Agenda and minutes

            Resolved – (1) That the minutes of the meeting held on 5^th March 2013, be confirmed and signed.

            (2) That the updates provided by Paddy Bradley (Head of Commissioning – Economy and Attainment), regarding (i) discussions at the last meeting of a possible change to the Authority’s process and practice in relation to funding for disadvantaged two year olds, and (ii) the copyright licencing arrangements in relation to the archival use of “youtube” video clips by schools, be noted.

            Steve Haley (Head of Finance – Education and Innovation) presented a report on the final 2012/13 Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) outturn position following closure of the Local Authority’s (LA’s) 2012/13 final accounts.

            Mr Haley made particular reference to Table 1 in the report, summarising the actual budget position at year end, compared with the projected position in early March 2013, and commented on how the  underspend was higher than had previously been expected and therefore more funding was available to carry forward to 2013/14. Mr Haley also commented on the agreed budget commitments from this balance including monies to be retained within the Education Other Than at School (EOTAS) budget for the development of their premises improvement project.

            Mr Haley referred to the erroneous absence from the report of any reference to the Forum’s previously agreed commitment on the issue of trade union release time that, for this year only, the Authority would fund the existing service at a cost of £23k.  This meant that the balance currently available to be carried forward into 2013/14 was actually £1.160m (not £1.183m indicated in the report).

            With reference to the medium term retained budget position, Mr Haley advised that there had been an underspend on the budget for the last 3 years but he was not confident that this position could realistically be maintained in future, due primarily to the much more severe risk of managing the new high needs block. He felt that even attaining a break even budget position would now be an achievement.

            Mr Haley drew the meeting’s attention to paragraph 3.13 of the report, regarding equal pay claims and, specifically the implications for schools and academies of the Dumfries and Galloway ruling and the likelihood that the retained budget might need to be enhanced to accommodate future claims settlements. Mr Haley also confirmed that letters would be sent to the affected schools/ Academies once the implications were known.

            At the request of the chair, Mr Haley reminded Forum members of the 2010 agreement whereby the retained DSG budget would fund 50% of each school or academy’s equal pay costs. 

            Resolved: That:

            (1) The final position on the 2012/13 retained budget be noted.

            (2) After the allocation of funding previously agreed by the Schools Forum, it is noted that the total balance available for redistribution is £1.160m.

            Steve Haley (Head of Finance – Education and Innovation) presented a report providing an update on (i) the final 2013/14 Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) settlement, (ii) disadvantaged 2 Year old funding, (iii) the post 16 high needs student costs and funding position,(iii) various mainstream cost pressures, (iv) various SRP and other high need setting cost pressures, (v) the proposed introduction of a new High Needs top up rate, (vi) the funding of additional SEN places, (vii) revised EOTAS alternative provision top up fees, and (viii) the proposed entry into a Service Level Agreement for Travellers’ children

Final DSG Settlement

            Mr Haley confirmed that the final 2013/14 DSG settlement was £145,554,233. He advised that this figure was, effectively fixed and that any further variation could only be as a result of changes to 3 and 4 year old funding which was now linked to actual participation and increased or reduced costs would be matched by funding adjustments.

            Resolved: That the 2013/14 DSG settlement for Swindon, confirmed at £145.554m, be noted.

Disadvantaged 2 year Old funding

            Mr Haley reported on the calculation of the amount of DSG allocated for 2 year olds and the forecast underspend in the current year.

            Paddy Bradley (Head of Commissioning – Economy and Attainment) commented on the implications of the relaxation of the eligibility criteria for take up of disadvantaged 2 year old funding, and the expectation that the “Grow2gether” capital project would open seven new providers offering additional 2 year old places.  Regarding this latter point, and in response to a question by the Chair, Mr Bradley outlined the process used by the local authority for the commissioning of the seven new providers which was via a series of early years networks across Swindon.

            Resolved: That the forecast underspend of up to £1.067m, based on current take up and existing plans, be noted.

