Agenda item

The report of Grant Davis (Schools Strategic Financial Support Manager) seeks to bring to the attention to Schools Forum the latest DfE funding changes for schools and high needs in 2023-24.

Grant Davis (Schools Strategic Financial Support Manager) referred to the report which outlined the DfE funding proposals for schools and high needs in 2023-24 and highlighted the following:

• The indicative allocations for the 2023-24 budget had been given by the DfE and they had continued to allocate funding on the basis of the National Funding Formula (NFF).  The 2023-24 year would be another “soft” year with Schools Forum still retaining its role in determining the school funding allocation methodology;

·         The 2023-24 year will be the first transition year towards the direct schools National Funding Formula (NFF). A tightening of the of the formula was confirmed following the first stage of the government’s consultation on the direct NFF. This tightening will ensure that for the 2023-24 year that:

-   Only NFF factors can be used in the local formula

·     All NFF factors must be used in the formula

·     LA’s are required to move their formula 10% closer to the NFF values

• Wiltshire’s local school formula already mirrors the NFF – therefore the tightening will have a minimal impact upon Wiltshire schools;

• The indicative allocations are based on the October 2021 census which also formed the basis of the 2022-23 allocations;

• The main formula for the 2023-24 year is broadly similar to the formula for 2022-23 year, the main changes are below:

a)    Overall, funding through the NFF will increase by 1.9%

b)    Core pupil-led funding factors and the lump sum to increase by 2.4%

c)    Disadvantaged funding, FSM6 and IDACI factors to increase by 4.3%

d)    The ‘Minimum per pupil funding level’ to increase by 3.3% to £4,405 for Primary and £5,715 for Secondary

e)    The School Supplementary Grant from 2022-23 has been rolled into the baseline funding and then inflated by the relevant % increases.

f)      Increasing the DfE’s High Needs funding by £570m or 6.3%

• The DfE are expecting to move to the Direct (Hard) NFF by the 2027-28 funding year at the latest.  All NFF factors will be mandatory from 2023-24 and the formula will be presented to Schools Forum when the final allocations have been confirmed in December 2022 and then to the Local Authority for political ratification and approval in February 2023;

• The growth funding is based on the growth in pupils in the MSOA between the October 2022 and October 2021 census and will attract funding at £1,520 per primary pupil and £2,275 per secondary pupil;

• Initial modelling of the allocations show that all formulas should be affordable.  The usual consultation about de-delegation of services was currently out and the findings would be brought back to the next meeting in December.

An Early Years representative asked about distributing the grant centrally not through LA – and if de-delegation would disappear or be delivered through a trading company. Grant Davis responded that we would find out in due course as part of the consultation sought responses regarding the future of de-delegation and whether this should continue.  If there were enough maintained schools interested in continuing with de-delegation, they would need to look at benefiting from the economies of scale of having the services delivered centrally.  Academies were also being asked if they would wish to buy in (as a traded service) and it was expected that this would continue as long as the services could be provided by the LA’s teams. 

Resolved:

That Schools Forum note the contents of the report on the DfE funding proposals for schools and high needs in 2023-24.