Agenda item

To present final proposals from the Council for the 2023-24 Schools Block and Central Schools Services Block elements of the Schools Budget.

The Forum considered a report which presented final proposals from the Council for the 2023-24 Schools Block (SB) and Central Schools Services Block (CSSB) elements of the Schools Budget. 

This was the final set of proposals as the deadline for informing the DfE was 20 January.  No changes were being presented in terms of initiatives and pressures, but the figures had been updated following the confirmed October 2022 Census. 

The following was highlighted:

·       pupil numbers had showed a steady increase this year, with a larger increase than previous years;

·       there had been a big increase in pupils with additional educational needs characteristics, including children with English as an additional language, children eligible for free school meals, and additional funding allocated to primary schools for low prior attainment scores;

·       the number of schools on the minimum per pupil funding (MPPFL) had decreased significantly from 14 to 6.  When schools were moved from one calculation to another, this could result in relatively low per pupil funding increases; and

·       there was an overall surplus of £0.188m which was larger than the surplus forecast in December.  This had mainly arisen due to one-off gains in funding, meaning that it was a unique situation.

Proposals from the council were intended to allocate as much of the 2023-24 budget surplus to schools as possible without creating further difficulties in balancing the 2024-25 budget which initial, high-level forecasts predicted a potential £0.423m deficit.  This required a method of distribution that did not build in extra funding to the 2024-25 baseline.

As part of the DfE strategy of requiring LAs to mirror the National Funding Formula (NFF), as an authority already achieving this, Bracknell Forest was required to remain within 2.5% of expected factor values.  The only available factor not linked to the baseline was the fixed lump sum allocation and the maximum additional amount that could be allocated to each school was £3,385.28 (a total of £0.101m).  It was proposed that the remaining £0.087 of the surplus would be earmarked into reserves to support the budget deficit expected in 2024-25. 

The Forum welcomed the comprehensive paper.  The Forum queried whether the council could choose not to allocate any of the surplus to schools so that it could all be put into the reserves.  This was an option, but the council’s view was that schools should get some of the money now as there had been significant financial challenges in the current year, as these were expected to continue into 2023-24.  The Forum also questioned whether there was any mechanism for the money to sit within the Council to support schools in a targeted way.  The Council was not permitted to do this as the DfE controlled how funding was distributed to schools, and it had to be done through the formal funding factors with no ability to introduce local deviations. 

Having notified the Forum that he needed to leave the meeting due to another appointment, the Chair withdrew from the meeting.

VICE-CHAIR, ELIZABETH SAVAGE, IN THE CHAIR

RESOLVED to AGREE

1.     In its role as the representative body of schools and other providers of education and childcare, the Forum requests that the Executive Member for Children, Young People and Learning agrees the following for the 2023-24 Schools Budget:

a.     the changes to budgets as set out in Table 1 of the report, in particular:

i.      that the Schools Block DSG be set at £90.985m (columns A and B of line 3);

ii.     that the Central School Services Block be set at £0.855m (column C of line 3);

iii.   the changes to all other budgets that amount to £5.995m (column D of line 18); and

iv.   that in the first instance, the units of resource used in the BF Funding Formula for Schools are set at 100% of the values used by the DfE in the NFF; and

b.     that the resultant surplus funding of £0.188m be applied:

i.      to all schools as an additional fixed lump sum allocation, by the maximum permitted increase of £3,385.28, to allocate £0.101m (paragraph 6.38 of the report); and

ii.     the remaining £0.087m to be added to the centrally managed growth fund for use in supporting the budget deficit expected in 2024-25 (paragraph 6.38 of the report); and

c.     that other Schools Block related grants, including the new Mainstream Schools Additional Grant, be set to the amounts anticipated in 2023-24; and

d.     that the Executive Director: Resources be authorised to submit the DfE pro forma template of the 2023-24 BF Funding Formula for Schools in accordance with the decisions taken at this meeting; and

2.     As decision maker:

a.     that the arrangements in place for the administration of central government grants are appropriate;

b.     the budgets for the Growth Fund be as set out in Annex 1 of the report; and

c.     the budgets to be centrally managed by the council on behalf of schools, be as set out in Annex 2 of the report.