Post 16 High need students costs and funding

            Mr Haley advised that the assumed position in January 2013 had been that additional funding to meet the new post 16 responsibilities would match costs but this had not proven to be the case. As discussed by the Forum at its March 2013 meeting, costs would clearly exceed available funding by some £823k. It had been agreed by the Forum, at that meeting, that the relatively generous settlement in the Disadvantaged 2 year old element of the DSG could be used, if necessary, to offset the post 16 shortfall in the short term.

            It was noted that a request for the Education Funding Agency (EFA) to review the authority’s post 16 high need funding position had resulted in a one-off allocation of additional DSG of £349,650 but that this still left a funding gap of approximately £500,000. Mr Bradley advised that, based on the latest estimates from providers, approximately 410 high need students had applied for further education placements (289 in colleges, 24 in ISP’s, 19 in non-maintained special schools,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

            The Forum received a report on the school funding reform changes affecting mainstream settings required for 2014/15 arising from the Department for Education (DfE) 4th June 2013 announcement. 

            Due to time constraints the recommendations included within the report were not discussed or voted upon.  Mr Haley advised that the majority of the report set out background information on matters that would be included in the forthcoming consultation events and that any decisions could be deferred to the October Forum meeting.

            The Forum received a report advising on the final position, as at 31st March 2013, of school revenue balances compared to the position forecast by schools in December 2012. It was noted that the Authority was required to monitor the level of school balances held by schools to provide assurance to the Council’s Board Director Resources regarding the financial sustainability of individual schools and to help ensure the local fair funding formula is as equitable as possible.

            Mr Haley advised the Forum that the LA had been wrong to identify Abbeymeads as being inaccurate in forecasting their balances as their December forecast did not reflect the Community centre position which was included in their final balance. The LA had telephoned and written a letter of apology to the Headteacher about this.

            Mr Haley highlighted that the majority of schools had been effective in forecasting their balances within the parameters agreed by the Forum but that explanations needed to be sought from 6 schools whose final balances were significantly higher than had been forecast in December.  Mordeon school have been in this position for three years now which indicates that improvements to their internal forecasting procedures may be required. 

            Mrs Conner expressed concerns that specific reference had been made to Moredon school and that an opportunity to explain their position should have been provided.  Mr Colledge added that the naming and public hanging of individual schools was not appropriate.  Mr Haley responded that the report tabled today was in the same format as previous years and covered all schools.  Performance, in terms of forecasting accuracy, has been measured against the control of balances scheme agreed by the Schools Forum and the next stage in the process was to seek explanations from schools which would be fed back to the Schools Forum.   Mr Capstick suggested that aspects of the scheme should be revisited.

            Resolved: That the Schools Forum:

            (1) Note that:

·         the majority (61%) of Swindon maintained schools were accurate in forecasting their year end balances as measured by the thresholds agreed by Schools Forum

·         only 6 schools reported significant variances between their forecast and actual outturn positions and will be contacted by the LA for explanations

·         actual school balances were 43% higher than the December forecast of £3.5million

·         the Authority would present further information on the planned use of school balances to the October meeting of the Schools Forum when it would make recommendations for any potential claw backs.

            (2) Note that Abbey Meads Primary School had been incorrectly rated as “red” in the report mainly due to  the school bringing community facility balances into its accounts at the end of 2012-13 meaning the comparison to the December 2012 estimate shown at Annex A did not provide a like for like comparison.

            (3) That, with reference to their concerns regarding the presentation and content of this report, the agreed criteria for the revised scheme for monitoring and managing schools balances be re-circulated to delegates in order to facilitate a  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

            The Forum received a report providing an update of the position for Swindon schools in submitting their initial Schools Financial Value Standard (SFVS) self-assessments, as required by DfE.  Due to time constraints this report, which was provided for information only, was not discussed in detail.

            Mr Haley advised that all schools had submitted their statements which would be reviewed over the summer period and an update regarding any issues would be provided to the Schools Forum.  

The Schools Forum is scheduled to meet on the following dates:

·         8^th October 2013, 4 pm

·         21^st January 2014, 4 pm

·         11^th March 2014, 4 pm

            The Forum was asked to note its schedule of meetings in the 2013/14 Municipal Year.

·         8^th October 2013

·         21^st January 2014

·         11^th March 2014