Agenda and minutes

To receive the minutes of the meeting held on 20^th January 2015.

          Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting held on 20^th January 2015 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

The following question was asked in accordance with standing Order 28 –

Questioner

Alastair Dixon-Patterson, Lydiard Park Academy

Question

Mr Dixon-Patterson put a series of questions relating to (a) the amount of the £522,000 Dedicated School Grant surplus that was allocated to reduce equal pay liabilities had been transferred to academies, maintained schools and central services (b) clarity on how an academy would see its share reflected or received,

Response

The Chair thanked Mr Dixon-Patterson for the questions and advised that a response had been prepared and circulated.

          Ian Burbidge, Head of Finance, Schools, presented a report on the latest position of the 2014/15 Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) budget.

          Mr Burbidge advised that based on information at the end of February 2015, an underspend of £0.491m was projected against the retained DSG Budget for the current year.  He confirmed that the DSG figures were submitted monthly to the Commissioning, Economy and Leadership team. He drew attention to the £0.095m additional capital expenditure required to support the capital budget to build capacity in the 2 year old provision. 

                    Resolved: (1) That it be noted that the latest projection on the 2014/15 retained budget was an underspend of £0.491m.

          (2) That the Schools Forum agrees the additional capital expenditure of £0.095m to support the capital budget of £0.067m and build capacity in the 2 year old provision.

          Ian Burbidge, Head of Finance, Schools, presented a report advising of the indicative position regarding the level of projected 31^st March 2015 school revenue balances as compared to the levels expected when 2014/15 schools budgets were set in June 2014. Mr Burbidge confirmed the end of year position was that 29 schools had been effective in their financial planning. Only 3 schools indicated a difference in their budgets as opposed to their estimates.  The Forum noted that the forecast level for 31^st March 2015 was expected to be £3.40m.  

          Resolved: That the Schools Forum notes:

          Ian Burbidge, Head of Finance, Schools, presented a report advising of the indicative position regarding the level of projected 31^st March 2015 school revenue balances as compared to the levels expected when 2014/15 schools budgets were set in June 2014. Mr Burbidge confirmed the end of year position was that 29 schools had been effective in their financial planning. Only 3 schools indicated a difference in their budgets as opposed to their estimates.  The Forum noted that the forecast level for 31^st March 2015 was expected to be £3.40m.  

          Resolved: That the Schools Forum notes:

(1) That  29 out of 42 (69%) of Swindon maintained schools current estimates of their year end balances were close to the estimates provided when budgets were set as measured by the thresholds agreed by Schools Forum.

(2) That only 3 of 42 (7%) schools have reported significant variances between their current and initial estimates of their projected year end balances and the narrative explanations for the variances were provided to members.

(3) That the latest estimated school balances (adjusted to exclude in-year Academy conversions) were forecast to be £3.40m, which was 12% higher than initial estimates of £3.08m. 

(4) That two maintained schools were anticipating being in deficit at 31st March 2015, though one now expects to be in surplus at 31st March 2015.

(5) That the Head of Finance, Schools, be requested to present further information on school balances at the July 2015 Schools Forum showing how each school’s estimate compared to their final year end positions.

          The Forum considered a report by Ian Burbidge, Head of Finance, Schools, updating the Forum on the 2015/16 DedicatedSchools Grant (DSG) settlement, including (a) notification of additional funding to the DSG Allocation to support the introduction of the Early Years Pupil Premium, (b) the submission of the Authority Proforma Toolkit to the Education Funding Agency, enabling main stream budget to be calculated, (c) the reasons for the need of additional Trigger Funding within the Pupil Growth Fund (d) the increase of £40,000 over the budget approved by School Forum in January 2015 for the purchases of national copyright licenses through the Department for Education, (e) on the importance that schools verify licences they bought to ensure unnecessary double payments were not made (f) the transfer of £0.235m from High Needs Contingency Budget to the SENRAP budget, enabling expenditure to remain on track (f) in-year adjustment to the Notional SEN Top Up funding.  

          Mr Paddy Bradley, Head of Economy, Skills and Property Development and Mr Burbidge responded to questions particularly on the implications of all three options being considered by Forum members regarding the Notional SEN Top-up funding.

Forum Members noted that the Swindon Association of Secondary Headteachers was yet to comment on the use of permanent exclusion income from schools to support the integration of permanently excluded pupils and agreed to defer voting on the item until the next meeting of the Forum.

            Resolved: That the Schools Forum:

          (1) Agrees a total 2015/16 pupil growth budget of £0.436m, as shown at Annex A of the report.

          (2) Approves an increase in the National Copyright Licenses budget of £40,000 in recognition of the change to the arrangements for purchasing PRS, PPL, MCPS and CCLI licenses.

          (3) Agrees the transfer £0.235m of the High Needs Contingency budget to the SENRAP budget which was currently overspending.

          (4) Agrees that, with regards to the three options outlined in 9.5 of the report on the most appropriate for the allocation of the £350,000 Notional SEN Top Up Funding budget, given that the current method was not affordable in 2015/16, Option C be implemented.

          (5) That further to (4) above, Notion SEN Top-Up Funding options be submitted to the Schools Forum in March 2016.

          (6) That the Head of Finance, Education be requested to submit a report to include creating a ring-fenced budget of £30,000 to support the reintegration of permanently excluded pupils at the School Forum’s meeting in July 2015.

          (7) That further to (6) above, the Head of Finance, Education be requested to include the views of the Swindon Association of Secondary Headteachers on the subject.

          (8) Agrees the proposal to use the unallocated DSG of £0.165m to support Mainstream Schools High Needs Top Up Funding budget which was currently overspending.

          Mr Ian Burbidge, Head of Finance, Schools, submitted a report updating the Forum on the findings from the review of the 2013/14 Schools Financial Value Standard (SFVS) self-assessments as required by the Department for Education and to recommend a consistent process across all relevant schools for future submission.  School Forum noted the IT issues arising when completing the form.  Mr Burbidge agreed to support schools and requested they contact the Finance department if they had any queries. 

          Resolved: That this Forum notes that:

          (1) The Head of Finance to issue guidance to schools on how best to complete the SFVS return.

          (2) The Local Authority will be reviewing each SFVS response over the next few weeks in detail and may contact individual schools to verify evidence to support their assessments.

          The Chair circulated a leaflet from the “f40” Group regarding school funding.  He advised that the leaflet was circulated to parents and educationalists and drew members’ attention to the impact of funding formulas on schools, particularly secondary schools.

          Meeting dates for the next Municipal Year have not yet been finalised but it is anticipated that they will take place at similar times to this year – that is in July, October, January and March. Members will be informed of the exact dates when confirmed.