Agenda item

7a – National Funding Formula Consultation

IH said this item was closely linked with the White Paper proposals regarding academies and written before the announcement was made that all schools would no longer be forced to convert.

IH referred members to the Appendix which showed Barnet’s submission in response to Stage 1 of the NFF consultation for both mainstream and High Needs. This stage is based mainly around principles, methodology and the use of objective factors of need. As it is the early stages of the consultation, there are no figures yet. The DfE plans to have the NFF in place by 2019-20 but will allow time for schools to ease into it.

Stage 2 of the consultation will provide more detail and should give an indication of the impact on funding levels to Barnet LA and Barnet schools. The release of Stage 2 of the consultation is expected before the end of the summer term as schools will need to respond to the consultation in early autumn. The first Schools Forum date next term has been moved to 29^th September 2016 to enable early discussions on this.

IH said there would be big winners and losers but that Barnet is not likely to be the hardest hit borough. He said there will be some form of Minimum Funding Guarantee but the level hasn’t been announced. Local authorities will be given some discretion to allow schools to lose faster but they may be reluctant to use these powers. LAs will no longer have control over the proportion of funding spent on each of the school funding blocks. He stated that the consultation document indicated growth funding will be based on actual need, not historic spend.

IH said that another consultation document was recently issued by the DfE and circulated to private providers by the Early Years team. The Early Years team were leading the response, seeking views from providers. SV commented that most providers were not aware the consultation had been released. PH asked if the document had been made available to schools. IH said schools could find a link to the consultation document in the School Circular.

EP noted it was important to remember the free entitlement was about early education and not just childcare, with various members of the Schools Forum expressing their agreement.

IH talked about the proposal that funding for school improvement would end in April 2017 and also discussed the issue regarding the proposal for free entitlement for 3 and 4 year olds to rise from 15 to 30 hours. Although the rate of funding is increasing, most providers in the Early Years sectors say that it is still not viable.

PH said that increasing to a 30 hour offer in many settings halves the places available and removes the capacity for flexibility and, for Private Voluntary and Independent (PVI) providers, additional chargeable provision (which subsidises 15 hours). She added that there was already a waiting list at some nurseries and, because of siblings, children that live locally aren’t getting places. She also pointed out that children that do need the free entitlement the most, who were from poorer backgrounds, wouldn’t be entitled to the free 30 hours because their parents most probably wouldn’t be working.

JD asked if schools or Barnet are affected by the newly announced government apprentice levy.  Where academies are part of a MAT, secondary schools and large primary schools may be affected if their wage bill exceeds the threshold of £3m. VW said this was not her area of expertise but officers would investigate the position and advise.

JD asked about the Hyde Children’s Centre which is open for 2.5 days a week and asked whether this DSG money was supposed to go to schools. IH replied that the DSG funds not only schools but also the whole of Early Years, which includes PVIs.