To receive the above report.

James Norris introduced the report to Members. This includes the projected financial position; the impact the budget would have on the reserve deficit position and discussed the ways the financial pressures could be addressed. Most of the financial pressure was in the High Needs Block and would be targeted to help reduce costs.

The Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) Budget 2020/21 was £65,000,000. The budget for The Early Years and High Needs Blocks budget were only indicative as DfE needed to finalise the budget in the summer.

The projected overspend was comparable to last year of £195,000, which was driven by the High Needs Block pressures, such as Pupil Top Up funding and other support packages. In addition to the in-year overspend of £200,000, there was a risk of a further £200,000 overspend due to pressures in the second half of year within the High Needs Block. The projected reserve balance was £1,220,000, which was 0.99% of budget allocation. With the projected future risks, the projected reserve balance increased to £1,420,000, which was a 1.14% overspend. This was a similar position to the last two years.

The future actions for the year included submitting a Deficit Recovery Plan for the previous and current financial year and proposed next steps to address the deficits. This included greater commissioning in order to receive better value for money and drive down price where appropriate, retain rates on costly placements, work with schools to retain complex pupils for longer within the existing school, and ensure there was as much local provisions as possible.

There was a significant underspend in the Schools Block, with the Growth Fund underspend of £450,000. There were two applications for in-year funding from the Schools Block. There were requests for Growth Fund allocation to be redistributed from Churchmead and Holyport College.

Chris Tomes, Headteacher at Churchmead, said that 5 years ago, there was a year group with only 38 students who had just left in Year 11. The schools had come through two good ratings from Ofsted and staff were reduced staff in the last 5 years. Whilst 38 students left the school, there would be 123 students coming in September, which was an increase of 85 students. A growth fund was requested because of the significant increase in the school, and the school would work with the local authority to reduce the school’s deficit and create the best policy going forward with the money received. With an increase in students and not receiving the lag funding for maintained schools until April 2021, a growth funding of £217,000 was requested.

Kevin McDaniel said Churchmead had an excellent recovery and the last two Ofsted inspections reiterated this. The improvement of the school status was led by the investment in good quality services and there was a need to retain staffing to support the influx of students.

He said that one of the Forum’s responsibility was to minimise the financial risk to the system. With the underspend in the growth bid, if the allocation was not given, the deficit budget in Churchmead would grow to meet the staffing needs of the children. The overall risk to the deficit increase would be reduced if the allocation was made.

If a school converted to an academy, the deficit balance left would be distributed to maintained schools. The national policy for academies was strong and the DfE were looking to reinvigorate multi-academy trust chains with good schools like Churchmead. If Churchmead converted to an academy, there could be significant pressure from the Regional Schools Commissioner, and therefore it was recommended to support the bid for the benefit of balancing budgets in-year.

Kevin McDaniel spoke on behalf of the Holyport College and said its admissions system enabled admissions of students in Year 7 and Year 9. There had been a consultation to change the system in 2021 to take more pupils in Year 7 instead of Year 9, which increased the capacity of students up to 44 students. There was a local decision to make a formal change to the admissions, which the school was entitled to do under the Fair Access Protocol. The Members were asked to consider supporting the additional year growth under the Growth Fund.

The Growth Fund was set up for when schools expanded and ha clear criteria for when the fund could be applicable. Holyport College’s growth was a choice, which was not inside the current Growth Fund scheme. The Chairman clarified that the school chose to expand rather than being asked by the local authority and therefore did not qualify for the Growth Fund and Members were informed that this was correct.

The Chairman asked if Holyport College was rejected for the Growth Fund, could the College then go to the DfE or Education and Skills Funding Agency (EFSA). The Members were informed that it would be likely that the College would go to the EFSA and reference that they first asked for funding at the Schools Forum.

The Chairman asked if Holyport College was expecting funding from the Forum, and Members were informed that the Headteacher was aware the request fell outside of the Growth Fund criteria.

Kevin McDaniel said points 5.2-5.6 in the report pack required schools to have a collaborative approach to find the best way to supplement the £125,000,000 from the DSG. It would be unrealistic to expect the local authority to stop expenditure on high needs. Representative views and input from schools would be sought to reshape the plan, otherwise funding would be reduced in one area and would resultantly put pressures on other budgets. There would be individual decisions that may seem difficult but would impact the overall budget.

The education team would help in communicating the message to schools and Members were requested to spread the word as representatives of their areas. The Chairman said this message needed to reach out to other headteachers and the High Needs Block impacted the budgets for all schools.

Joolz Scarlett, Headteacher at Manor Green School, said there were a few placements that were high value that could be accommodated at a cheaper rate. She said that some students’ needs that were in special need schools could be met in mainstream schools with some support, which would drive down costs.

The Chairman said proper funding to mainstream schools was required to ensure students’ needs did not take special school places.

Kevin McDaniel said AfC were seeking to recruit a permanent Commissioning Lead who would work with Special Educational Needs (SEN) to drive down value. Consultations had ended regarding additional space and capacity in mainstream schools that could help.

The Members noted the report.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY: That Churchmead’s proposal for the Growth Fund be approved, and the Holyport College proposal be rejected.