Agenda, decisions and minutes

Apologies for received from Peter French, Karen Lewis, Jon Lake, Hayley Walker (substituted by Kathryn White), Rachel Martin, Eliza Hollis, Louise Samways, James Shryane and Jenny Thorpe.

Schools Forum was advised that Lyndsey Barnett had stepped down as the Maintained Nursery representative. The sector had nominated Beccy Merritt, the Headteacher of Wallace Road Nursery School in Northampton, to take the place.

Members are asked to declare any interest and the nature of that interest which they may have in any of the items under consideration at this meeting.

PW declared in relation to agenda item 9 (Schools PFI Update) that he was the Chief Operating Officer of the East Midlands Academy Trust, which included a school in the Northampton Schools PFI Scheme.

LH declared in relation to agenda item 9 (Schools PFI Update) that he was the Chief Operating Officer of the Peterborough Diocesan Education Trust, which included a school in the Northampton Schools PFI Scheme.

To confirm the Minutes of the meeting held on 18 October 2022.

RESOLVED: that the minutes of the meeting held on 18 October 2022 were agreed as an accurate record.

RESOLVED: that the minutes of the meeting held on 18 October 2022 were agreed as an accurate record.

Emily Cooledge

RESOLVED:

·         That Schools Forum noted the forecast outturn position for 2022-23.

·         That Schools Forum requested confirmation of whether there had been a carry-forward into the 2022-23 DSG budget.

·         That Schools Forum agreed to have a standing agenda item at future meetings updating on action to address pressures on the High Needs block.

EC presented the report and highlighted that the DSG forecast outturn position for Quarter 2 was an overspend of £2m, which represented a deterioration of £1.6m from the previous quarter. The key factor in the forecast pressure was increased demand for educational placements and the need to use out of county placements to meet this. Mitigating actions were being taken.

Schools Forum considered the report. PW requested clarification of whether there had been a carry-forward into the current DSG budget and of the latest position regarding the High Needs block recovery plan. BP advised that more information on the recovery plan would be provided by the later item on the agenda for the current meeting. However, it would be helpful to bring the detailed recovery plan to Schools Forum.

RESOLVED:

·         That Schools Forum noted the forecast outturn position for 2022-23.

·         That Schools Forum requested confirmation of whether there had been a carry-forward into the 2022-23 DSG budget.

·         That Schools Forum agreed to have a standing agenda item at future meetings updating on action to address pressures on the High Needs block.

For Schools Forum to discuss the funding environment for schools and the scope to mitigate pressures.

Emily Cooledge

RESOLVED: that Schools Forum noted the update.

EC introduced the item, which was intended to advise of the latest funding announcements and lead into a wider discussion about the funding environment for schools, as requested by Schools Forum.

EC advised that the final funding settlement was now expected around the end of the current week. The Autumn Statement had included an additional £2.3bn funding for core school budgets in each of the next two years, which would restore per-pupil funding to the 2010 level. It had not yet been confirmed how this additional funding would be provided. There remained uncertainty about pressures on schools resulting from factors including pay awards, inflation and energy costs. The details of government capital funding support for schools’ energy costs were also still to be confirmed.

PW noted that extra funding for the sector was welcome but current and future demands would still leave a strain on school budgets. Schools Forum was invited to consider whether it should seek to make further representations on this matter alongside West Northamptonshire Council (WNC).

In response to questions EC and BB advised that additional funding was likely to be distributed on a formula basis. In the previous year additional schools block funding had been provided on a per-pupil basis, together with some additional High Needs block funding that the local area could decide how to distribute.

IM referred to the example of a large secondary school going into deficit due to the impact of pay awards and energy costs. There would be a gap left to fill if additional funding was not received in 2022-23. PW considered that this was likely to reflect a typical experience for a well-managed school.

BP encouraged that Schools Forum should keep in touch with the pressures affecting the sector and discuss how these might be mitigated. The Local Government Association had identified that there was approximately £2bn pressure on Higher Needs at the current level of demand, which needed to be set against the additional funding in the Autumn Statement. Small early years providers could also be put at risk by small increases in pressures in the current climate. The new Ofsted local inspection framework had been published in the previous week; significantly, before the outcomes of the national review of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) provision and the national SEND delivery plan. It was hoped that additional funding might be associated with their publication. 

