Agenda item

The report of Grant Davis (Schools Strategic Financial Support Manager) seeks to outline the DfE’s change to the School and Early Years Finance (England) Regulations 2020, which sets out the treatment for Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) deficits.

Grant Davis, (Schools Strategic Financial Support Manager), outlined the DfE’s change to the School and Early Years Finance (England) Regulations 2020, and the treatment for Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG).

A change in regulations has meant that Local Authorities (LA’s) were no longer able to contribute into DSG. This has meant that any deficit on our DSG (£11.3m) sat within the realm to be repaid. We either need to deduct that expenditure from the Schools budget from this year or split it in to part for this year and the rest next year.

It was too late to take into account in the 20/21 budget so it must be moved to 2021/22 year. What that means for our individual schools was shown in the table at paragraph 9 in the report. For modelling purposes, a figure of £10.5m deficit was used. Para 11 of the report detailed what this would mean and whether it was affordable going forward.

There would be £14.5 billion of extra funding going into schools over the next 4 years. This was welcome news for our schools.

We need to go to the Secretary of State and ask to re-profile the repayment of that deficit.

In 2021/22 the minimum per pupil funding level was set to increase for primary schools, from £3,750 to 4k per pupil, which would have a huge impact on our schools.

Would we be able to fund our schools in 2021/22?

Using some modelling and making key assumptions, such as to assume pupil numbers would be unchanged, the Wiltshire Growth Fund was cost neutral and there would be no transfer with the school’s block and the high needs block because of the deficit repayment, we are able to make a projection.

The table set out at paragraph 26, sets out where we would be, if those things were all in place. We would be unable to afford to fund our schools in the 2021/22 year, in accordance with the national funding formula to a tune of £5.3m. We would have to take some quite serious actions as set out in paragraph 27.

The Chairman noted that this was the first year that Wiltshire had been able to afford the national funding formula since its inception. Part of the problem of high needs is we are still fighting the fact that 50% of our income is based on historic spend from 2014.

Questions -

link back to item 11, in favour of the 3 year recovery request however in light of the Covid economic recession – are funding pledges from central gov guaranteed or at risk?

Answer: Agreed the country will find itself in financial difficult positions but this pledge was far as I am aware, still standing.

Appears there were two assumptions in the 3 year plan. One that the high needs budget deficit would be lowered, and two, that there would be no further top slicing of school’s budgets. Is that correct?

Answer: There was currently a high needs review ongoing. Wiltshire should receive a better allocation when the review had taken place. It was only a model at this stage.

The Chairman noted that there had been a meeting with the local MP to explain the situation on the proposal. He was not sure whether they got the whole picture, and the reality of what it would be like for a school to lose £250k. Not sure that was totally understood, however there was a pledge for them to support us with the disapplication.

Cllr Church (Cabinet Member for Children, Education & Skills) was also at the meeting and was keen to involve the politicians. She was working with officers to help construct the letter to the Secretary of State, in order for the MPs to be clear in approaching the subject matter in the correct ways to the DfE. One of her roles was to do as much lobbying of MPs as possible to try and improve this area for Wiltshire.

The expected response time would usually be around 15 working days, as long as we get an initial letter in as soon as possible to DfE, but it was quite a pioneering request, so may fall outside of the usual response timeframes.

Resolved:

That Schools Forum note the update and support the view that a disapplication request to be made to the Secretary of State to enable Wiltshire to re-profile its DSG Deficit over the coming years, as repaying the deficit of £10½m is unaffordable in the 2021-22 financial year, however spreading it over the ensuing three years would be sustainable.