To note the content of the report.

The Schools Forum considered the written report titled School Budget Funding 2023/24.

James Norris said that section 4 set out the different sections of the DSG funding blocks. Section 5 set out the DSG funding for 2023/24 and it provided a comparison between the current 2022/23 and the proposed 2023/24 funding levels. The early years indicative funding was shown to be £11.2 million. He asked forum members if they had any additional questions or ideas on this, as it was due to go out to consultation in the near future. James Norris said that any changes would be effective from 1 April 2023.

The Chair asked if there would be any financial risks attached to that. James Norris confirmed that he did not believe so and that they were looking to utilise the full £11.2 million. Clive Haines said that they were wishing to pass as much as possible on to the children.

The Chair asked when schools would see the indicative budgets come through. James Norris said that this would hopefully be by 28 February 2023, following on from confirmation by both the Cabinet Member for Children’s Services and the Executive Director of this also.

James Norris said that section 7 set out the school funding overview and that a consultation had occurred on this. The National Funding Formula had not come through yet, however there were some minimum funding guarantees that were known and had been met. The second model was the recommendation made by officers, following on from the feedback from the school consultation. The final signoff would be made by the Cabinet Member for Children’s Services and the Executive Director of this also. However, all options submitted had to be affordable before it went to the DfE.

James Norris said that section 8 set out the high needs funding and said that they would receive a 3% funding increase for 2023/24. Section 8.5 reflected the planned top up bandings of 4.5%. He added that they would also receive a further 3.4% increase in funding on a per place funding basis.

The Chair asked for some clarity on appendix A within the report. James Norris replied by saying that it showed the movement between the current rates and the proposed rates for 2023/24. It attempted to demonstrate the impacts that different models would have. Tracey Anne-Nevitt, Finance & Business Partner for AfC, said that the 2 options that were shown on the appendix differed to what was consulted on. This was due to changes in data sets.

Isabel Cooke asked about sparsity funding and how much special schools would receive. James Norris said that this had been asked in the consultation and strong support was shown towards profiling it in over a number of years. Isabel Cooke said that only 2 or 3 schools would be impacted by this and that schools that would not be impacted, would wish for them to be placed on the lowest amount. James Norris appreciated the comments made and hoped that morally schools would not have taken this course of action. Isabel Cooke said that it was something to definitely consider as every school was battling with its individual budget.

The Chair said that going forward, perhaps only the schools that would be impacted by a budgetary change should have a say on it. Tracey Anne-Nevitt said that the borough was not currently funded on the national funding formula rates currently and that there had also been a big swing in data, which squeezes funding further. She said that proposals would exist in the future to tackle this and increase funding once more flexibility was obtained.

AGREED: That the Schools Forum noted the report titled School Budget Funding 2023/24.