Agenda and minutes

The Chair reminded Members of the need to declare any knows interests in any matter to be considered at the meeting. No declarations were made.

To receive the minutes of the meeting held on 8^th December 2020.

Resolved – That the minutes of the meeting held on 8^th December 2020 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

In accordance with Standing Order 28, Mr Alastair Dixon-Patterson of Lydiard Park Academy, Swindon, submitted written questions regarding the Wellbeing for Education Grant. 

The Chair thanked Mr Dixon-Patterson for his question and said that a written response had been provided and circulated to all members.  Mr Dixon-Patterson requested further clarification to the responses circulated.  The Director: Inclusion and Achievement responded at the meeting but due to the nature of the subject, undertook to provide an in-depth written response.

The Strategic Commissioner: Early Years and Childcare submitted a report providing Schools Forum members with an update on the estimated value of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) and other funding that will be available in 2021/22.  She explained that there are four funding blocks in 2021/22.  These were a) Schools, b) High Needs, c) Early Years and d) Central Schools Services Blocks.  It was noted that the report submitted would only cover the Early Years Block.

The Strategic Commissioner: Early Years and Childcare drew attention to the 2021/22 Early Years block DSG settlement that was being revised by the Department for Education (DfE) in light of Early Years census information. It was noted that the final settlement will not be confirmed until July 2022.  She advised that no increase for growth had been included within Swindon’s 2 year old DSG funding and that the DfE has yet to confirm the funding rate for 3 and 4 year old provision.

Resolved – (1) That the Strategic Commissioner: Early Years and Childcare be requested to submit a report to Schools Forum on the 9^th March 2021 giving an update on the DSG consultation undertaken.

(2) That further to (1) above, the Early Years Funding Settlement figures be included in the report. 

The Head of Access and School Partnerships and the Head of Finance: Children Services submitted a joint report that updated members on the estimated value of the Dedicated Schools Grant (‘DSG’) and other funding that will be available in 2021/22. The Head of Finance: Children Services explained that there are four funding blocks in 2021/22, Schools, High Needs, Early Years and the Central Schools Services and that this report covered the Schools and Central School Services Blocks. 

The Head of Finance: Children Services gave a presentation (see attached) and drew the following key issues to member’s attention:

·        The release of information on the Dedicated Schools Grant Settlement for 2021/22 on 17th December 2020 by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (‘ESFA’).

·        How the Schools Block DSG 2021/22 funding can be accurately determined due to the funding calculation being based on the October 2020 school census, multiplied by two DfE determined rates of £4,345.79 per primary pupil or £5,702.33 per secondary pupil.

·        How the Central School Services Block (‘CSSB’) contained the funding for the Local Authority’s (LA’s) statutory services for all pupils in maintained schools and academies and also covered the funding for the centrally retained budgets for Admissions, Schools Forum, Travellers Children, National Copyright licences for all schools and academies and the Equal Pay annual repayments.

·        Whilst the report addressed various proposals, an adjustment to the settlement figures was expected.

·        An update on the DSG balances and how the DfE’s grant conditions affirm that the DSG must be treated by the LA as ring-fenced funding for specific educational purposes.

·        That the notional SEN calculation also includes all High Needs pupils funded by the LA irrespective of pupils having an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) or not.

·        That details of the 2021/22 pupil led funding calculation will be provided to March 2021 Schools Forum and that these will exclude Rates, Lump Sum and PFI allocations.

·        The process of de-delegation where funding is deducted from maintained schools budgets to provide services centrally.

·        Meetings were held in November 2020 to establish the local funding formula to be used to calculate 2021/22 budgets for maintained mainstream schools and mainstream academies. The proposals put forward were: (A) All pupil lead factors are paid at 100.316% of the National Funding Formula values; and (B) All pupil lead factors are paid at 100% of the National Funding Formula values and a transfer to the High Needs Block of £191.1k.  Members agreed Option (A).

Following her presentation, the Head of Finance: Children Services, together with the Chair, Director: Inclusion and Achievement,and the Head of Access and School Partnership, responded to members’ comments and questions in respect of the following matters:

·        Budget implications for LA maintained schools due to de-delegation, particularly as the number of academies was now higher than in previous years.

·        The meaning of trigger funding and how this would be allocated to assist start-up schools and those schools that have unplanned in-year pupil number increases.

·        Comparison between 2021/22 and 2020/21 data for the central  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24.

The Head of Statutory SEND Services: Children Services and the Head of Finance: Children Services submitted a joint report updating members on the estimated value of the Dedicated Schools Grant (‘DSG’) and other funding that will be available in

2021/22.  The Head of Statutory SEND Services explained that there are four funding blocks in 2021/22, Schools, High Needs, Early Years and the Central Schools Services and that this report  focused on the High Needs funding block.  She explained that the report includes expenditure proposals for all High Needs block funded items including: High Needs students in Mainstream schools, Special schools, Special Resource Provisions, Alternative Provision, Post-16 and Further Education, Independent and Non-Maintained Special Schools and Other Commissioned High Needs provision.

The Head of Statutory SEND Services: Children Services presented the report and drew the following key issues to member’s attention:

·        The 2021/22 High needs proposals reflecting a budget of £38.8m funding of £37.5m, leaving a pressure of £1.37m on the budget.

