Agenda and minutes

GK welcomed new members Nigel Taylor, Jude Stone, Matthew Glenn and Chris Munday who was expected to arrive later on. GK also welcomed Cllr Brian Salinger who was attending for the first time as a substitute for Elizabeth Pearson.

Apologies for absence were received from Elizabeth Pearson, Perina Holness, Jo Djora, Michael Whitworth, Kate Webster and Kit Davies.

Item 4: Minutes of the last meeting: 5^th February 2015

Minutes of the Schools Forum Meeting

 (4.00 pm, Conference Room 1, NLBP)

Accepted as a true and accurate record.

None

PF pointed out that the minutes showed that the number of members who had voted had dropped from 13 to 12 and asked whether someone had left the meeting at that point. GK agreed voting numbers should be checked more carefully in future.

6.1Schools Budget 2015-16 – Section 251 budget submission

Carol Beckman

The local authority submitted the Section 251 budget to the DfE as required at the end of March.  The Section 251 return (S251) details the council’s income and expenditure on schools and education services from the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) and council general income under pre-defined headings.  The Schools Forum receives information on the first half of the return (lines 1.0.1 – 1.8.1) which is known as the Schools Budget.

The table overleaf compares the S251 submission to the draft budget presented to the Schools Forum in December 2014.

The reasons for change are as follows:

1.    Adjustments for the final submission of the Authority Proforma Tool (APT) which is the school funding formula for mainstream maintained schools, academies and free schools.

2.    Adjustments to the high needs places within Barnet

3.    Recalculation of the estimated cost of the free entitlement to early education

4.    Removal of the budget for salary safeguarding in schools – this is now fully delegated to schools.

5.    New budget for Direct Payments to parents for SEN transport

6.    Higher growth budget due to increasing demand.

7.    Lower DSG funding than predicted

As discussed with the Schools Forum previously the 2013/14 underspend (£1.33m) has been used for the growth fund and protection of the gap on gains in the funding formula at +0.5%

The Schools Forum agreed that the first priorities for the 2014/15 underspend should be special educational need and growth.  The final underspend will be over £3m but at this stage only £570,000 has been committed to the budget.  This has been used to support items 5 and 6 above and protect SEN budgets from the lower than expected DSG.

The Dedicated Schools Grant is not yet finalised and in fact the EFA issues adjustments throughout the financial year.  Further reports will be brought to the Schools Forum in July 2015.

6.1       2015/16 Budget                                                                                                           Catherine Peters

CP presented the paper, explaining that the main reasons for differences between the S251 and the draft budget presented to Schools Forum in December 2014 were the adjustments to the Authority Proforma Tool (APT) and Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) actual funding. She added that there was a new budget for Direct Payments to parents for SEN transport.

CB explained that the latest estimate of the DSG, based on announcements from the DfE in December shows a lower total than the original estimate. CP advised that there will be adjustments to the DSG throughout the financial year.

GK reminded people that they should not feel shy about asking questions if they have any as it is important that all members fully understand the issues being discussed.

6.2       2016/17 Budget Planning

IH alerted the SF to the Annual Report to the Children, Education, Libraries and Safeguarding (CELS) Committee regarding a review of EYFF, SFF and High Needs etc. He added there had been complaints regarding a lack of reporting structure and that going forward; there would be more transparency with an annual report from the council.

There were no proposed changes to the SFF yet but CB had been doing some modelling to see if some schools can be helped. Options will be discussed with the SF then will be put forward for consultation.

EYFF: There were some issues raised regarding nursery schools and whether they should receive more money because of the additional costs associated with running a nursery school.

IH stated he would consult on whether the funding would be staying the same or whether the LA would be giving nursery schools more and that this would need to be done by January. He would also be reporting on recent changes to SEN bandings and PRUs (mostly for information), then come back to SF.

IH confirmed consultations would take place in July for EYFF and SFF and a decision for SFF would need to be made by the end of October. He stated that he would report back by the end of the autumn term for EYFF and would be consulting all sectors including PVIs.

KN added that it would be useful to know the dates for the CELS meetings.

SV asked whether the EYFF review would include 2 year old funding and IH confirmed that it would not.

SH asked how the decision would be made and whether there would be some sort of working party so that the Schools Forum would agree the SFF. IH replied that the LA would decide but would look at various options and pressures.  VW said that a working party was a good idea and SH volunteered to be part of it.

SH also asked whether the pressures were seen mainly in primary schools or secondary schools and IH replied that there were pressures coming from both.

Cllr S said that an EYFF review would be welcome and that had PH been present, she would have said there  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

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2.   

3.   

4.   

5.   

6.   

7.   

7.1.  2014/15 Budget Monitoring

a.    Provisional Outturn position

The outturn position will be presented to the Performance and Contract Management Committee on 12^th May 2015 and will be provided to School Forum members once the Committee Papers have been published.

Recommendation:

To note the final outturn position for 2014/15.

Previous reports to the Forum:

• 7 May 2014 noted budget changes
• 9 October 2014 noted revisions to the budget and quarter 1 monitoring position
• 4 December 2014 noted revisions to the budget and quarter 2 monitoring position

·         5 February 2015 noted quarter 3 monitoring position

b.    2 year old trajectory funding

Free Early Education for Two Year Olds

Summary

This paper requests that the underspend from  the 2014/15 allocation for the Free Early Education for Two Year Olds (FEE2) scheme be carried forward to continue to support the delivery of the offer into 2015-16. The total amount to roll over is £735,208 in order to facilitate capacity building.

