Agenda item

Items for Information

a)    2015/16 Budget Monitoring – Final Outturn

b)    School Balances at 31 March 2016

c)    2016/17 Budget Monitoring

 

Minutes:

8a

2015/16 Schools Budget Final Outturn – Catherine Peters

CP introduced the item and drew attention to the financial report circulated.

SH asked about NOAM – VW said that this independent school would like to become voluntary aided.  While the school has purchased land, they are still fund raising to start building the new school without which they cannot join the LA.  VW will contact them to find out their current plans.

 

EP asked what is happening with 2 year old provision.  DD admitted that Barnet is not moving towards the target take-up as fast as expected or as fast as some other LAs.  Take-up varies from 55-60% of target.  JD asked whether this was due to the funding being too low, and SV added that at her setting they found that the families often needed as much support as the child.  She suggested that underspends on two year olds could be used for family support programmes.  DD said funding might be an issue, but also the areas of highest demands are where there are least places.  VW added that schools are struggling to provide places for Reception children and so are not able to make space for two year olds as well.  Many London authorities have the same problem.

 

GK arrived during this item and took over the meeting.

 

8b        School Balances at 31 March 2016 – Nick Adams

NA introduced the paper and associated table.  Balances have fallen a little overall but there is wide variation and no obvious pattern.  While some schools have large balances others have needed support with redundancy costs and licensed deficits.  St Michaels has now cleared their deficit.

 

A discussion followed about how schools might be encouraged to use balances perhaps through a clawback mechanism.  GK said schools were naturally being cautious in these uncertain times and EP echoed this.  NA and IH also admitted that when investigations had been done in the past, schools have said they were saving for projects which did not  always materialise.  However without any kind of sanction there was little the LA could do.  IH felt the best approach was for Learning Network Inspectors to link balances to school achievement, and for schools to be expected to use available resources to rectify low achievement.  NA said energies had been put into preventing schools falling into deficit rather than challenging schools with surpluses.  VW said that a recent review of London authorities showed that in the main, there are perhaps surprisingly few schools in deficit.

 

8c        2016/17 Schools Budget – Q1 budget monitoring

CP presented the paper and associated table.  The projected underspend at Quarter 1 (Apr-Jun 2016) has now become a projected overspend due to a reduction in early years income and the rising cost of high needs placements for Post 16 students.

 

JD queried where the £2.8m carried forward from 2015/16 was shown in the 2016/17 budget.  CP explained that underspends are put in a reserve and only the amount needed to balance the 2016/17 budget is drawn down.  There is still about £3.7m from previous years in reserve which will be needed for balancing the 16/17 budget and for future years’ growth.  JD asked for details of the reserve to be presented to the Schools Forum.

 

Supporting documents: