Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest made on this occasion.

Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting held on the 12 January 2023 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

·       Primary Behaviour Support Services update

o   Minute 7 – 10 November 22

·       Minority Ethnic Achievement Service (MEAS) update

o   Minute 8 – 10 November 22

Minute 7 – 10 November 22 - Primary Behaviour Support Services update

As requested at the Schools Forum held in January 23, additional information was provided in relation to the Primary Behaviour Support Services update given at the Schools Forum held in November 22.

The Forum was informed that of the eight pupils from maintained schools who were permanently excluded during 2021-22, five had been referred into the Behaviour Support service, equating to 3.7% of the total number of referrals received to the service that year.

One pupil out of the eight had been seen previously in 2020, the pupil’s school were offered further support but did not take up the offer.

One pupil out of the eight had been referred into the Behaviour Support service, but then moved out of County before the support was delivered.

One pupil was not known to the service.

Minute 8 – 10 November 22 - Minority Ethnic Achievement Service (MEAS) update

As requested at the Schools Forum held in January 23, additional information was provided in relation to the Minority Ethnic Achievement Service (MEAS) update given at the Schools Forum held in November 22.

The Forum was informed that none of the families housed in bridging accommodation in Newcastle settled permanently in the Newcastle district. All accommodated families were offered a permanent home in Staffordshire. 25 permanent homes were made available by District and Borough Councils and Stoke-on-Trent City Council. Two permanent homes offered by Newcastle Borough Council were taken by families who lived elsewhere. Circa 50% of the available homes were accepted by the families as many wanted to wait for accommodation in larger urban areas. The remaining homes offered in Staffordshire and Stoke were taken by Afghan families in accommodation elsewhere in the country.

When the Home Office advised families that the hotel in Newcastle was to close, those that had not accepted the offer of a permanent home were relocated. None of the families that were relocated had moved back to the Newcastle area.

Minute 18 - High Needs Block (including Education Banding Tool update and Deficit Management Plan)

It was noted at the meeting held on the 12 January 23 that a consultation of the Strategy for Special Provision would be taking place “towards the middle of the Spring term in 2023”. The Schools Forum queried if the consultation had taken place and were informed that, as Staffordshire County Council (SCC) had now entered the pre-election period of Purdah the consultation had been delayed. As such the consultation would now commence on the 17 May 23 and run until the 5 July 23.

It was confirmed that no decisions had been taken by the Chair, under delegated powers, since the last meeting.

Verbal Update

The Forum was reminded that an election for the positions of Chair and Vice-Chair would be taking place at the Schools Forum in July 23, with the roles appointed from amongst the Forum’s membership. The positions would be held for a period of two-years.

Forum members were informed that if they wished to stand for either position they would need another member to propose them for the position on the day, with a vote taking place should there be more than one candidate for each position.

As per the constitution, both the incumbent Chair and Vice-Chair were asked whether they wished to stand for re-election. Both confirmed their intentions to stand for re-election of the current positions.

Resolved: That the future Election of the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Schools Forum be noted.

Verbal update

Forum members were informed that several representative positions on the Schools Forum were due for re-election in May 23. These specifically related to:

• All maintained primary
• All primary academies (x 2 posts)
• All secondary academies
• All academy special schools
• All Alternative provision academies

The affected members were informed that the election process would start on Monday 27March 23 with a view to having the positions filled in May 23.

The Forum was also informed that two positions representing the Middle Schools Forum and Schools’ Consultative Group were also due to be renewed. These positions were filled by a representative nominated by the relevant Forum and Group. The incumbent members were asked to confirm with the appropriate body whether they would be re-nominated for a further term of office, or if a new representative would be nominated.

The Forum was also informed that Dr Sarah Clark had tendered her resignation from the Schools Forum as a representative of “All secondary academies”. The Chair thanked Sarah for her contribution to the Schools Forum and wished her well in the future.

Resolved: That the future election process of representatives on the Schools Forum be noted.

It was confirmed that no new Notice of Concerns had been issued or withdrawn.

The Entrust Schools Finance team continued to work with all schools who had an existing Notice of Concern or Licensed Deficit agreement.

Resolved: That the Notices of Concern and Licensed Deficit Agreements to schools be noted.

The Schools Forum received a report relating to proposed updates to the Financial Regulations for Schools which had recently been reviewed and updated.

Section I – Insurance, was being replaced in full. The Regulations would now state “insurance cover for schools is now being provided through the Department for Education’s (DfE) Risk Protection Arrangement (RPA) scheme”. A link to the DfE’s RPA scheme would be provided in the Finance Regulations and an updated version of the Regulations would be uploaded to the Schools Learning Net.

The full details of the proposed changes were included in Appendix A to the report.

Resolved: That the proposed changes to the insurance section of the Staffordshire Scheme for Financing Schools Financial Regulations for Schools and Procurement Regulations, be approved.

The Schools Forum received an update report relating to the Schools Budget 2023-24.

In summary the report provided the following information:

Schools

• The request to transfer 0.5% of Schools Block Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) to High Needs had been rejected by the Secretary of State
• The growth fund budget had been set at £2.7m. Any underspend would be transferred into the DSG reserve as per the deficit recovery plan.
• The final education functions levy had been set at £54 per pupil
• School budgets had been set using the National Funding Formula (NFF)
• The minimum funding guarantee (MFG) had been set at 0.5%
• To ensure the NFF was affordable within the schools block DSG allocation, gains had been capped at 2.64%

Early Years

• Early Years funding base rates had been set at £4.52 per hour for 3 & 4 year olds and £5.67 per hour for 2 year olds
• An Early Years contingency had been set at 0.7% of the Early Years Block funding
• Any underspend on Early Years contingency would be returned to providers as a one-off payment in the following financial year (subject to affordability).

