Agenda item

The Forum considered the report of the Deputy Chief Executive and Director for Families and Communities which provided a detailed update on the High Needs Block (HNB) funding.  Members of the Forum were informed that the forecast overspend on the 2020/21 High Needs Block (HNB) was now £6.5m which was £1m higher than reported at quarter 3.   The main reason given was the increase in demand in the independent sector due to an increase in the number of children and young people with higher and more complex needs.  The impact of this meant that at the end of the current financial year the overall Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) reserve would be in deficit. 

For Staffordshire the HNB budget for 2021/22 had now been finalised for a total of £101.0m; an increase of £11.6m compared with 2020/21 (13%).  None of this funding increase would be used to repay historical deficits.

The Council recognises the financial pressures schools across Staffordshire were facing and would increase funding next year for all state funded special schools, on a like for like basis, by a minimum of 1.0%

Staffordshire would be providing a response to the DfE consultation about the proposals for a small number of changes to the national funding formula that was used to allocate high needs funding to local authorities in the 2022-23 financial year.

The High Block Needs Working Group had met on 9 February for the second time.  The focus of the session had been on modelling HNB spend and demand going forward and   establishing a national context of HNB funding and how Staffordshire compared against other authorities.  This information was attached to the report as appendix B.  The next working group meeting would review non statutory funding and the needs of those children and young people being placed in the independent non maintained sector.  The Chair reminded the forum that the group could only make recommendations to the LA and could not force changes. 

Following a question on the Independent school and the impact on how the LA were evaluating the impact of the funding on the special school sector, it was explained that as part of the monitoring of children and young people, evaluation would be done in the same way as any other educational provision.  The forum was reminded that the Independent sector was not always the LA choice and that there was a variety of reasons why an individual could be place there, such as parental choice or being required to place there following a tribunal.

It was agreed that work was being done to look at the curriculum offer so that, for example, high performing children who had special needs were not placed in the independent sector simply because state funded special schools could not offer the same range of subjects.  The educational banding tool was being reviewed to ensure the right level of funding was available, as was work with health partners on joint commissioning.

Officers felt that the overspend needed to be looked at as a whole and that the overspend on one area shows that the whole HNB was insufficient.  One of the key areas to look at was managing capacity and appropriate provision at the special and mainstream schools to ensure that independent schools are used out of necessity and not choice.  There was a plea for more funding for ECHP and speech and language provision so that it was available when needed, which could help to win tribunal cases.  

Following a question on what proportion of the £1m overspend was allocated to the independent schools, it was explained that this was only 1% and in part due to the backlog being dealt with and trying to predict the number of individuals with high needs.  It had been predicted that 380 children and young people would enter the system this year but 400, some with very high specialist needs, had.

Of the children not in any type of school, it was reported that there were 80 children accessing alternative educational settings for a number of different reasons including some due to medical need.  The budget was slightly under spent this year partly due to Covid-19 and the online offer being available to all pupils. The National Tuition Fund was available to schools, but this was for a maximum of 15 hours per child.

It was acknowledged that the Education Banding Tool would inevitably mean an increase in funding for some schools and a decrease for others depending on the allocation the funding. Therefore protections maybe required.

RESOLVED – That:

a)    The update on the High Needs Block since the previous report in January 2021 be noted.

b)    That the proposed High Needs Block budget 2021/22 be noted.