MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE SCHOOLS FORUM HELD ON WEDNESDAY 9 MAY 2012 FROM 9.15 AM TO AM

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1 Present:-. MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE SCHOOLS FORUM HELD ON WEDNESDAY 9 MAY 2012 FROM 9.15 AM TO AM WBC Member: David Sleight Maintained Nursery Headteacher: Phil Armstrong Primary Headteachers: Louise Adams, Sue Charnley, Christine Hyatt, Lynn Marshall, Howard Penny and Alan Youd (Vice Chairman) (Only four votes allowed) Secondary Headteacher: Nigel Matthias Secondary Academy Head: Hilary Winter Special School Head: Liz Meek Governors: John Bayes (Chairman), Glenn Duggleby, Nick Dyer, John Hayes, Ian May and Wazir Khan Wokingham BC Officer: Matt Marsden, Finance Business Partnering Manager Early Years Forum: Charlotte Wilkinson and Anita Birtles (only one vote allowed) Also present:- Nicola Allen Kevin Jacob Donna Munday Richard Stanley Senior Advisor SEN Principal Democratic Services Officer Schools Finance Manager Assistant Director, Learning and Achievement PART I 45. MINUTES The Minutes of the meeting of the Forum held on 21 March 2012 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman subject: to the inclusion of Liz Meek on the list of attendees; the correction of reference under minute 40, third paragraph from Lynn Marshall to Liz Meek; correction under minute 42, correction of the amount of the Dedicated Schools Grant to 107,859, APOLOGIES Apologies for absence were submitted from Alex Biddle, Ian Morgan, Sarah Philips and Sarah Rusby. 47. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST There were no declarations of Interest.

2 48. SCHOOLS BUDGET FINANCIAL MONITORING REPORT MAY 2012 The Forum considered a report on Agenda pages 7 to 10 which provided details of the Outturn position on the Schools Budget funded by the Dedicated Schools Grant, (including YPLA Funding). The Forum s attention was drawn to the following budget lines: 1.01 (a) An overspend for Education of Children under Private, Voluntary/Independent settings 209k had been offset by an under-spend in budget line Early Years Contingency, ( 554); 1.27 Inter-authority recoupment ( 240k) additional income from new starters at Southfield School and Addington School; 1.12 School-specific contingencies ( 425) due to NNDR Revaluations at Coombes Primary and Waingels College, cost of excluded pupils, increase in NWPU and increases in Carbon Emission Charges Pupil Referral Units an underspend of 141k partly relating to the restructuring of Foundry College; Decreased administration charges arising from the WBC finance and admin review. Donna Munday highlighted the fact that the report showed an under-spend of 946k for the 2011/2012 financial year. She commented that measures were in place to identify under-spends at an earlier stage in future, but ideas from Forum members and partners were invited to submit project ideas for funding that would benefit the delivery of services to children and families across Wokingham Members were asked to submit ideas by July 2012 so that a detailed report could be brought back to the September meeting for consideration. It was stressed that all ideas were welcome although ideas would need to be one off commitments as funding could not be guaranteed in future years. In response to a question, it was stressed that although costs had been reduced in relation to Insurance this had been as a result of changes in the way in which the Council s new insurer had assessed risks and that the level of cover was in no way affected. As a result of discussions, it was noted a paper asking for the release of funds to support Foundry College would be presented at the next meeting of the Forum and it also needed to be taken into consideration that there could be implications arising from the review of Special Education Needs provision which was ongoing. Richard Stanley commented all work streams would be looked at in terms of possible ideas and a paper brought back to the Forum for a decision. All ideas would be welcome, but ideas for projects which were cross-cutting were particularly encouraged. Whilst, it was sensible to maintain a sensible level of reserves in case on contingencies it was accepted that the current level of surplus was too high. The Chairman commented that it needed to borne in mind that the level of surplus represented less than 1% of the overall budget. Charlotte Wilkinson commented that demands on resources were continuing to increase within the early years sector. RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

3 49. REVISED SCHOOLS BUDGET 2012/2013 The Forum considered a report on Agenda pages 11 to 13 which set out changes to the Schools budget since the meeting of the Forum held in March In presenting the report to the Forum, Donna Munday referred to a slightly amended version of the budget spreadsheet which was circulated at the meeting. The Forum attention was drawn to: School specific contingencies and the 40k set aside for the Foundry College; Updated amounts from the Young People s Learning Agency that reflect reduced funding as 3 schools were now academies; The budget reflected the 946k carry forward from the 2011/2012 budget; The Forum was asked to consider increasing this budget to 245k; reflecting the increased take up of FSM due in part to the economic climate and in part to the drive by WBC to increase registration for these meals Provision for pupils with SEN, (including assigned resources) 275k; In discussion, Anita Birtles raised the question of how funding for early years had been arrived at given her experience was that the number of children in PVI settings was increasing. Donna Munday commented that the budget was based upon headcounts. It was again stressed that all ideas were welcome on the use of the 2011/2012 under spend, Forum members did not necessarily need to be specific in terms of what budget lines might be used to fund the new projects. RESOLVED: 1) That the increase of budget line for Schools Meals from 205k to 245k be supported; 2) That the report be noted. 50. SCHOOL FUNDING REFORM NEXT STEPS TOWARDS A FAIRER SYSTEM The Forum received a verbal update on changes to the arrangements for funding for schools. Donna Munday feedback on the meetings of the School s Funding Reform working group and summarised the main elements of the Government s consultation: The main points brought to the Forum s attention were: The introduction of the National Funding Formula was to be delayed until the next spending review period starting 2014/15; The current aim is to simplify the system between now and then, this is to be achieved by delegating as much as possible to schools, with 3 exceptions; o where schools can still gain value for money by a centrally provided service; o where historic commitments to use SB are in place (no new ones); o where there is a statutory requirement that cannot be delegated; Currently we can choose from 37 local factors that we can include in our funding formula, these will be restricted to 10, these being; o a basic per pupil entitlement; o a Deprivation measure (FSM or IDACI) ( a banding methodology is being consulted upon);

