Agenda item

(To receive a report from Mark Popplewell (Head of Finance – Children's Services), which provides the Schools' Forum with a copy of the Section 251 budget statement for the 2017/18 financial year)

The Forum gave consideration to a report from Mark Popplewell (Head of Finance – Children's Services), which provided the Schools Forum with a copy of the Section 251 budget statement for the 2017/18 financial year.

It was reported that Local Authorities were required under Section 251 of the Apprenticeship, Skills Children and Learning Act 2009 to prepare and submit an education and children's social care budget statement for the relevant period to the Secretary of State for Education by 31 March each year.  The Schools Forum was advised that information for 2017/18 had been submitted to the Department for Education via its data collection and management system for education (COLLECT) by 31 March 2017 deadline.  Appendix 1 to the report provided Local Authority Section 251 Table 1 data for 2017/18. The data provided an overall picture of the funding being allocated directly to schools, high needs and early years funding, central provisions within schools budget, and children and young people's services.

It was reported that the overall Dedicated Schools Grant funding was considered when the LA carried out its annual detailed budget setting exercise, which had in the past resulted in movements between the notional blocks to ensure affordability.

The Schools Forum was advised that following a review of historical commitments with in the central schools block in 2016/17, the Local Authority (LA) had been able to make significant savings to the Dedicated Schools Grant for 2017/18 of £4.274m.  These savings had allowed the LA to fund the high needs pressures reported within the Annual report on Special Educational Needs and Disabilities.  An amount therefore of £4.274m had been moved from the central school block to the high needs block to help fund growth in special school pupil placements; the provision for schools pupil banding; a revision to the Pilgrim hospital schools funding; a revision to the pupil referral unit funding; and pupil placements made to out of county provisions.  It was also highlighted that the minimum funding guarantee released for those protected schools of up to minus 1.5% had released funding of £0.847m; the removal of a split-site factor for a school £0.341m; and the funding available from the schools block historical funding mechanism £0.438m had allowed the growth in top up and targeted funding devolved to mainstream schools to be fully funded based on the 2016/17 position.  This cost pressure had resulted in a movement of funding from the schools block to the high needs block of £1.626m.

It was highlighted that the movement between blocks were as a direct result of the decisions to respond to budget pressures as highlighted in previous reports to the Schools Forum.

Whilst considering Appendix 1 to the report, the Forum raised the following issues:-

·         The SEN timescale, and the impact on the next budget.  Officers confirmed that the Forum would be kept up to date in relation to any big spends and would receive updates on SEN and the impact of the strategy; and

·         A question was asked about how the national living wage changes were impacting spend, particularly for home to school transport.  The Forum noted that the LA would be undertaking reviews on service areas for national living wage implications with changes built into the 2018/19 budget process. 

RESOLVED

That the report be noted; and that the budget changes between the notional blocks as detailed in the report be approved.