Issue - meetings

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Forum on 18 November 2021 be approved as a correct record.

Arising from minute 203, Cherry Hall would report on the proposed funding formula under Item 5 (Initial proposals for the 2022-23 Early Years Block Budget and Funding Formula).

Arising from minute 204, Paul Clark would report on the de-delegation model under Item 6 (2022-23 Budget Proposals for the Schools Budget: Schools and Central School Services Block Elements).

Arising from minute 206, Jenny Baker updated that the High Needs Block (HNB) subgroup had been working on two main projects.  The first was around banding descriptors and this work started in Spring / Summer 2021.  This was supported by a consultant who presented the subgroup with four models.  The subgroup chose to pilot two of those models after refining some of the descriptors.  The pilot involved Garth Hill College, The Rise at Garth Hill College, Owlsmoor Primary School, Jennett’s Park CE Primary School, Kennel Lane School, and Whitegrove Primary School.  After the consultant left, the subgroup took ownership of the project from September and subsequent work identified the Windsor & Maidenhead model as the preferred option.  It was felt that this gave a better clarity and understanding of the descriptors of the needs of the children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) within the Borough, what provision might entail for a child with those needs, and the type of placement that the child may need.  This was presented by KLS staff to Nichola Jones and other members of the SEN Service last month, discussing how the points could transfer to the different scales within that model.  This was due to come back to the subgroup for further discussion but was postponed due to the Ofsted SEND inspection.  The subgroup decided from an early stage that the descriptors should not have any monetary value attached to them as it should be about the needs of the child.  The second piece of work was to review the Service Level Agreements (SLAs), and Jenny Baker believed that those were all agreed and completed, and discussions were now taking place with the individual schools.  Jenny Baker added that, at the start of the academic year, the terms of reference were updated to ensure it was clear that the key aim of the subgroup was to save money and reduce the deficit of the HNB.