Agenda item

To update on the Schools Forum on the potential implications to the council and schools from consultations issued by the Department for Education (DfE) relating to proposed changes to education and school funding.

Members received a report on School and Education Funding.  The purpose of the report was to update on the potential implications to the Council and schools from consultations issued by the DfE relating to proposed changes to education and school funding.  The report provided a more detailed response to the verbal update presented to the last meeting of the Forum on 10 March 2016 and also presented updates where the DfE had subsequently issued more information.

The following key points from the report were highlighted:

A reminder of the original proposals from the DfE and impact:

• A Schools National Funding Formula would be introduced, with schools directly funded by the Education Funding Agency
• The role of LAs in education would be greatly reduced, with £600m of education related grants to be withdrawn from April 2017, for which BFC would lose £1.5m
• The Council would be seeking to make equivalent savings through the Transformation Programme, for which there would be representation from 4 head teachers to offer guidance.
• The Council would retain responsibility for the high risk Special Educational Needs budgets and those relating to Early Years.

June 2016 DfE update on Schools Funding:

• Implementation of the Schools National Funding Formula would be delayed one year to April 2018, with allocations of funds to LAs in 2017-18 remaining on the current, historic spend basis.
• No LA will see a reduction in per pupil funding rates from 2016-17 levels.
• The £600m cut in funding to LAs would proceed unchanged at April 2017.
• To provide LAs with a funding source to pay for education services, subject to Schools Forum agreement, a per pupil amount could be retained from maintained schools only.
• LAs would continue to be funded for high needs pupils on the current historic cost calculation, with no LA to receive a lower cash settlement than in 2016-17.

August 2016 update on Early Years Funding:

• From April 2017, DfE plans to introduce a national funding formula for Early Years. This follows the same approach as taken with schools and will move LAs away from receiving their funding at historic spending levels to an objective, national formula basis.
• At the same time, additional resources will be added to increase provider funding rates and help incentivise providers to ensure they are in a position to meet the increased demand for the free entitlement from September 2017 when entitlement increases to 30 hours per week for working families.
• Illustrative financial information issued by the DfE indicates that BFC will receive a 15.3% increase in per child funding next year, compared to a national average 7%, rising to 22% once transitional funding protection ends that has been put in place to ensure those LAs that will lose funding do not face the full reduction straight away.
• Changes will be required to the local Early Years funding formula, in particular to harmonise the amount of base rate funding to be paid to all providers and a review of the top up supplements to be paid, which can account for no more than 10% of total funds, with the existing quality supplement paid in BF no longer to being permitted by the DfE.
• The DfE consultation also included proposals on how funding could be made available to providers to ensure children with SEN could readily access the free entitlement.

The council would be considering these new requirements and expects to undertake funding consultations with schools and Early Years providers over the autumn and spring terms The intention is for the Schools Forum to review the Early Years consultation document at the 8 December meeting, before it is issued to providers.

The Forum NOTED:

• The changed role for LAs in supporting schools, the potential for significant financial implications that could arise, and the requirement to review services that support schools and education related services in order for them to be operating on an affordable cost base.

·         The changes likely to impact on schools, including the introduction of a Schools National Funding Formula, the additional £500m expected to be added to the SNFF to ensure those schools gaining from the changes received an early benefit, the new role of LAs in supporting schools and the expectation of enhanced hourly funding rate payments to be paid to early years providers.