4 o Look After Children; o Low cost high incidence SEN; o English as an Additional Language; o A lump sum; o Split sites; o Rates; o Private Finance Initiative contracts; o Flexibility of schools on the London fringe to reflect higher teacher costs. The new formula must be determined, Schools Forum consulted, and the new proforma submitted by the end of October 2012, so the Education Funding Agency can check that it complies with the new criteria. This will also be used to calculate comparable budgets for Academies from 2013/14 removing the existing lag in Academy funding; The Lump sum element will be the same amount for all schools; the consultation asks where to set the upper limit between 100k and 150k; There are changes planned to strengthen Schools Forum to better support decision making by removing the requirement to have a minimum of 15 members, to limit the number of LA officers participating in the Forum and by only allowing school and PVI members to vote on the funding formula. There will also be a requirement for Forums to be held as public meetings; which we currently already do. The Minimum Funding Guarantee will remain at minus 1.5% until 2013/14 after which it will be looser, Local Authorities s can choose to limit school gains under the new formula; Dedicated Schools Grant funding will be ring fenced but will comprise of 3 notional, un-ring fenced elements. Schools Budget, Early Years and High Needs Special Educational Needs, (SEN). High needs block will now cover from birth to 25 and will use 2012/13 budget as a baseline; Low cost SEN will continue being paid from the notional budget but simplified, EAL will be funded for 3 years from entering the school system; Regulations will be amended to set a single basic entitlement for all Primary School age children, the consultation asks should we have 1 or 2 for Secondary around KS3 and KS4; The Department for Education is minded to set a % that Local Authorities would need to distribute through basic entitlements the consultation is around 60% or 80% or not specifying a % and accepting that there will be local variations; High Needs pre 16 SEN is to be set at 10k per planned place plus an individual top up where appropriate, AP is set at 8k and 16+ has not yet had an amount specified. Department for Education will consider appropriate forms of transitional protection. Pre 16 SEN has 3 elements to the funding; education (AWPU), additional support 6k from provider and a top up from the LA High Needs block. The consultation asks whether 8k is appropriate for an Alternative Provision setting as the data around this is currently very poor, and also considers if it is appropriate to calculate pro rata top up payments on a half termly basis and part time placements on a daily basis; Budgets will be set earlier based on the October Census data, DSG will be confirmed in December we have until 3 rd week in January for final adjustments.(although EY still based on January census schools moving to October will impact Early Years); Possibility of a new grant to replace LACSEG based on Pupil numbers this will however ignore deprivation and local factors; Early Years no national formula until 2014/15 but simplification changes take effect next year. i.e. the removal of the 90% floor, and use of the reduced list of local factors. 2013/14 is a transitional year, 2014/15 changeover to be finalised. Also considers whether free Early education in Academies should be funded by LA s;

5 Pupil Premium continues as a separate grant but consideration is being given to move away from EVER6 FSM to align eligibility with Universal Credit. Forum Members were encouraged to stay behind after the meeting for discussion around the funding reforms and to contribute to the Consultation response that is to be submitted by WBC on the 21 of May. A number of Forum members commented that there were potentially some big implications arising from the Government s proposals with significant winners and losers from the proposals, particularly in the area of Special Educational Needs. RESOLVED: That the update be noted. 51. SCHOOLS FORUM FORWARD PROGRAMME The Forum considered its forthcoming programme up to March Donna Munday commented that an extra meeting would be required in October so that the Forum could consider the outcome of the Schools Funding Reform.review. Richard Stanley commented the review of Special Educational Needs represented a significant piece of work and it was likely there would be matters to consult the Forum on in due course. He informed the Forum of the briefing events planned in July which would encompass briefing the Private, Voluntary and Independent Sector. RESOLVED: 1) That the Forward Programme be noted; 2) That an additional meeting be added to the programme on 17 October DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING It was noted that the date of the next meeting would take place on Thursday 12 July 2012 and would be hosted at Farley Hill Primary School. These are the Minutes of a meeting of the Schools Forum If you need help in understanding this document or if you would like a copy of it in large print please contact one of our Team Support Officers.