·        How Swindon had a higher than national average of pupils with an Education and Health Care Plan (EHCP).

·        Since 2015, there has been a 71% increase in requests for EHCP assessments against an annual national average increase of 10%.

·        The need for special school and special resources provision for the anticipated 900 commissioned places during 2021/22.

·        How the current band and supplement values had remained static since 2019/20.  This reflected the financial impact of Covid on school’s budget and that some schools will not be able to reflect a surplus in their budget.

·        Following the LA’s modelling of the 2021/22 budgets, no minimum funding guarantee had been identified.

·        The LA centrally held alternative provision funding amounted to £2.95m.

·        No changes to the advisory teachers high needs services were proposed for 2021/22.

·        The variance in the mainstream high needs budget had resulted from the increase in specialist provision for the high needs cohort. 

Following her presentation, the Head of Statutory SEND Services: Children Services, together with the Chair, responded to members’ comments and questions in respect of the following matters:

·        The savings to be made by the therapeutic paediatric services, particularly relating to administration fees and how resources were being better utilised to deliver services directly to children.

·        The work being undertaken by the high needs sensory teachers.

·        The LA support for the Inclusion Forum. 

·        The centrally retained high needs budgets following the move for some services to be taken back in-house by the LA, enabling improved cooperation with and access to specialists, ensuring improved service provision.

·        The increase in the number of children with special needs transferring to a special school in September 2021 and how discussions were taking place with the special schools to ensure they were able to meet the increase in demand and meet the needs of the young people. 

·        How, with regards to out of borough education fees, an income of £0.193m was being received from the Children’s Social Care and Health general fund after criteria had been met.  

Resolved – That the Head of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25.

The Head of Access and School Partnerships submitted a report updating Schools Forum on the current and projected position for the Swindon Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) and that it included an update on progress made by the DSG Recovery Plan Task and Finish Groups following their meetings.  He explained that the report supports the SEND and Inclusion Strategy, the Written Statement of Action and that the proposals contained a link to the 3-year action plan agreed by the Strategic SEND Board.  Members noted the partnership approach between parents and carers, leaders in education across all settings in Swindon, political leaders, officers and members of Schools Forum is recognised as essential to systematically address the need to achieve a balanced DSG budget position. This approach is necessary to ensure a sustainable, fair and equitable use of all budgets.

The Head of Access and School Partnerships gave a presentation (attached) and drew the following key issues to member’s attention:

·        The DSG funding allocation by block for 2020/21.

·        That there would be an increase of £3.335m increase for the 2021/22 High Needs funding.

·        A breakdown of pressures contributing to the DSG deficit.

·        The successful strategic approach taken to address issues within the high needs block has resulted in increased confidence for parents, investment over the past years in special resource provision and the launch of the outreach pilot in September 2020.

·        A breakdown of key activities, including their progress, 2020/21 budget and potential savings for each activity.

·        Activities identified through the Task and Finish group to address in-year pressures.

·        The discussion by the Task and Finish groups regarding the allocation of funding to be received following the disapplication request to the ESFA and the various options on its use to be considered by Schools Forum.

·        The current success in various area by implementing a strategic approach and the actions within the five year plan to continue building on this success.

The Chair advised that this report was for information only as it was still within the consultation period and stated that this was submitted in order to be transparent in terms of sharing thoughts and processes. 

The Director: Inclusion and Achievement confirmed that the activities that were presented at the meeting will form part of a diversity impact assessment and welcomed member’s views regarding the proposal being recommended.  She thanked those members who took part in the start and finish group meetings for their contribution in drawing up the strategic plan and proposals for the disapplication funding. 

Resolved – (1) To note that Members of Schools Forum considered and commented on changes to the recommendations for the strategic aims and priorities for the DSG Recovery Plan and the actions to deliver a balanced budget.

(2) That further to (1) above, members of Schools Forum considered long-term proposals for the use of disapplication funding and to support:

• An approach to the DfE/ESFA requesting an extension of the recovery plan from 3 to 5 years.
• A 2-year investment funding into the activities in paragraph  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26.

The Head of Access and School Partnership submitted a report on Schools Forum membership.  He gave a presentation and explained that a Schools Forum should reflect the profile of education provision across the local authority to ensure that there is no in-built bias towards any one phase or group.  He explained that the Local Authority had conducted a short review of Schools Forum through a Task and Finish group to ensure that the current membership is appropriate in the light of the evolving balance of schools in Swindon and with regards to the 2002 Education Act, Schools Forum (England) regulations 2012 and Schools Forum Operational and Good Practice Guide 2015.  He further explained that the Task and Finish group considered the proportion of, membership, different categories of membership and the terms of office for the Schools Forum.  He confirmed that the group agreed that the current membership would remain the same and requested that an invitation be extended to the Swindon SEND Families Voice. 

In response to concerns raised regarding representation from the secondary sector, the Director: Inclusion and Achievement confirmed that the task and finish group members did not feel there was mis-representation of secondary schools in terms of members and pupils and that membership properly represented the range of schools in Swindon. 

Resolved – That School Forum agrees:

(1) That the number of school representative remains as per the current membership.

(2) That a representative from Swindon SEND Families Voice be invited onto the Forum to specifically advise on the use of high needs funding and impact upon children with SEND.

Please note attached.