Agenda and minutes

Venue: CEME

Contact: James Goodwin 01708 432432  Email: james.goodwin@onesource.co.uk

Items
No. Item

149.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND ANNOUNCEMENT OF SUBSTITUTE MEMBERS OR OBSERVERS

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Emma Allen, David Denchfield, Gary Pocock, Tim Woodford, Wayne Chretien and Keith Passingham. Ian Hogg was substituting for Gary Pocock.

150.

TO AGREE THE NOTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 10 DECEMBER 2015 pdf icon PDF 115 KB

To approve as correct the minutes of the meeting held on 10th December 2015 and authorise the Chairman to sign them.

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 10 December 2015 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

 

151.

MATTERS ARISING

Minutes:

There were no matters arising that were not dealt with elsewhere on the agenda.

 

152.

MEMBERSHIP pdf icon PDF 130 KB

Report attached.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

DA took members through the report, which highlighted five factors for the Forum to consider in determining whether a change in the number of school and academy representatives based on the October 2015 census was required.

 

The following factors were highlighted by DA:

 

1.    The appointment of a representative from a maintained primary school from the seventh cluster;

2.    The appointment of an additional representative from a secondary academy;

3.    The appointment of a representative from a primary academy who would also represent a primary cluster;

4.    The appointment of representatives from both a maintained primary school from the seventh primary cluster and a secondary academy; and

5.    To make no change until there was a significant shift of pupil numbers from the maintained schools to academies.

 

MP advised that the seventh primary cluster was a group of Heads from the Romford area. She needed to meet these Heads to discuss with them if they required separate representation on all groups.

 

The Forum considered that the existing membership was sufficiently  balanced representation and agreed to revisit the matter at a later date.

.

153.

PUPIL GROWTH FUNDING IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS pdf icon PDF 79 KB

Report attached.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Forum was asked to consider the level of funding to be allocated for pupil growth in the secondary sector from the centrally held Pupil Growth contingency.

 

DA informed the Forum that current arrangement for funding growth was in accordance with the Operational Guidance issued by the Education Funding Agency and agreed by the Forum in July 2013. DA had submitted several options for the Forum’s consideration.

 

Representatives from the secondary sector advised the Forum that secondary head teachers had met on two occasions to consider this matter and decided thatno funding should be allocated for the recent ‘rounding up’ of PANS. This was because other secondary schools were experiencing growth in numbers in year 7 that were not funded and there would be an inequity in top slicing school budgets to fund one aspect of growth but not another.

 

DA advised that a time would come when the Forum needed to address this issue but maybe the time was not now. It would be better to review this at a time of expansion rather than just an adjustment to take account of the topping up of a school’s Published Admission Number.

 

The Forum agreed, with two abstentions not to allocate funding for the ‘rounding up’ of PANS but to review this matter for expansions at a later date.

154.

DEDICATED SCHOOLS GRANT SETTLEMENT 2016-17 pdf icon PDF 145 KB

Report attached.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

DA presented details of the DSG settlement and also the reduction in the Education Services Grant.

 

The Forum:

 

1.    Noted the settlement;

2.    Agreed that the additional £343,000 be allocated to the schools through the schools funding formula; and

3.    Agreed that the additional £426,000 allocated through the High Needs Block be held as a contingency.

 

Bill Edgar abstained from voting.

155.

SCHOOL BUSINESS RATES REBATE pdf icon PDF 129 KB

Report attached.

 

Minutes:

DA advised the Forum that the Valuation Office Agency had been systematically re-valuing school premises across the country resulting in changes to rateable values.  Havering schools and academies had already been re-valued and although some rateable values had been increased, the majority had decreased. The revaluations and therefore the rebates had been backdated for five years.

 

NNDR (National Non-Domestic Rates) was one of the factors in the schools funding formula and was funded on a £ for £ basis and met by the Dedicated Schools Grant for both LA maintained schools and academies.

 

The report had proposed that all of the funding should be returned to the Dedicated Schools Grant for reallocation and also that, once secured it be held as a contingency to support the increased demand for pupil growth.

 

Details of how each school and academy was affected were not available but the Forum agreed to the proposal to hold the additional funding in the pupil growth fund once secured. In the interim DA would write to all academies asking that agree to the funding adjustments that would bring the rebates back to the DSG.

156.

GOVERNMENT REVIEW OF THE INCOME DEPRIVATION AFFECTING CHILDREN INDEX. pdf icon PDF 135 KB

Report attached.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

DA advised the Forum that the Department for Communities and Local Government had issued the English Indices of Deprivation 2015 which had updated the previous version issued in 2010.

 

The Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) was based on seven domains as follows:

 

·         Income;

·         Employment;

·         Education, Skills & Training;

·         Health Deprivation & Disability;

·         Crime;

·         Barriers to Housing & Services; and

·         Living Environment.

 

The Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI) was a sub set of the income domain and was used in the allocation of funding to schools as part of the schools funding formula.

 

Across London there had been a general shift from the higher to the lower deprivation bandings although for Havering only there was an overall increase in the number from families who were income deprived.

 

The School Funding Forum noted the data.

157.

NEXT MEETINGS

The next meetings have been arranged as follows:

 

·         Thursday, 17th March 2016

 

·         Thursday, 28th April 2016

 

·         Thursday, 23rd June 2016

 

All meetings to be held at CEME at 8.30am.

Minutes:

Meetings to be held at CEME, commencing at 8.30 a.m. on:

 

·         17 March 2016;

·         28 April, 2016;

·         23 June, 2016.

158.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

Minutes:

There was no other business raised.