Agenda item

This report sets out the final Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) outturn against the budget set for 2022/23 and provides detail on the in-year 2022/23 surplus of £1.3m.

Olufunke Adediran, Head of Finance at Brent Council, introduced the report that set out the final Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) outturn against the budget set for 2022/23 and provided detail on the in-year 2022/23 surplus of £1.3m.

The Forum noted the following key points as part of the update provided:

·                The DSG outturn was in its most advantageous position since the deficit started in 2019/20 with an in-year surplus of £1.3m in 2022/23.

·                The in year surplus was mainly driven by a £1m underspend against the Early Years Block due to the Department of Education’s (DfE) in-year adjustment and a £0.3m surplus against the High Needs Block (HNB).

·                The cumulative DSG deficit carried forward from 2021/22 was £15.1m. This had reduced to £13.8m at the end of 22/23, however the Forum was advised that a risk remained that the EY Block surplus could be clawed back by the DfE in 23/24, dependant on the final allocations based on the January 2023 census data.

·                The High Needs Block (HNB) forecast reported at Schools Forum in February 2023 had assumed an overspend position of £2.8m which was a prudent position based on trends as final pupil numbers were still outstanding. However, the actual outturn position reflected an improved position of a £0.3m surplus.

·                The Forum’s attention was drawn to Section 6.3, Table 2 of the report that detailed the variances against the HNB budget for 2022/23 and highlighted the areas of significance that had supported the improved budget position, this included £1.2m of recoupment income from other local authorities that had placed children in Brent schools.

·                The successful bid for £1m of funding from the DfE programme – Delivering Better Value (DBV) in SEND was confirmed to be received over the next two financial years 23/34 and 24/25. The Forum was advised that the funding could not be used to address the historic deficit but was ringfenced for the delivery of the agreed SEND support strategies agreed as part of the programme which would over time support improved efficiencies and reduce costs in the long term.

·                The final outturn for the Central Block indicated an underspend of £0.2m, that was mainly attributed to the reduced reliance on temporary school staff.

·                The Forum’s attention was drawn to Section 10, Table 3 that summarised School’s balances over the past 3 years and highlighted that overall school balances had reduced by £1.9m with 19 maintained schools increasing their reserves balances and 37 maintained schools showing a decrease in their balance.

·                The decrease in balances was partly due to the impact of falling rolls, where some Primary schools had seen reduced funding.

·                It was expected that the funding and expenditure pressures within Brent schools would continue in to 23/24, with the requirement that many schools would need to take further actions to balance their budgets.

·                The Forum was reminded that the statutory override for the DSG budget had been extended by the DfE until 2025/26, there remained a risk that any deficit left after this period would need to be funded by the Council.

The Forum was then updated on the following Action points from previous meetings:

Action Point 84:

The Forum was advised in relation to the previous request to receive further information on the tracking of savings made through schools being able to draw down funds from the Local Authority’s redundancy reserves, that in the last academic year three schools had made in year support requests for funding.  Two of these requests were not approved as the school had surplus reserve balances. One school accessed the funding, this had resulted in a £133k saving for the school.

Action Point 85:

In relation to the previous request to receive further data on the distribution of additional funding awarded by the Early Years Panel, the Forum was advised that 70 settings were supported in the 22/23 academic year.  23 of these were School Nurseries and 47 of these were PVI’s.

In concluding the discussion, the Chair asked the Forum if they had any questions or comments on the report with the following points discussed:

·                The Forum thanked officers for responding to the previously identified Action points, however queried if there was a list of the schools that had received the Early Years additional support funding and whether the criteria that was used by the Early Years Panel in making their decision to award funding had been published. In response the Forum was advised that the Panel Decision making criteria would be circulated to Forum members as an action point.

·                The Forum was advised that their contributions would be welcomed in the development of the revised Early Years Panel funding criteria, that was due for review over the next year.

·                Clarification was provided that officers acknowledged the importance of ensuring that data was kept up to date for the Brent children placed in other Local Authorities’ and the out of borough children placed in Brent schools so that budgets accurately reflected the expected income and expenditure to limit inaccuracies on budget forecasts.

The Chair thanked members and officers for their contributions to the discussion on the report and the Forum RESOLVED to note the contents of the report and the following Action Point to be taken forward:

Action Point 89:

Details of the Early Years Panel funding decision making criteria to be shared with Forum members.