FB advised that the f40 Group of local authorities had recently sent a detailed report on pressures associated with SEND provision to the Department for Education (DfE) and was awaiting a response. Collective action on this kind of issue was more productive.

RESOLVED: that Schools Forum noted the update.

To consider an update on matters relating to High Needs Budgets.

Emily Cooledge / Beth Baines / Andy Pymm

RESOLVED: that Schools Forum noted the update and welcomed further updates to future meetings.

EC introduced the report and outlined current financial assumptions relating to the High Needs Block budget. WNC was waiting for confirmation of its share of additional funding announced in the Autumn Statement. Work to quantify and manage pressures was continuing but the situation remained volatile with the risk of additional demands.

BB set out the special schools indicative budget for 2023/34, which WNC was required to provide to schools before the end of February. Special schools were largely full so a significant increase was not expected. The overall budget for 2023/24 was £23.9m. The report also presented the High Needs places in West Northamptonshire as at the end of 2022.

BP introduced AP who had joined WNC recently as a project manager for improvement work on SEND and had given this significant extra momentum. Improvement work included co-production of a needs analysis, building on the Mastodon survey of young people’s needs. The annual school capacity (SCAP) survey for 2023 was due to include a specific return on SEND for the first time, which would enable a better dialogue with the DfE about demand and provision. WNC would also carry out a sufficiency analysis of provision in schools and other settings to inform a more pro-active future approach.

AP gave an overview of the current SEND funding project, which was designed to  provide consistency and clarity of SEND funding across West Northamptonshire, highlighting the following points:

·         The project covered funding both for children and young people with Education, Health & Care (EHC) plans and for those without an EHC Plan but who received additional funding.

·         The project working included providers and parents from the Northamptonshire Parent Forum Group.

·         It was aimed to launch the new funding framework resulting from the project in schools, units and early years settings on 1 September 2023 and on a later date in further education settings.

·         WNC currently used a Resource Allocation System (RAS) to allocate funding to special schools. It was planned to extend the use RAS software into other settings. Information events would be held to present this to settings.

·         Financial modelling was currently being done for both elements of the project. An update could be provided to the next Schools Forum meeting.  

DY sought reassurance about the quality assurance process that would apply to data informing the future approach; how early years would be involved in the new approach given that early identification of needs helped to address them; the basis for introducing SEND Ranges ahead of the current work; and how the current work would help to address pressures on the High Needs block. DY also emphasised the importance of transparency in the approach being taken and the outcomes sought from it.

BP made the following additional points during the course of discussion:

·         Quality assurance of data would be supported by the collaborative approach to the project, which would produce a collective view of current provision and future needs.

·         He agreed that early identification of needs should be taken into account in future  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

a)    Schools funding formula and Specialist Services 2023-24

b)    Split Site Funding Policy

c)    Growth Fund

     Weighted numbers for new schools/year groups

     (Shazia Umer, Head of Place Planning and Pupil Admissions)

d)    Central Schools Services budgets 2023-24

e)    Maintained schools de-delegation 2023-24 – Trade Union facilities time   (Alison Golding, Assistant Director HR, Rose Kavanagh, HR Specialist – Strategy and Policy)

f)     Maintained schools de-delegation 2023-24 – School Improvement Grant (Katie Morlidge, Senior School Improvement Officer)

g)    Maintained schools de-delegation 2023-24 – Redundancy support

Beth Baines

RESOLVED:

·         That Schools Forum agreed the approach to funding specialist services in 2023-24 set out in option 2 in the report: 0.5% schools block top slice, SEN service funded centrally but sensory impairment service charged at the point of delivery.

·         That Schools Forum agreed to roll forward the Split Site Policy from 2022-23 and to use the same rates as the 2022-23 split site rates.

·         That Schools Forum agreed to roll forward the Growth Fund Policy from 2022-23, increasing the rates and adding a clause to allow extraordinary growth events to be funded.

·         That Schools Forum agreed the Growth Fund weighted numbers as set out in the West Northamptonshire Schools Budget Consultation 2023-24 consultation document.

·         That Schools Forum agreed to set the Growth Fund budget at £1.6m for 2023-24.

·         That Schools Forum agreed the central budgets from the Central Schools Services Block of the DSG for 2023-24 as set out in the report.

·         That Schools Forum agreed the approach to the de-delegation for Trade Union Facility Time in 2023-24 set out in option 2 in the report: Continuation of the de-delegation but with 10% less facility time.

·         That Schools Forum agreed the proposed continuation of the de-delegation for School Improvement Grant and the rate of £5.50.

·         That Schools Forum agreed the proposed continuation of the de-delegation for Redundancy Support and the rate of £4.00.

BB introduced the report and set out the results of consultation on 2023/24 WNC Schools Funding.

For Specialist Services the consultation presented two specific options: a top slice of £2.2m from mainstream school budgets to fund both specialist services centrally; or a 0.5% schools block top slice with SEN service funded centrally but sensory impairment service charged at the point of delivery. There had been 19 consultation responses in favour of option 1 and 38 in favour of option 2.

For Split Site Policy the consultation proposal was to roll forward the existing local policy from 2022/23 and to use the same rates. There had been 43 responses in favour and none against on both elements.

For Growth Fund Policy the consultation proposal was to roll forward the existing policy from 2022/23 with updated rates and the addition of a clause to allow funding of extraordinary growth events, such as children arriving in-year as refugees. There had been 46 responses in favour of the proposal relating to the Policy and 2 against. There had been 45 responses in favour of updating the rates and 3 against.

Central expenditure from the central schools services block consisted of some historical commitments and ongoing responsibilities. The consultation proposal concerning the continuation of the central services that are partly funded by DSG received 48 responses in favour and none against.

For the maintained schools de-delegation for Trade Union (TU) Facilities Time the consultation presented three options: continuation of the de-delegation as in previous years; continuation of the de-delegation but with 10% less Facility Time, as previously suggested by Schools Forum; and operate an arrangement for facility time within individual schools. Option 1 was supported by 11 responses, option 2 by 22, and option 3 by 2.

For the maintained schools de-delegation for School Improvement Grant the consultation proposal was to continue the de-delegation. There had been 24 responses in favour and 3 against.

For the maintained schools de-delegation for redundancy support the consultation proposal was to continue the de-delegation at a rate of £4.00. There had been 26 responses in favour and 1 against.

TU representatives present were then invited to address Schools Forum on the maintained schools de-delegation for TU Facilities Time.

RP supported the continuation of the previous de-delegation for TU Facility Time, as set out in option 1 in the consultation. The per pupil rate had remained at £2.10 for some years and had not been increased last year to the difficult economic climate. Schools were now outsourcing their HR functions, which was increasing demand on TU representatives at the same time as their capacity was under pressure. A 10% reduction in Facility Time as proposed in option 2 would cause issues to escalate more quickly and delay resolutions.  

RW supported the continuation of the previous de-delegation, commenting that TU Facility Time contributed both to reducing the risk of cases going to a tribunal and also to managing TU members’ expectations.

RJ supported the continuation of the previous de-delegation, commenting that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

For Schools Forum to consider and comment on consultation proposals.

Beth Baines

RESOLVED:

·         That Schools Forum requested to receive further information on how the central 5% retained budget is used.

·         That Schools Forum endorsed the draft consultation proposals subject to the following additions:

-       Inclusion in the consultation document of more information on how the central 5% retained budget is used.

-       Inclusion in the consultation document of a single version of the proposals to reflect the Early Years National Funding Formula rates that are confirmed in the DSG settlement for 2023-24.

BB presented the draft consultation proposals for the Early Years Funding Formula for 2023/24. It was highlighted that the consultation document currently included two versions of the proposals pending confirmation of funding rates in the December settlement. The final version of the consultation document would feature a single set of proposals. BB went on to summarise key factors taken into account in the 2023/24 proposals. 

BM and KW sought further information about how the 5% of 3 and 4 year old funding retained by WNC was used. BP advised that the consultation document did include some information on this but further information could be provided to Schools Forum if necessary. PW subsequently suggested that it could also be helpful to expand the information in the consultation document. 

