Agenda item

The report of Marie Taylor (Head of Finance – Children and Education) seeks to update Schools Forum on issues relating to the early years block for 2024-25 and the decisions that will need to be made as part of the budget setting process for 2024-25.

Marie Taylor, Head of Finance – Children & Education, presented the report which updated the Schools Forum on issues relating to the Early Years Block (EYB) for 2024-25 and the decisions that needed to be made as part of the budget setting process. The following was then highlighted:

·       Paragraphs 3 to 9 detailed the main considerations for Members and noting that in the Spring budget of 2023, the Government had launched a largescale Childcare Expansion which included increased funding rates and extensions to the age entitlements for parents of eligible children. As such, the provisional EYB settlement for Wiltshire was £52.886m with Paragraph 5 showing a breakdown of the different funding elements.

·       Officers drew Members’ attention to Appendix 1 and Paragraph 7 which listed the criterion in place for setting a local formula and the main changes to the Early Years Entitlements: Local Authority Operational Guide 2024-25 which was published in November 2023; Bullet Points 1 and 2 of Paragraph 7 were specifically highlighted for Members’ awareness. It was further confirmed that the criterion had been universally agreed at the Early Years Reference Group (EYRG).

·       Appendix 2 detailed the Council’s passporting process in which it was proposed that 100% of the 2-year-old disadvantaged funding would be passed through to providers and 95% minimum of the other funding streams.

·       Paragraph 10 noted that in the 8 January 2024 meeting of the EYRG, Members had considered a number of funding options, attached as Appendix 1a and 1b, with the consensus being to support the Council’s recommendations as listed under the paragraph.

·       Paragraphs 12 to 14 referred to the Special Educational Needs Inclusion Fund (SENIF) of which £0.200m had been earmarked to link to Workstream 1 of the Safety Valve Programme. It was highlighted that as part of the preventative inclusive agenda and the recovery actions for the High Need Block (HNB) budget, an additional sum of £0.180m had been ringfenced from the HNB to support children with an Education Health Care Plan (EHCP) in the early years sector. Demand on this fund had been reflected in the budget estimate.

·       Paragraphs 15 to 22 detailed the Disability Access Fund and Early Years Pupil Premium proposals which were fully passported to providers as per the DfE guidance. Furthermore, unspent funds would be returned.

There being no questions or comments, it was then:

Resolved:

1.    The Schools Forum noted the update on the Early Years Block and agreed to the Local Authority preferred proposal.

Local Authority Preferred Proposal:

a.    To set the following basic hour provider rates for entitled children:

b.    That the Central Early Years’ Team budget be set at £0.859m.

c.    That the Special Educational Needs Inclusion Fund be set at £1.142m.

d.    Increase deprivation and rurality to reflect current spending levels at £250,000.

2.    The Schools Forum agreed up to £900 per child for 2024-25 from the Disability Access Fund with the Local Authority to passport the funding.

3.    The Schools Forum agreed to the uplift in funding for Pupil Premium to be set at £0.68 per hour with the Local Authority to passport the funding.

4.    The Schools Forum agreed to maintain at least 95% of funding to be passed through to providers.

5.    The Schools Forum noted that all other funding factors remain at current 2023-24 levels, or funded levels.

(The decisions numbered 1 – 5 above, were made later in the meeting under Agenda Item 10)