Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Room One, County Offices, Newland, Lincoln LN1 1YL

Contact: Katrina Cope  Senior Democratic Services Officer

Items
No. Item

79.

Apologies for Absence/Replacement Members

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Martin J Kyle (Head Teacher, St Faith & St Martin C E Junior School, Lincoln), Ian Randall (Head Teacher, Reepham C E Primary School), Martin Shelton (Linkage Community Trust), Helen Stokes (Staff Trade Unions) and Ian Widdows (Head Teacher, Giles Academy, Old Leake).

80.

Declarations of Members' Interest

Minutes:

There were no declarations of members' interest made at this stage of proceedings.

81.

Minutes of the Lincolnshire Schools' Forum meeting held on 11 October 2018 pdf icon PDF 175 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED

 

That the minutes of the Lincolnshire Schools' Forum meeting held on 11 October 2018 be agreed and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

82.

Chairman's Announcements

Minutes:

The Chairman welcomed to the meeting Lynsey Norris (Faith Group representative).

 

The Chairman advised that James Todd (Primary Parent Governor Representative) had stood down from his position on the Forum.  The Chairman extended thanks on behalf of the Forum to James for his contributions as a parent governor representative.

 

The Forum was advised that there were six vacancies at present; and that arrangements for a future election would be considered. 

83.

School Funding Arrangements 2019/20 pdf icon PDF 220 KB

(To receive a report from Elizabeth Bowes, Strategic Finance Manager, School Finance Team, which advises the Schools' Forum of the school funding arrangements for 2019/20)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report from Elizabeth Bowes, Strategic Finance Manager, Schools Finance Team, which advised the Forum of the school funding arrangements for 2019/20.

 

Details pertaining to the background behind the implementation of the national funding formula were shown on page 17 of the report.

 

It was highlighted that the schools revenue funding 2019/20 operational guidance published by the DfE on the 21 December 2018 was available on:

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachmentdata/file/767607/Operationalguide2019to2020. 

 

Key information contained within the operational guide was detailed on pages 18/19 of the report for the Forum to consider.

 

It was highlighted that the 2019/20 Dedicated School Grant allocations (DSG) remained a ring-fenced grant which could only be used in accordance with the School's and Early Years Finance (England) Regulations.  The Forum was advised that the DSG would continue to be comprised of four blocks: Schools Block; Central School Services Block; Early Years Block; and High Needs Block.  (Full details relating to the four blocks were shown on pages 19 to 22 of the report presented).  Table 1 on page 19 provided details of Lincolnshire's 2019/20 DSG allocations.  It was highlighted that Lincolnshire's schools funding levels were increasing through the national funding formula, which was improving Lincolnshire's position nationally when making comparisons.  It was highlighted further that Lincolnshire's primary schools funding overall was 48th lowest out of 150 Local Authorities (LAs) overall, and that Lincolnshire's secondary schools was 56th lowest out of 150 LAs overall.  It was noted that the overall Schools Block funding was distributed to all schools through the agreed approach of replicating the national funding formula (subject to affordability).

 

The Forum was advised of the new formulaic approach to the LA's growth allocation and that this would cover both explicit and implicit growth.  Detailed at Appendix A to the report was a copy of the primary and secondary schools reorganisation policies which allocate funding to schools for planned reorganisation to support the Local Authority's statutory responsibility to provide sufficient school places.

 

It was reported that within the High Needs block of the DSG, Lincolnshire would be in receipt of £5.776m of protection funding for 2019/20, when comparing the new national funding formula allocation to Lincolnshire's current High Needs block funding level.

 

It was reported further that pupil premium funding for 2019/20 would be protected at the 2018/19 rates; and that pupil premium allocations for the financial year 2019/20 would be published in June 2019, which would be based on pupil number data from the January 2019 census.

 

The Committee was advised that the grant for universal infant free school meals continued at a meal rate of £2.30 for the 2019/20 academic year.

 

The report provided details of the DfE teachers' pay grant to support schools in meeting the cost of the September 2018 pay award.  It was reported that the grant supported the cost of the September 2018 teachers' pay award for 2019/20.  Details of the rates for 2019/20 were shown at the bottom of page 22 of the report.  The Committee  ...  view the full minutes text for item 83.

84.

Early Years National Funding Formula pdf icon PDF 362 KB

(To receive a joint report from Michelle Andrews, Children's Services Manager, Early Years and Childcare Support and Mark Popplewell, Head of Finance, Children's Services, this provides the Schools' Forum with a summary of the Early Years National Funding Formula for 2019/20, and seeks agreement relating to the allocation and distribution of the centrally retained budgets)

Minutes:

The Forum gave consideration to a report from Michelle Andrews, Children's Services Manager, Early Years and Childcare Support, which provided the Schools' Forum with a summary of the Early Years National Funding Formula for 2019/20; and sought agreement relating to the allocation and distribution of the centrally retained budgets.