BP highlighted the reference in the consultation document to WNC’s intention to distribute £500K to providers in 2023/24 from a £1m reserve within its DSG balances resulting from reduced uptake of nursery places during the
COVID-19 pandemic. This was not part of the consultation but an in-year measure intended to recognise pressures affecting providers.

RESOLVED:

·         That Schools Forum requested to receive further information on how the central 5% retained budget is used.

·         That Schools Forum endorsed the draft consultation proposals subject to the following additions:

-       Inclusion in the consultation document of more information on how the central 5% retained budget is used.

-       Inclusion in the consultation document of a single version of the proposals to reflect the Early Years National Funding Formula rates that are confirmed in the DSG settlement for 2023-24.

Colin Barrett

RESOLVED: that Schools Forum requested to receive regular updates in future on the situation concerning charges under the Schools PFI contract.

PW noted that this item had arisen from concerns about issues connected with the Schools PFI contract, particularly the impact on schools of significant increases in facilities management (FM) costs made after 2022/23 budgets had been set. Schools Forum had sought an update on the situation at its meeting on 18 October 2022 to assist in identifying and managing future demands. A report had not been provided for that meeting or for the current one. This was a very disappointing situation for Schools Forum. PW welcomed that SB was now present to give an overview of the current direction.

SB highlighted that WNC was an evolving authority and he was best-placed to deal with this item at the current meeting. The position relating to FM costs and charges was continually changing. This was why a report had not been brought to the last Schools Forum meeting, although he apologised if this had not been communicated clearly. The position remained fluid and he was only able to set out the best projection at this point, which was a challenging one.

SB gave an overview of the background to the Schools PFI, FM costs and funding, and the likely position for 2023/24, highlighting the following points:

·         In 2005 the value of school FM charges was calculated as a percentage of the overall charge. Charges had subsequently been varied to reflect changes in facilities at individual schools.

·         It was difficult to compare FM charges for PFI schools to those for other schools due to limited data on other schools available to WNC; differences between schools’ facilities; different approaches to FM; and the fact that PFI contracts involved an element of financial risk that the contractor included in its price.

·         The current economic climate made it very difficult to predict the inflation rate in April 2023 when FM charges would actually be applied. DSG funding had been inflated by 11.2% in accordance with the DfE. The WNC draft budget for 2023/24 needed to meet an overall budget gap of £35.6m and there was no allowance for meeting Schools PFI inflationary costs.

·         RPIX inflation was currently projected at approximately 13%, although there had recently been some signs of easing. Inflation at this level would result in an estimated FM base unitary charge of £34.249m for 2023/24. This would produce an FM charge of £19.855m, representing an increase of £2.284m.

·         The estimated position for 2023/24 involved an increase in FM charges to individual schools of £916K  over the DSG increase, equivalent to £43 per student enrolled.

·         Views from a schools’ perspective about how to address this challenging situation were welcome. SB was ready to work through the implications with individual schools. Schools were also encouraged to contribute to consultation on the WNC draft budget. 

Schools Forum considered the update and members raised the following points during the course of discussion:

·         PW noted that there was limited scope to seek to renegotiate the PFI contract. Better relations between schools and the FM contractor would make a practical  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

Standing items (if required)

·         DSG Monitoring

·         DfE / ESFA Funding announcements

·         School Budgets

·         High Needs 

·         Early Years

·         National Funding formula

7 February 2023

·         WNC Draft Budget proposals 2023-24

·         EYSFF 2023-24

·         High Needs budgets 2023-24

·         Early years central expenditure 2023-24 – outcome of consultation and consideration of proposals (vote required on central expenditure)

·         Schools Forum meeting dates 2023-24

RESOLVED: that Schools Forum noted the Forward Plan.

JE presented the Forward Plan, highlighting that the Schools Forum meeting on 7 February 2023 would consider the outcomes of consultation on the Early Years Funding Formula 2023/24 as well as proposed dates for Forum meetings in 2023/24.

PW invited members to raise any points on the Forward Plan that they wished Schools Forum to consider.

RESOLVED: that Schools Forum noted the Forward Plan.

The Chair to advise whether they have agreed to any items of urgent business being admitted to the agenda.

There was none.

PW thanked those present for their attendance and wished everyone a good Christmas.