Agenda item

The report of Marie Taylor (Head of Finance – Children and Education) seeks to provide the budget monitoring year end position of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) for the financial year 2022-23 as at 31 March 2023.

Marie Taylor, Head of Finance – Children and Education, referred to the report which presented the budget monitoring year end position of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) for the financial year 2022-23 as at 31 March 2023, and highlighted the following:

·       The appendices, particularly Appendix 1, outlined in detail the variance analysis on each of the budgets.

·       Table 1 in the report showed a summary per funding Block and it was noted that all Blocks had underspent bar the High Needs Block (HNB). It was explained that there was a significant underspend in the Early Years Block (EYB) due to the difference between the take-up in comparison to the census funding levels taken from the Department of Education (DfE). However, it was confirmed that the DfE undertake yearly in-year and post-year financial adjustments in the next month or so, therefore the variance would to some degree disappear after the usual post adjustment in the 2023-24 financial year.

·       Table 2 in the report showed the breakdown of Early Years Learners and an overspend in the Inclusion Support Fund, however it was emphasised that this was not necessarily a negative thing, as it was likely a reflection of the benefits of the Fund and demand across the system.

·       It was confirmed that Early Years Officers had been successful in their COMF funding bid to the Director of Public Health for grants for 2022-23. Furthermore, £100k had been ear-marked for the Hardship Fund, but no requests had been received in 2022-23 despite take-up in previous years.

·       The forecasted underspend in Schools Budgets was explained as being due to the School Supply Cover Fund not being used as anticipated, alongside alternative grants being used to fund some of the relevant activity in that area. Thus, helping to offset the overall pressure on the DSG.

·       The High Needs Budget was projected to overspend by £13.499m, however it was stressed that when the level of funding available did not match local needs, no realistic budget could be set at an achievable level. Therefore, Members were reassured that it was not indicative of individual budget issues, but instead that the whole block was under significant pressure.

·       Furthermore, throughout the pandemic, professionals could not assess children and young people in school, thus leading to an inevitable backlog in Education Health Care Plan (EHCP) assessments. Continual increases in assessment requests were noted as leading to assumptions around future plans needing to be constantly adjusted to ensure higher accuracy.

·       It was explained that the major driver for the increased cost was volume, which was explained as being measured in full-time equivalent (FTE) pupils. Table 3 in the report was then referred to, where the percentage of children with an EHCP in Wiltshire had doubled to 12% since the previous financial year, which could be attributed to the impact of the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns.

·       It was noted that the biggest areas of overspend within the High Needs Budget were Independent Special School packages, alternative provision, costs of pupils in non-Wiltshire schools, named pupil allowances and top ups. A breakdown of the data was shown in Table 4 in the report.

·       Additionally, High Needs related overspends within mainstream schools were noted as not necessarily being negative, as it meant that Wiltshire had more inclusive schools who were helping to support those High Needs Learners.

·       The Central Schools Services Block was driven by careful management of the specialist education packages for children in care, and alternative grant funding had been secured to help offset the costs in that area.

·       DSG Reserve was noted as being one of the biggest financial concerns for the Council. Table 5 of the report was referred to, and it was noted that the reserve had brought forward £25.973m, which was increased by the positive Early Years Block adjustment of £0.564m.

·       There was an actual variance of £9.276m across the whole piece, with £34.685m being carried forward, and it was reiterated that this sat within the Council’s balance sheet and was cash flowed by the Council.

·       It was explained that the Transformation Board within the Council and Chaired by the Chief Executive, Terence Herbert, had earmarked an investment of £1.6m into this area over the next two financial years by deploying temporary resources to drive the transformational change required.

·       The Early Years Reference Group had considered limited one-off usage of the Early Years Contingency Reserves which was proposed to be utilised through appointing 4 temporary FTE Early Years Intervention Advisers, and Inclusion Support for settings including outreach, training, and mentoring, alongside an Early Years Conference in the Autumn term. All of which aimed to assist with COVID recovery for children while also contributing to the early help and prevention plans.

Following which, it was:

Resolved:

The Schools Forum noted the budget monitoring position including the balance on the DSG reserve at the end of the financial year in conjunction with the high needs recovery plan and Delivering Better Value (DBV) update as per Agenda Item 10.