4 went through the current DSG Management Plan and it was noted that the table in the slide was the same as that in the Appendix of the previous Agenda Item’s report. It was further noted that the figures had been updated since the previous meeting of the Schools Forum to bring the income assumptions in line with the indicative settlement for the HNB for the next financial year and future years. Furthermore, forecast activity had also been updated in line with current growth trends and mitigations such as place sufficiency and alternative provisions, to provide a more informed forecast of activity within the plan. However, officers acknowledged that further improvements and work was needed to continue reducing the mitigated deficit for the future.

·       The differences between the two DfE Intervention Programmes that could support Councils in deficit (DBV and Safety Valve) were detailed as per Slide 5.

·       Slides 6 and 7 detailed what the DfE would commit to within the Safety Valve, and what the Council needed to commit to during the process.

·       Slide 8 displayed a graphic showing Wiltshire Council’s approach to the Safety Valve Programme to transform the High Needs System and Slide 9 detailed the priority workstreams for High Needs Sustainability that would feed into the Safety Valve work.

·       Slide 10 posed some ‘asks’ for the Schools Forum:

o   For two nominees from the Forum to be a part of the Programme Board to represent schools in Wiltshire and to consider creating a smaller Task and Finish Group to focus on the Safety Valve Programme from a schooling perspective to help provide assurance to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 41.

The report of Marie Taylor (Head of Finance – Children and Education) seeks to inform Schools Forum of a serious of DfE Early Years publications issued in July 2023.

Marie Taylor, Head of Finance – Children and Education, referred to the report which presented a series of Department for Education (DfE) Early Years Publications issued in July 2023. The following was highlighted:

Spring Budget 2023 Childcare Expansion

·       Paragraphs 2 to 9 of the report were detailed, the highlights of which being:

o   Funded childcare hours would be extended to children of eligible working parents in England from nine months old to support increased parental engagement in the labour market.

o   The measures would expand the existing system by offering a phased rollout by September 2025 of up to 30 funded hours per week over 38 weeks of the year to children aged nine months and over whose parents met the same income eligibility criteria as applied to the existing 30 hours entitlement for three and four-year olds.

o   The changes were aimed to increase flexibility for providers and the availability of childcare provisions for parents by changing staff-to-child ratios for 2-year-olds and allowing childminders to care for more than the specified amount of three young children, subject to conditions.

o   By the 2027/28 financial year, the national investment was due to rise to £4.1m from £1.74m for the 2024/25 financial year.

o   A new national wraparound childcare pathfinder scheme was being launched with the aim of allowing all parents of primary-aged children in England to access care in schools from 8am – 6pm. £289m in start-up funding would be invested nationally to enable schools and Local Authorities (LAs) to test options of increasing wraparound childcare, with the national rollout due over the 2024-25 and 2025-26 academic years.

Early Years Supplementary Grant 2023-24

·       Paragraphs 10 to 13 of the report were detailed, the highlights of which being:

o   As the expansion plans were to be rolled out from September 2023, a separate mechanism of funding was put in place to facilitate a timely rollout.

o   Wiltshire’s allocation of the £204m supplementary grant funding to LAs for the 2023-24 financial year was £1.642m and would provide supplementary funding for all existing early years funding streams as listed in Paragraph 11.

o   The supplementary funding was separate to the funding provided through the Early Years Block of the DSG for the existing entitlements in the 2023-24 financial year.

o   Wiltshire was one of the 42 LAs for whom there was a reduction in the 2024-25 illustrative hourly rate with a £0.26 reduction (3.4%) per hour from the effective combined rate.

Early Years Funding – Extension of the Entitlements – Government Consultation

·       Paragraphs 14 to 19 of the report were detailed, the highlights of which being:

o   The DfE launched a consultation that ran from 21 July to 8 September 2023 requesting views from LAs, early years providers, and sector representative bodies on a number of proposals regarding the approach to funding for the early years entitlements for 2-year-olds and under from 2024-25, as listed in the report.

o   Wiltshire responded to the consultation and shared the response with the Early Years Sector  ...  view the full minutes text for item 42.

The report of Grant Davis (Schools Strategic Financial Support Manager) seeks to outline the DfE’s funding proposals for schools and high needs in 2024-25.

Grant Davis, Schools Strategic Financial Support Manager, referred to the report which outlined the Department for Education (DfE) funding proposals for schools and high needs in 2024-25, which were published in July 2023. It was emphasised that the report was being presented to draw the Forum’s attention to the proposals rather than for consultation and decision making, as all funding decisions related to the 2024-25 year would be taken following the announcement of the 2024-25 funding settlement. The following was then highlighted:

·       Paragraphs 3 to 7 of the report provided some background to the report with regard to the Government’s pledges to increase core school funding in 2023-24 and 2024-25 following the additional school funding awarded during 2020-21 and 2022-23.

·       Paragraphs 8 to 15 detailed the funding proposals for 2024-25 and it was noted that the 2024-25 year would be the second transition towards the direct schools National Funding Formula (NFF). It was highlighted that Wiltshire’s local school formula already mirrored the NFF and so any future tightening of the formula would have a minimal impact upon Wiltshire schools.

·       The table in Paragraph 11 was highlighted as showing the indicative Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) Block allocations, based upon October 2022 census data. However, it was noted that the Early Years Block figures had been replicated from the 2023-24 allocation to provide a view of the overall quantum of funding for 2024-25, as the Block was still subject to further work by the DfE and in-year changes.

·       Paragraph 12 listed the changes to the 2024-25 funding formula from the 2023-24 formula, and Appendix 1 highlighted some of the subtle key changes to the funding criteria of the NFF.

·       Officers confirmed that Schools Forum Members would continue to retain their role in determining the school funding allocation methodology. However, Members were reminded that the Government had confirmed its intention to move to a single direct NFF by 2027-28 and would therefore have the ability to determine every school’s budget centrally.

·       Paragraph 16 set out a table detailing the NFF funding values for schools for the 2024-25 year.

·       Members were informed that a number of funding decisions that the Forum had made for the 2023-24 year would have to be taken for the 2024-25 year, as listed in Paragraph 17 of the report.

·       The budget setting process for 2024-25 was then detailed, with the calculation shown in Paragraph 21 of the report.

·       Growth Funding, Initial Modelling, De-Delegation, and Notional SEN were then explained, as per Paragraphs 22 to 27 of the report. The highlights of which being:

o   The level of Growth Funding required, and the size of the Growth Fund for 2024-25, would be determined later in the year with confirmation of the Growth Funding criteria, to ensure compliance with the NFF criteria.

o   Initial modelling of the Schools Block demonstrated that the NFF was affordable and therefore the full NFF could be implemented, based on the October 2022 census data.

o   Schools Forum would take any de-delegation decisions on behalf of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43.

To confirm the dates of future meetings, as follows:

5 December 2023

18 January 2024

14 March 2024

27 June 2024

10 October 2024.

The date of the next meeting was confirmed as Tuesday 5 December 2023 at 1.30pm and was planned to be held in person at County Hall, Trowbridge.

Future meeting dates were confirmed as below:

18 January 2024 – 1.30pm

14 March 2024 – 1.30pm
27 June 2024 – 1.30pm
10 October 2024 – 1.30pm

To consider any other items of business, which the Chair agrees to consider as a matter of urgency.

There were no urgent items.