Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence was received from Mellisa Loosemoore (Headteacher) with Honor Beck attending as a substitute representative.

Following completion of the recruitment process undertaken to fill existing vacancies on the Forum, the Chair took the opportunity to formally welcome Ilana Myers as a new Primary (Maintained School) Governor representative.  It was noted that vacancies remained for the following positions, on which a further recruitment process would be undertaken later in the year:

·            Academy Secondary Governor x 2

·            Maintained Primary Governor

·            Maintained Primary Headteacher

·            Maintained Secondary Headteacher

·            Academy Primary Headteacher

None.

None.

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting held on Wednesday 19 June 2024 as a correct record.

It was RESOLVED to approve the minutes of the previous meeting held on Wednesday 19 June 2024 as a correct record.

To consider any actions arising from previous meetings.

None.

This report provides Schools Forum with an update on the projected financial position for the second quarter of the 2024/25 financial year. It also provides an update on schools’ additional in-year grant allocations from the DfE.

Folake Olufeko (Head of Finance, Brent Council) introduced a report, which provided an update on the projected financial position for the second quarter of the 2024-25 financial year.  The position was reported against the budget set in consultation with the Schools Forum and submitted to the Department for Education (DfE) in the Section 251 budget return in June 2024.  It also provided an update on schools’ additional in-year grant allocations from the DfE with Appendix 1 of the report containing a detailed budget breakdown and forecast by funding blocks.  The Forum noted the following key points as part of the update provided:

·            As of the close of the 2023-24 financial year, the cumulative deficit stood at £13.2m. Due to rising demand for High Needs provision, coupled with the pressures on top-up funding allocations, the DSG budget was now projected to end the 2024-25 financial year with a slight increase to the cumulative deficit, forecast at £13.5m.

·            The DSG forecast was reflecting a deficit of £0.3m against grant funds of £235.9m for 2024-25, mainly due to pressures from the High Needs (HN) Block.

·            The overall DSG allocation had decreased by £0.6m, from the position approved by Schools Forum, due to an in-year adjustment by the DfE in July 2024.  The adjustment related to a £0.1m decrease in the HN Block funding for Brent children attending schools in other local authorities and £0.5m decrease in the Early Years Block following the completion of the January 2024 census which saw a reduction in hours of childcare provision compared to the January 2023 census data.  There was a 9.5% decrease in take-up of the two-year free entitlement in Brent and this was reflective of a 7% decrease in take-up nationally.  This decrease was attributed to three factors including falling birth rate in recent years, the transition to universal credit from legacy benefits and income thresholds for the eligibility criteria remaining unchanged whilst average incomes have risen in recent years.

·            In terms of the Schools Block, of the total £274.4m allocated by the DfE to Brent, £149.1m had been recouped and allocated directly to academies.  £1.4m had been transferred to the HNB and £2.3m had been deducted for National Non-Domestic Business Rates to be paid by the DfE directly to the billing authority, leaving £121.6m directly allocated to Brent maintained schools and to fund centrally retained items, including the growth fund.   This block was currently forecast to break even.

·            In terms of the High Needs (HN) this totalled £77m (excluding the proportion allocated to academies) including a £1.4m transfer from the Schools Block.  Place funding of £9.3m for academies had been recouped from the Block and allocated to Special Academy providers with a £0.09m in year adjustment by the DfE in July 2024 to decrease the HN funding for Brent children attending schools in other local authorities.  Although the HN Block allocation had increased by £2.8m in 2024/25 (£6.9m in 2023-24), as in previous years, the number of children with EHCPs had also continued to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

Schools Forum received a report on 19 June 2024 on a proposed banding SEND Resource Allocation System (RAS) to move away from the current hours led system to a needs-led, provision-based approach for mainstream schools and Additional Resource Provisions (ARPs), early years settings and post-16 settings.  It was agreed that consultation would be undertaken with schools and settings in the autumn term on the proposed new approach.

Consultation has been undertaken with mainstream schools and post-16 colleges on a proposed RAS for mainstream schools and post-16.  Further work is being undertaken on application of the RAS for children in ARPs and Early Years. This report therefore sets out proposed changes to the way that Brent allocates resources for children and young people with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) for children aged 0-25 in mainstream schools and post-16 colleges only following consultation.

Shirley Parks, Director, Education, Partnerships and Strategy introduced a report providing an update on the consultation process agreed by the Forum on 19 June 24 proposing a banding SEND Resource Allocation System (RAS) designed to move away from the current hours led system to a needs-led, provision-based approach for mainstream schools and Additional Resource Provisions (ARPs), early years settings and post-16 settings.  Following consultation, the report detailed the proposed changes to the way that Brent would allocate resources for children and young people with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) for children aged 0-25 in mainstream schools and post-16 colleges with the following key points highlighted as part of the update provided:

·            Consultation had been undertaken during the autumn term with mainstream schools and post-16 colleges on the proposed RAS for mainstream schools and post-16 with further work being undertaken on application of the RAS for children in ARPs and Early Years.  This paper therefore sets out. 

·            Currently, Brent allocated financial resources based on the number of hours of one-to-one teaching assistant (TA) support that a child was considered to need by the SEND Advisory Panel, in accordance with their EHCP.  Brent was an outlier in allocating resources this way with the proposed SEND RAS designed to move Brent to a system of allocating resources to children with an EHCP based on an assessment of the child’s level of need, as determined through the use of banding matrices applied to their EHCP at the SEND Advisory Panel.  There was one banding matrix proposed for children aged 5-25 and another for children in early years aged 0-5.  The RAS included 12 areas to support the assessment of the child’s needs with each was scored according to the following ranking system - no additional support; some support; high level of support and exceptional level of support and the scores totalled and corresponding to a funding level.

·            The new bands did not represent in themselves a change to the level of financial resources that children would receive (as detailed in Table 1 of the report) with the proposed banding matrices developed as part of Brent’s engagement with the Department for Education’s (DfE) ‘Delivering better Value’ (DBV) programme and matrices co-produced with members of Brent Parent Carer Forum (BPCF), representatives from Brent early years (EY), primary and secondary providers and relevant professionals within the Inclusion Service (Educational Psychology, Early Years Inclusion and SEND 0-25 teams), as well as the Schools Forum High Needs Block Working Group and the Early Years Working Group.  The only financial changes proposed included – a rounding of amounts attached to each band and the introduction of a higher Band 7 funding intended for children in mainstream school whose EHCP stated that special school would be an appropriate setting.

·            The details provided on the consultation process undertaken (as set out in section 3.2 of the report) and level of feedback provided in response.  In terms of qualitative data, overall respondents had supported the move away from resources being allocated in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

No items were raised for consideration at the meeting.

To note the remainder of the schedule of dates for 2024 - 25 as follows:

·            Monday 27 January 2025 at 6pm via Zoom

·            Thursday 13 February 2025 at 6pm via Zoom

It was noted that the additional meeting scheduled (if required) for Tuesday 10 December 2024 would not need to take place.