Agenda item

To update the Schools Forum on the DSG management plan and DVB Programme.

Olufunke Adediran (Head of Finance, Brent Council) introduced the report providing an update on progress to date against the DSG Management Plan and an update on Brent’s participation in the Department for Education's (DfE) Delivering Better Value (DBV) in Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) programme, aimed at supporting a reduction in expenditure against the High Needs Block of the Dedicated Schools’ Grant (DSG).  The Forum noted the following key points as part of the update provided:

·             In Brent, the DSG had carried a deficit balance since 2019-20 with the cumulative balance caried forward from 2022/23 being £13.8m.  With the current in year forecast deficit of £0.8m, it was estimated that this would increase the overall deficit to £14.6m.  It was anticipated that the in-year position was likely to worsen and the deficit against the High Needs Block could be in the region of £1.5m.

·             This pressure had arisen within the High Needs Block (HNB) and the main cost driver of this deficit was the rising number of children with Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) with a 5% increase noted in December 2023.  Assessments were ongoing and it was likely that there would be a further increase by the end of the financial year.

·             The main pressures in the forecast related to a £1m pressure against in-borough special schools’ (including Academies) top up funding due to an increased number of pupils with special educational needs being placed within the borough.  The forecast reflected the cost of 30 additional children.

·             The existing DSG Deficit Management Plan, which included longer-term actions to mitigate the deficit, had been divided into 3 parts: managing demand, improving sufficiency of local places and financial management adjustments, which as of Q3 equated to a cost avoidance of around £2m.  In addition, to mitigating the pressures against the HNB, a 0.5% transfer from the Schools Block of £1.3m had been agreed by Schools Forum and transferred to the HNB.  An update on the three themes was as follows:

Ø   In regards to managing demand, a cost was avoided of £0.56m.  This involved ceasing EHC Plans following appropriate assessment, with 33 plans ceased this far.  Separately, cost avoidance had been realised as a result of the introduction of the Graduated Approach to SEND across schools and settings, aimed at the early identification of children’s needs and delivery of appropriate support with training provided to improve the capacity of schools to meet pupils needs at an earlier stage.

Ø   In regards to improving sufficiency of local places, this theme was focused on cost avoidance by reducing the number of children and young people who were placed out of borough or in independent special schools at a higher cost than local provision.  This year 34 in-borough places had been created that would otherwise have resulted in an out of borough placement, enabling the avoidance of c£1m.

Ø   The final theme of financial management workstream involved addressing staffing efficiencies, including administrative charges to other local authorities for out of borough pupils in Brent and a review of commissioning arrangements that had avoided projected costs of £0.482m.

·             Documents submitted as part of the DfE’s DBV programme included the breakdown of planned savings to mitigate the cost pressures on the DSG High Needs Block, as shown in Appendix 1.  This showed Brent‘s existing management plan and DVB opportunities.

·             In the Autumn 2023, the DfE communicated to all DBV authorities a requirement to produce revised DSG deficit management plans, as shown in Appendix 2.  The required template for submission and accompanying guidance for local authorities was intended to help local authorities develop further evidence-based and strategic plans covering the provision available for children and young people with SEND.  The DfE’s expectation is that local authorities’ management plans will focus on how they will bring in-year spending in line with in-year resources.

·             In terms of the submission, the summary showed the trend of EHCP’s by age group, by primary need and by provision type, providing the local authority with intelligence needed to understand pressures and reduce in those areas moving forward.  The financial section demonstrated what the pressures would be if the costs were to continue as they were and without mitigation being put in place.  To support the DVD Programme four main workstreams have been developed and quarterly submissions are made to the DfE with regards to progress. The expectation was that by 2026/27 the actions from the workstreams as a result of the investment from the DfE should lead to cost avoidance of c£2.1m as detailed in Appendix 1 of the report.

·             The assumptions included in the Management Plan included - HNB funding for the next few years seeing growth of 3% from 2024/25 onwards; the rate of growth for demand for EHCPs assuming an increase of 7% in 2024/25 with the inflationary amount applied being the CPI rate as at November 2023 of 3.9% and cost avoidance as a result of the mitigating factors totalling £9.4m by 2026-27.

The Forum also received an update (in relation to Action Point 90 from the previous meetings) from Shirley Parks, Director, Education, Partnerships and Strategy (Brent Council) on the DBV in SEND Programme.  The following key points were highlighted:

·             As part of the programme for Brent, four main workstreams - Intervention First, Send Assurance, Workforce and Inclusive Environment and Commissioning had been developed and quarterly submissions were made to the DfE.  The following update on each workstream were provided:

Ø   Intervention First: The DBV funding had enabled a new early intervention model to be piloted working with the Harlesden cluster of schools.  A team based at Newfield Primary School, was being created to focus on identifying CYP aged 4-7 for a targeted intervention first programme over 12 weeks with the aim of supporting 96 children over the academic year.  It would be assessed whether early intervention addressed the needs of the children without the need of a EHCP or whether it identified the need for one more swiftly.  As of December 2023, schools had been using these to make referrals and 8 referrals had been received from schools since December.  Triage and direct work had now begun with children, families and schools.  Intervention First provision had been progressing and was planned to be fully open in early March.

Ø   A new team had been put together to address the SEND Assurance and this workstream focussed on the audit of EHCPs and accompanying records of plans for children aged under 7 that include support 26 hours and above and post-16 plans that include support of 19.5 hours and above to assess if this level of support was needed.  So far, 300 cases had been audited for under 7s across Brent and all post-16 plans for young people in mainstream schools (106 in total).  The team had identified pupils for whom allocated support funding could be reduced.

Ø   The Workforce and inclusive environments workstream focused on ensuring schools had the relevant training and workforce experience to support the wide range of needs of children and young people at SEN Support.  To enable this, capital funding had been set aside to support environmental adaptations that would make more school environments inclusive.

Ø   The last workstream around Commissioning was reviewing the High Needs Block contribution to the Early Years Inclusion fund to ensure that the funding was used in an effective manner.  A banding review was underway as well as an assessment on the support provided at different levels and how commissioning was carried out, particularly in speech and language and communication needs.  Collaborative work between Public Health, health professionals and parents was also due to be evaluated.

·             All workstreams were progressing well with a Project Board created to monitor and oversee progress, which included head teacher representation.

·             The DfE had asked local authorities to identify areas where efficiencies could be achieved.  An area identified was the commissioning of post-16 places and further options were being considered.  The other area was the cost around the PRU provisions.

·             Further work was also in the process of being undertaken to review the capital and commissioning needs to develop any possible capital changes, use of additional sites or use of capacity in primary provision to deliver more locally.

The Chair thanked officers for their clear and detailed report and asked the Forum if they had any questions in relation to the information provided and the following was raised:

·             Olufunke Adediran highlighted that the statutory override in place to carry forward a deficit balance against the DSG was due to end by 2025/26, which could possibly put a significant risk against the Council’s General Fund reserves.

·             The Chair stated that SEND deficits were an issue faced by most local authorities.  The statutory override currently ran up to March 2026.  Local authorities were pressing for the deficit to be written off and for more clarity around the matter.

·             The Forum noted that the review of commissioning post-16 places was anticipated to be completed within the next six months and the review of commissioning of PRU provision was set to be completed by around September with the Forum to be kept updated on progress.

As no further questions or comments were raised the Forum RESOLVED to note the updated Management Plan and update on the DBV in SEND programme.