Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Geraldine Chadwick (Vice Chair), Andy Prindiville, John Roche and Jude Enright.

None.

None.

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting held on 1 March 2022 as a correct record.

It was RESOLVED to approve the minutes of the previous meeting held on 1^st March 2022 as a correct record.

To consider any actions arising from previous meetings.

None.

The report sets out the final Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) outturn against the budget set for 2021/22 and provides detail on the in-year 2021/22 deficit of £4.6m. It also seeks to provide an update on the government response to the consultation on reforms to the National Funding Formula.

Olufunke Adediran, Head of Finance at Brent Council, introduced the report that detailed the final Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) outturn against the budget set for 2021/22 and updated the Forum on the in-year 2021/22 deficit of £4.6m. Additionally, the report advised the Forum on the government response to the consultation on reforms to the National Funding Formula.

Schools Forum were asked to note the contents of the report with the following key points shared:

·                The Forum was advised that the DSG budget had a final in year deficit of £4.6m in 2021/22. The Forum heard that this was a reduction from the previously forecast position of a £5.4m in year deficit due to a reduction in the pressures of the Early Years Block and an increased underspend in the Schools Block.

·                The current cumulative deficit against the DSG since 2019/20 now totalled £15.1m. In line with The School and Early Years Finance (England) Regulations 2021 the DSG deficit balance would be held within the local authority’s overall DSG and carried forward to be recovered from future years’ funding and/or recovery plans agreed with the Department for Education (DfE).

·                The Forum heard that the funding pressures within the High Needs Block remained driven by the increased number of children with EHCPs. It was noted that although this was a historic and sustained pressure, there was only a 6% increase of EHCP’s in Brent between January 2021 and January 2022 compared to 15% the previous year, which demonstrated that the rate of growth was slowing as a result of management plan actions to manage demand, including a revised EHCP assessment planning and review process introduced in April 2021. The Forum’s attention was drawn to Table 2 of the report that provided a comparative breakdown of the Brent year on year % increases in EHCPs versus the National increases. Additionally, Table 3 of the report illustrated to the Forum the breakdown of spending within the High Needs Block.

·                The Forum was advised that the total £5.3m deficit in the High Needs Block was £0.9m lower than the £6.2m HN deficit reported in 2020/21, mainly due to a reduction in the pressures against the Post 16 top-up funding which had seen a £1.4m overspend in 2020/21, compared to an underspend of £0.1m in 2021/22.

·                The Early Years Block carried forward a small deficit of £41k due to a budget reduction from £23.3m to £22.7m following a clawback of funding by the DFE. Brent had not been significantly affected by the clawback as the impact had been mitigated by underspends against the 3 and 4 year old nursery education funding allocation.

·                 The Forum heard that the Early Years Block funding allocation was usually calculated based on the prior year’s January census data, adjustments would then subsequently be made throughout the year with funding adjusted to reflect significant increase/decreases in pupil numbers.

·                It was noted that the DFE had made changes to the way funding was allocated for the 2021/22 financial year that included  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

The report details the changes to be implemented to the Scheme for Financing Schools and the Schools Financial Regulations for the financial year 2022/23.

Olufunke Adediran, Head of Finance, introduced the report that detailed the changes to be implemented to the Scheme for Financing Schools and the Schools Financial Regulations for the financial year 2022/23. In sharing the report the Forum were advised that all changes applied in the revision were in line with the April 2022 Department for Education’s Scheme for Financing Local Authority Maintained Schools – Statutory Guidance issued to Local Authorities, changes to the Local Authority’s own regulations, the EU Public Procurement Regulations and all the relevant regulations. The Forum’s attention was drawn to Appendix B of the report that reflected the changes to The Scheme for Financing Schools for 2022-23 and Appendix D, which reflected The Schools Financial Regulations for 2022-23

The Chair thanked officers for their report and invited members of the Schools Forum to share any comments or questions they may have. As no queries were raised the Schools Forum RESOLVED –

(1)      To approve the amendments to the Scheme for Financing Schools 2022/23.

(2)      To note the amendments made to the Schools Financial Regulations 2022/23.

No issues were raised under this item for consideration at the meeting.

The meeting closed at 6:30 pm