Agenda and draft minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

To agree the minutes of the meeting held on 2^nd December 2021 and authorise the Chairman to sign them.

The minutes of the previous meeting were agreed as a correct record.

There were no matters arising from the minutes fo the previous meeting.

Report attached

The Forum noted that the Department for Education (DfE) had released the revised DSG Schools Block allocation which was based on October 2021 census data.

Pupil numbers had risen by 583 since October 2020 which had resulted in additional funding. Funding was 4.2% higher than for 2021-22. The rise in pupil numbers accounted for 1.5% of this, with 2.7% the result of increased funding rates.

The LA had calculated school funding using the October 2021 data set. After the transfer of £1,028,678 from the School Block to the High Needs Block and £681,022 to the Growth and Falling Rolls Fund, it was now possible to set the Minimum Funding Guarantee at 1.2% and the Gains Cap at 2.8%. These figures were slightly higher than those used in the funding consultation where the Minimum Funding Guarantee had been 1.0% and the Gains Cap 2.5%.

The Forum were presented with anonymised figures for each school. The Chair, Keith Williams, expressed his concern at the fall in the number of pupils on roll some schools had experienced, and the likely future repercussions for their funding.

The Forum agreed:

(i)            to adopt the National Funding Formula rates for 2022-23 with a Minimum funding Guarantee of 1.2% and a Gains Cap od 2.8%

(ii)          to the transfer of £1,028,678 (0.5%) of the DSG Schools Block to the DSG High Needs Block

(iii)         that £680,000 of the DSG School Block be used to support Pupil Growth and Falling Rolls in additional to the £1,525,109 received for this

Report attached

The Forum were informed that an additional £1.6 billion had been allocated for schools and high needs in the Government’s 2021 autumn spending review.

£1.2 billion of this would be allocated to schools through a new schools supplementary grant. This is intended to cover the cost of the Health and Social Care Levy and, for Years R – 11, other cost pressures. The Schools Supplementary Grant would be allocated for one year only with the additional funding being consolidated into the DSG Schools Block for 2023-24.

Funding will be formula based using pupil numbers,’ Ever 6’ free school meal numbers and a lump sum. Funding rates were subject to the Area Cost Adjustment with a higher rate for Havering than the ‘rest of England’ to account for London Weighting.

The Forum noted the report.

Report attached

Members noted that the funding for special school pupil numbers from October 2021 had increased by £63,000.

£0.4 billion of the additional funding announced in the autumn spending review has been allocated for high needs with Havering due to receive an extra £1.4 million. This brings the total high needs allocation for 2022-23 to £36.6m, an increase of 14.9% on 2021-22.

The Forum noted the report.

Report attached

The Forum were presented with the final funding allocation for the Central Schools Services Block for 2022-23.

The Forum noted that the final allocation was £23k higher than the indicative allocation due to the rise in pupil numbers from October 2020 to October 2021. Allowing for an increase in the deduction for copyright licences this left £21k unallocated.

The Forum noted the report and agreed that the £21k unallocated be held as a contingency.

Report attached

The Forum was presented with the indicative Early Years funding allocation for 2022-23.

Members noted that funding rates to providers had been reviewed by the Local Authority in autumn 2021, in consultation with the Early Years Provider Reference Group (EYPRG), and an increase backdated to 1 April 2021. The cost of the SEN Inclusion Fund was expected to rise to £400k.

Members were informed that the Local Authority has been notified by the DfE of a retrospective reduction in funding for 2020-21 of £399k. This was because the number of funded hours at the January 2021 census was lower than at the January 2020 census due to the pandemic. The Forum expressed concern at the loss of funding. Trevor Cook said that the LA would raise this again with the DfE.

The process for determining funding rates for 2022-23 was outlined to the Forum. The outcome of the funding consultation, together with the resultant proposed rates, would be brought to the meeting of the Forum on 10th February 2022.

The Forum noted the report.

Report attached

The Forum were informed that the DfE had now confirmed that the School Improvement Monitoring and Brokerage Grant would be cut by 50% in financial year 2022-23, and withdrawn completely from 2023-24.

The Local Authority proposed that the shortfall in funding in 2022-23 be made up by de-delegating £5.11 per pupil from LA maintained primary school budgets. Some of the Forum members reported that schools in their clusters were reluctant to make up the shortfall through de-delegation.

The Chair, Keith Williams, felt that if the issue was put to a vote the proposed de-delegation would not be supported. Nick Carter explained that although decisions on de-delegation are usually required before submission of the LA formula, due this year on 21st January, the DfE had stated that they would be happy to talk to councils if flexibility was required on timings.

The Forum agreed to bring this matter back to the meeting on 10th February 2022 to allow more information to be presented, and for clusters to meet and discuss.

Future meetings have been arranged as follows:

10 February 2021

16 June 2021

Meetings to start at 8.00 a.m. at CEME rooms 233-235 or virtually

The Forum noted that the date of the next meeting was 10^th February 2022.