 

In guiding the Forum through the report, reference was made to: the background relating to the introduction of the government's Early Years Funding Formula; the National Funding to Local Authorities for Early Years Core Funding; Early Years National Funding Formula requirements to Providers and Schools; and Lincolnshire's Early Years Funding Formula including the local universal base rate per pupil.   It was noted that the hourly rate had increased by £0.03 per hour per pupil for 2019/20.  It was noted further that the local universal base rate would fund the direct delivery of early year's entitlement.

 

Reference was also made to the monthly claim process; which Lincolnshire had successfully implemented in September 2018, following consultation with the sector.  The Forum was advised that initial feedback from providers had been overwhelmingly positive, as providers now had a live system available to update child attendance, which had assisted with more accurate and timely data sharing on a monthly basis.

 

The report also provided the Forum with information relating to supplements and the deprivation supplement.  It was noted that for 2019/20, the Local Authority would continue to use the same deprivation factor and deprivation monetary values that were currently in place in 2018/19.  It was highlighted that the provider survey undertaken had identified 81% of respondents supported the continued use of the government's Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI) measure.  Table one provided the Forum with information relating to deprivation scores and associated funding.

 

Page 53 of the report provided details of the SEN Inclusion Fund, a fund that all Local Authorities were required to have for 3 and 4 year olds with special educational needs who were taking up the free entitlements.  The Forum was advised that in Lincolnshire the SEN Inclusion Fund had been reviewed in line with the national guidance and was available through an application process.

 

It was reported that there were currently 224 children accessing the Inclusion Fund.  It was therefore essential to maintain funding levels in 2019/20 to take into account any further increase in take-up of the 30 hours.

 

Pages 54 to 57 provided the Forum with details pertaining to Local Authority Centrally Retained Funding, which in accordance with regulations required Schools' Forum approval.  These were:-

 

·Early Years Entitlement Team £298,276;

·Securing Sufficient, Sustainable Provision £412,716;

·SEND Local Offer £64,874

·EYFS Quality Improvement, Support, Advice £462,960; and

·Workforce & Training Requirements for the Sector £287,360.

 

Table 2 on page 57 provided the Forum with details relating to Lincolnshire's Early Years Funding Distribution for 3 and 4 year olds; and Table 3 provided information relating to Early Years Funding Distribution.

 

The report also made reference to: Disability Access Funding; Early Years Pupil Premium, and 2 Year Old Funding (Fluctuation Contingency  ...  view the full minutes text for item 84.

85.

Building Communities of Specialist Provision: Update pdf icon PDF 302 KB

(To receive a report from Eileen McMorrow, Senior Project Officer, Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, which provides the Schools' Forum with an update on the progress of the Building Communities of Specialist Provision Strategy)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Forum gave consideration to a report from Eileen McMorrow, Senior Project Officer, Special Educational Needs and Disabilities, which provided the Forum with an update on the progress of the Building Communities of Specialist Provision Strategy.

 

The report presented briefly outlined the vision for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Education provision to be implemented over the next 5 years, including details of the prescribed alterations to each of the special schools.  Attached at Appendix A was a copy of the full approved 'Building Communities of Specialist Provision Together in Lincolnshire Strategy' for the Forum to consider.

 

The Forum was advised that approval of the exciting and aspirational strategy had been well received both locally and nationally.  It was noted that positive reinforcement had been received through the Local Area SEND inspection, along with approval from the DfE.  It was highlighted that the strategy would make significant changes to the existing special education provision, creating an integrated and sustainable school system where pupils would be able to attend their nearest special school, confident that their education and health needs could be fully accommodated.

 

It was highlighted that the strategy would be implemented over the next five years with the final school changes being made in September 2023; and that the Schools' Forum would be provided with regular updates as implementation progressed.

 

The Forum extended their thanks for the update provided and looked forward to further updates going forward.

 

RESOLVED

 

          That the Building Communities of Specialist Provision: Update be noted.

86.

Academies and Trust Update pdf icon PDF 343 KB

(To receive a report from John O'Connor, Children's Services Manager, Education Support, which provides the Schools' Forum with information on the latest number of academies, and pupils in academies)

Minutes:

The Head of Finance, Children's Services presented the Academies and Trust update report, which provided information on the latest number of academies, pupils in academies and academy trusts.

 

It was highlighted that since the effective date of the last report (1 September 2018), there had been four further academy conversions of primary schools. The report highlighted that the total number of primary academies was now 99 (35.2%) educating 25,350 (44.3%) full time equivalent pupils.

 

Information relating to the projected six month status of all Lincolnshire State school detailed on page 112 of the report presented.  The report highlighted that the total number of academies could rise to 169 (46.7%) and 71,004 (67.3%) pupils. It was noted that four schools were currently in the process to become converter or sponsored academies.

 

RESOLVED

 

          That the Academies and Trust update be noted.

87.

Lincolnshire Schools' Forum - Work Programme pdf icon PDF 46 KB

(This item provides the Schools' Forum with an opportunity to discuss potential items for future meetings for inclusion in the Work Programme)

Minutes:

The Forum gave consideration to its work programme.

 

It was agreed that the next meeting date of 18 April 2019 should be rescheduled to 4 April 2019.

 

RESOLVED

 

1.     That the work programme be received.

 

2.     That the 18 April 2019 meeting date be rescheduled to 4 April 2019.

 

 
 
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