Agenda item

HIGH NEEDS FORECAST 2020-21

Report and appendices attached.

Minutes:

Spending for this area in 2020/21 was forecast to overspend by £4.6m against last years funding. Taking into account the deficit brought forward and forecast growth this increased to £6.7m. An increase in High Needs funding of £3.5m and a transfer of £0.5m for the Schools Block reduced the projected deficit to £2.7m.

 

The calculation above assumed that expenditure remains the same as last year. This was unlikely to be the case as expenditure on High Needs provision can vary significantly between years.

 

The High Needs overspend of £4.6m in 2019/20 was offset by the DSG underspend brought forward from the previous year and by underspends in other areas of the DSG. There remained, however, a deficit carried forward into 2020/21 of £1.13m

 

The Council was, therefore, required to submit a deficit recovery plan to the DfE. A template for LAs to construct a recovery plan had been received the previous day and would be brought to future meetings of the Forum.

 

A breakdown of High Needs costs was presented. It was noted that 26 children were in out of borough special primary schools at a cost to the Council of £422k. In-borough primary schools received a total of £3.9m in Top-up funding from the High Needs block.

 

The cost of secondary High Needs provision included 24 children attending schools in other boroughs. £369k was forecast to be spent on alternative tuition and therapies.

 

Total High Needs block expenditure was around £27.5m.

 

In Early Years provision, an additional £3.20 per hour was received by providers for a child allocated an EHCP. Concerns were raised that the Early Years sector could not afford to give the required support. This was to have been the focus of the planned meeting between Mark Halls and the Director of Children’s Services. It was noted that the daily rate for SEN providers had increased from £3.40 to £4.90 and that a high percentage of the funding the LA receives had been passed on to providers. A Forum member felt that this funding still fell well short of the £14 per hour received by schools for children with an EHCP.

 

A Council officer stated that proactive action was taken on areas of overspend such as therapies, tutors and alternative provision. Consideration was being given, for example, to reducing the number of spot purchases of therapies. Officers would report back to the Forum on opportunities to reduce spending as part of the DSG deficit recovery plan. The costs of SEN provision were increasing, however, and there was no timescale for the completion of the Government SEND review.

 

The Forum felt that the cost of placements in Non Maintained Special Schools and Independent Provision was far too high. Some placements listed were for the same child changing schools, due in particular to the closure of the Anderson School.

 

The LA strategy was to grow ARPs in Havering, particularly in primary schools where early investment could bring positive results. The planned new special school was needed, although this was unlikely to be ready before 2022.

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Members felt that more investment was needed in ARPs. Some schools had been advised that they could not have this facility and officers clarified that this was sometimes due to the close proximity of other ARPs. A map of ARPs and related facilities in Havering could be shared with the Forum by Caroline Penfold. It was important to work with parents in order to obtain their confidence in the local provision. Some of the children attending provision out of borough lived on the borough’s boundary. 

 

Members remained concerned about rising costs of out of borough provision and  transport as well as the delay with the special school. This was likely to have a cost impact on schools in the future and the strategy for this should be included in the recovery plan. Officers responded that the delay in the special school had been due to delays in land transactions and other property matters. Any recovery plan could involve difficult options such as reducing payments to schools. Officers would look at the experience in other boroughs where deficits were worse and bring proposals to the November or December meeting of the Forum. It was emphasised that there were no specific proposals at this stage.

 

The Forum noted the forecast of high needs expenditure for financial year 2020-21.

Supporting documents: