Agenda item

The Schools Forum received a report from Andrew Ward, Head of Finance – CYP confirming the final schools funding formula allocations as well as the split site funding allocations against the stipulated Brent criteria.

In considering the report and during the discussion, the following key points were noted:

Ø  In January 2020, Schools Forum approved the schools funding formula allocations. This followed a consultation with schools on changes to the funding formula in order to address financial pressures caused by rising costs, pupil mobility, and to provide funding to support rising pupil rolls in secondary schools.

Ø  Following submission to the DfE for compliance checks an error was identified with the pupil numbers included in the funding formula. Finance officers had corrected the error by adjusting the calculations to fit within the available funding whilst continuing to adhere to the same principles agreed for the 2020/21 funding formula.

Ø  Subsequent to the January Schools Forum meeting, some adjustments were necessary to the funding formula to correct errors in the entered pupil numbers. The revised school level allocations were shown in Appendix 1 of the report.

Ø  Once the DfE checks on this were complete, the school level allocations would be published for all schools by the end of February (in addition to the school level High Needs Block allocations and Early Years Block estimates).

Ø  Table 1 of the report titled ‘2020/21 Funding Formula Changes’ showed the overall value of the changes made since the January Schools Forum.

Ø  Table 2 of the report detailed the assessment of schools against split site Funding Criteria.

Ø  Table 3 of the report provided details about split site funding allocations for 2020/21.

Ø  Appendix 1 of the report provided School Level Allocations for 2020-21.

Ø  Appendix 2 highlighted the 2020-21 Funding Formula Rates with Pupil Funding Factors.

Ø  More money was now being given to the Shires and North East including places like Sussex – further details and data was available on the DfE’s website.

Ø  A Secondary Headteacher highlighted that there was a big drop of £728,000 in the secondary finding overall. He felt that this was a huge adjustment not a minor one and was not highlighted in the report analysis. He added that every single Secondary school in Brent was affected. It was commented that this could be due to minimum funding guarantee (MFG). The Secondary Headteacher further enquired whether this was mentioned in January papers as he would not have voted for the budget in January had he known about this. The Chair asked for clarity and more analysis based on why and how things changed between January and February reports, particularly how it affected the primary and secondary schools.

Ø  Another Headteacher reiterated to a previous request whether the upper cap should be considered for split-site funding.

Ø  The Chair added that the upper cap could not randomly be applied without looking at the whole process and split site funding criteria.

Ø  The Leader of the Council, Councillor M Butt, supported the request to review the overall split-site funding arrangements with more specific and clearer criteria. The Schools Forum agreed to receive a split-site review report at the June 2020 meeting. The review report would take into account views by the Headteachers.

RESOLVED:

1.Schools Forum recommends the final schools mainstream funding formula for 2020/21.

2.The Schools Forum to receive a split-site review report at the June 2020 meeting.

3.The Schools Forum to establish a Working Group to review the issue of split-site funding allocation.

          (Action 62: Dena Aly/Olufunke Adediran)