Background Information

The FEE2 scheme became a statutory duty for targeted groups of children to access a free early education place in quality childcare provision from 1 September 2013. This entitlement expanded to an additional group of children from 1 September 2014; the result being that an estimated 2014 children became entitled within the borough.

The eligibility criteria to access FEE2 places are:

·           Children from families in receipt of qualifying benefits for the Free School Meals (FSM) criteria or

·           Children whose families receive Working Tax credits (income less than  £16,190 per year)

·            Children who are looked after by the local authority

·           Children with a current statement of special educational needs (SEN) or an education, health and care plan

·           Children who receive Disability Living Allowance;

·           Children who have left care through special guardianship or through an adoption or residence order.

There have been 1550 two year olds accessing their entitlement across 2014/15. 75% were places in the PVI sector, 15% children’s centres, 5% with child-minders and 5% in nursery schools.

Not all children take up their entitlement or access their full 570 hours (15 hours per week for 38 weeks). Additionally there are still some families that are not aware of the scheme or unable to access a place in their preferred setting.

There have been lower than anticipated take up rates and therefore the full quota of place funding has not been utilised. This has resulted in an underspend of £1,385,116[1] (from 2014/15 place funding and trajectory allocation). A programme to rapidly increase 2 year old numbers has been put in place, a key plank of which will require engagement and participation in the programme by Barnet Schools.

The LA has a statutory duty to deliver places to all eligible children that require one. Additionally, there is an expectation from the DfE that up to 2014 places are delivered for all eligible two year olds in the borough. Barnet is currently delivering places to 43% of eligible children and there is therefore a  ...  view the full agenda text for item 7.

   7.1. 2014/15 Budget Monitoring

a)         Provisional Outturn Position

CP presented the papers for budget monitoring and added that the outturn position was presented to the Performance and Contract Management Committee on Tuesday 12th May 2015.

She stated there was an underspend of £3.5 million, which was mainly due to the underspend on two year olds and  by a reduced requirement for contingency funding as there was better quality information available for top-ups and a reduction in expensive placements.

She said that the projected underspend in February was £3.2m and that the increase was largely due to high needs adjustments. JG commented that although £3.5 million sounds like a lot of money, when shown as a percentage of the total budget, 1.67% does not seem like a lot.

SL asked what the in-year bursaries were for and CP replied that they were Post-16 bursaries to be passported to schools from the EFA.  Cllr S recommended a charitable trust that exists in Chipping Barnet that schools may be able to request funds from and KN suggested it could be put in the Schools Circular.

GK noted that the underspend was creeping up but said he recognises it is the result of good management of budgets and IH reiterated that the underspend was mainly due to an underspend on High Needs and 2 year olds.

b)         Two Year Olds

IH presented the papers in DT’s absence, asking for a carry forward of £735,208 for 2 year olds in order to facilitate capacity building.

He stated that Barnet has not provided as high a percentage of places to eligible children as the DfE wanted and that there were many reasons for this, including having places in the right location and informing families properly.

The DfE has recommended that LAs use their underspend to get place numbers up. The proposal is for £735k of the underspend to be used and an implementation plan has been provided. This sum of money will be used to encourage schools to take 2 year olds and inform them that there is support available. Targeted marketing will be used, aimed at hard to reach families (to make them aware of the scheme) and better identification of eligible families. LL asked what the targeted marketing would involve. IH stated  that this was still being developed..

IH highlighted that funding to the LA would no longer be allocated based on target places but on actual take-up. SV said that private nurseries don’t feel the money is enough. She stated that she has turned away two year olds but could expand and that nobody had consulted her about taking on two year olds. IH stated that there would be staffing and capital funding to make it possible.

VW stated that in terms of schools providing places for two year olds, Barnet was the second worst in the country, with a very low take-up which wasn’t unusual for LAs in London. There are also pressures from reception classes as there is a high demand  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

Item 8 – Draft agenda for next meeting: 2 July 2015

(Please note there may be a change to the venue due to refurbishment at NLBP. Final location to be confirmed).

1.    Welcome to new members

2.    Apologies for absences

3.    Declarations of interest

4.    Minutes of previous meeting:  14 May 2015

5.    Matters Arising

6.    Items for information

6.1.  2015/16 Budget monitoring

6.2.  2016/17 Budget planning

7.    Items for decision

7.1.  2014/15 Budget Monitoring

·         Final Outturn

·         Use of underspend

8.    Draft agenda for next meeting: 15 October 2015

9.      Any other business

Agenda for next meeting agreed.

The main discussion will be about the 16/17 budget, including SFF and EYFF after June’s CELS committee.

The working group for the funding formula was agreed as :

Simon Horne

Jeanette Adak

Sally Lajalati

Seamus McKenna

Liz Pearson.

Cllr S nominated Liz Pearson as the working party should consist of full members rather than substitutes. No decisions will be made by the working group but issues will be raised and discussed in order for ideas to be brought back to SF.

PF said that at the last meeting, there were proposals for alternative management of schools and education in borough and asked what effect this would have on the Schools Forum . 

VW said that she is working on alternative delivery models but the Schools Forum remains on the council side and statutory responsibilities will not be affected

GK asked whether the information is being disseminated effectively to governors.  VW said there were various events for governors (e.g. COG meetings) and there would be a COG event on 8^th June.  In July there will be a chance to meet the bidders.  Dates will be announced in the Director’s report to Governors.  LL asked if there was a contact list for all governors - VW said they would be using the governors clerking list which includes those that are not clerked by the council).

KN asked whether someone instead of COGs could attend.  VW said she would consider this.