Agenda item

The report of Marie Taylor (Head of Finance – Children and Education) seeks to present the year end budget monitoring information against the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) for the financial year 2021-22 as at 31st March 2022.

Marie Taylor (Head of Finance – Children and Education) referred to the report which presented the year end budget monitoring information against the DSG for the financial year 2021-22 as at 31 March 2022 and highlighted the following:

• Despite low levels of funding and with an overspend of £7.066 million against the overall schools block, there was good recovery plan work being done and the final outturns ended up with more favourable position than previously forecast due to a slowing of EHCP plans;

• The Early Years underspend was largely due to the lower take up of the 3 and 4 year old funding - it was likely that some parents had decided not to send their children to take up their entitled place.  The take up for disadvantaged 2-year-old take up was above what was planned and this was due to success with active promotion through Children’s Centres staff and health visitors;

• The underspend on the Schools Budget largely relates to the schools growth fund which is helping to offset the overall pressure on the DSG;

• High needs budgets were overspent by £9.723m. The biggest areas of overspend are named pupil allowances and top ups, particularly post 16, independent special school packages, and Wiltshire pupils in non-Wiltshire provision. When the level of funding does not meet the local need the budget cannot be set at an achievable level and so the location of the overspend is not an indication of individual budget issues but that the whole block is under significant pressure;

• Whilst the numbers of EHCP’s was still rising it had slowed slightly, however, this could be due to a number of factors including professionals having reduced access to and contact with pupils due to the Covid pandemic;

• The cost of Independent Special School fees had gone up by £784 per student but this would also be for the increase in teachers’ pay and pension costs;

• The High Needs Working Group continue to meet regularly to discuss the recovery actions and look to investigate and address issues internally and with external partners;

• The DSG reserve brought forward of £18.717 million is adjusted by the negative early years block adjustment of £0.189 million.  The overspend takes the reserve into an overall deficit position of £25.973 million which the local authority is cash flowing; and

• The DSG Management Plan is a live working document which continues to be updated.  Officers from Wiltshire and two other local authorities had a meeting with the DfE in March to learn more about the DfE’s Development Better Value (DVB) programme and the assistance on offer from the national recovery resources.  Another meeting was planned to discuss the next steps and SEN and finance speciality and recovery plans and actions and funding attached to that transformational work and any funding for it.

A Primary School Governor representative asked about the slowing rate of EHCP and asked if that related to schools behaviour or the turnaround process and the changes affecting that?  Marie Taylor responded that she felt it was slowing because there had not been  eyes and ears on children (whilst there had not been during the school closures in the pandemic) and that since then they had been playing catch up and there were large numbers to keep up with back log.  Transitional support payments were available to try and put funding into schools to respond to their needs. So, whilst there had been a drop in numbers off EHCP’s this was due to a number of things, but mostly a catch up with the processing following a lull in the pandemic.

Resolved:

That Schools Forum note the year end budget monitoring position and the deficit DSG reserve balance as at 31 March 2022.