High needs

• Staffordshire’s High Needs Block (HNB) funding for 23/24 had increased by £12m compared to 2022-23
• Special School budgets had been set to provide for a Minimum Funding Guarantee of 0.5% (and no capping of gains)
• A further significant overspend was anticipated on the HNB in 2023-4

Central Provisions

The Forum were reminded that the Growth Funding was allocated to the local authority on a formula basis. The allocation for 2023-24 was £4.1m, and the funding had been used to fund growth above the census in the NFF. The remaining funding would be held centrally to meet commitments under the infant class size and exceptional growth fund policies. The amount retained centrally was £2.7m. Any underspend would be transferred to the DSG reserve as per the deficit recovery plan.

At the November Schools Forum meeting, maintained schools approved a levy per pupil for Education Functions of £56.47. Due to a change in the number on roll at maintained schools, the Forum was informed that the final levy for 2023-24 had been set at £54 per pupil.

Individual School Budgets

The Forum was informed that within the NFF, the deprivation factors had increased by 4.3% and all other factors had been increased by 2.4%. The supplementary grant paid separately in 2023-24 to help towards the costs of the Health and Social Care Levy and other costs had been rolled into the NFF by adding the grant funding rates to the relevant factor in the NFF. The minimum funding guarantee (MFG) had been set at 0.5%. To ensure the NFF remained affordable within the Schools Block DSG allocation, gains had been capped at 2.64%.

Mainstream schools would receive a separate Mainstream Schools Additional Grant (MSAG) as announced in the Autumn Statement. These payments would be made by the government in two instalments. Academies would receive the funding directly from the ESFA. Funding for maintained schools would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 28.

The Schools Forum received a report from the Director of Children and Families relating to the High Needs Block (HNB).

The Forum heard that the Government had initially indicated a HNB allocation 2023-24 for c £122.2m; however, in the Autumn Statement, the Chancellor confirmed additional funding for schools of c £2bn nationally including £400m that would be directed to the HNB. Staffordshire would receive a further £4.8m in 2023-24 which had to be used to provide additional support to Special Schools and Pupil Referral Units (PRUs) equivalent to 3.4% of the estimated total grant funding for each school.

For Staffordshire the HNB 2023-24 was £127.0m, a net increase of c£12m compared with 2022-23. It was insufficient to close the existing funding gap, and Staffordshire would continue to lobby for both additional funding and a fair and equitable mechanism for addressing cumulative deficits. It was SCC’s intention to pass on the full budget increase next year for the provision of SEND support; none of the funding rise would be used to repay historical deficits.

SCC recognised the financial pressures schools across Staffordshire were facing and given the increase in Government funding, would increase funding to providers by as much as was affordable, acknowledging the current pressures on the HNB and the depleted DSG balances which – at the end of the current financial year – would likely be in deficit by circa £14m.

2023-24 Special School budgets would be set based on a Minimum Funding Guarantee of 0.5%; ensuring that funding for all Special Schools, on a like for like basis, would increase next year by a minimum of 0.5%. This was in line with Government guidance for an MFG of 3% over 2 years. There would be no capping of school gains

In April 2022 SCC introduced a new Education Banding Tool (EBT) to help calculate top up funding in a fair and consistent way. The Forum heard that current monitoring of the ‘average’ top up cost of EBT placement costs compared with the matrix levels indicated an increase. Whilst the number of children assessed on EBT remained relatively low, the average ‘top up’ cost for those placements was significantly higher (c£11,800) compared with the matrix model (c£7,300). This represented an unaffordable increase in costs and appeared to reflect a significant ‘shift’ in the profile of assessments towards higher levels (i.e. EBT levels 7-10) compared with the desktop sample / exercise that had been undertaken as part of the implementation, and on which the proposed EBT rates were set. The EBT had been in place for a year and a review of the implementation would be undertaken during the forthcoming year to ensure it continued to deliver the intended objectives.

In response to a request for more information as to what form the EBT review would take, it was explained that negotiations had been undertaken to secure the services of the Commissioning Manager, who had supported the implementation of the EBT in 2022, to start the review process. A meeting  ...  view the full minutes text for item 29.

·       Thursday 13 July 2023, 2:00pm - face to face meeting to be held at the County Buildings, Stafford.

·       Thursday 9 November 2023, 2:00pm - face to face meeting to be held at the County Buildings, Stafford.

The future work programme, date of next meeting and future meetings were shared with forum members.

Work Programme

It was agreed that an update on the budget announcement on Nursery funding and wraparound childcare be included on the Work Programme for the July meeting.

Date of next meetings

·         Thursday, 13 July 2023, 2:00pm - face to face meeting to be held at the County Buildings, Stafford.

·         Thursday, 9 November 2023, 2:00pm - face to face meeting to be held at the County Buildings, Stafford.

Resolved: a. That an update on the budget announcement on Nursery funding and wraparound childcare be included on the Work Programme for the July meeting.

b. That the dates of the next meetings be noted.