Agenda and minutes

To elect a Chairman for the 2023/24 academic year.

Brian Prebble was elected Chairman for the 2023/24 academic year.

To elect a Vice-Chairman for the 2023/24 academic year.

Debra Briault was elected Vice-Chairman for the 2023/24 academic year.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were submitted from Jenny Comber, Phil Sherwood and Liz Woodards.

To confirm the Minutes of the Meeting held on 12 July 2023.

The Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 12 July 2023 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

Matters arising

The Chairman asked if Ian Morgan had been contacted about Early Years providers representation in the Borough Education Partnership (BEP).  Ming Zhang, Assistant Director for Education and SEND would follow this up outside of the meeting.

To receive any declarations of interest.

There were no declarations of interest.

To receive the Matters Arising Update

This item was covered during the discussions of other items in the agenda.

To receive and consider the Schools Forum Membership Review 2023 report.

This item was presented by Luciane Bowker, Democratic and Electoral Services Specialist and Brian Prebble, the Chairman.

An analysis of the number of pupils per schools and the types of schools had been undertaken, which showed that there had been an increase in the number of academy schools.

Schools Forum’s membership should reflect the makeup of schools in the borough.  As such, it was proposed that the number of maintained primary schools’ representatives be reduced to three and that the number of primary academies representatives be increased by three.

It was generally agreed that the total number of 23 members should be retained and there were no other changes being proposed.  It was highlighted that Schools Forum lacked a governor representative.  Colleagues were urged to make an effort to approach governors with relevant expertise to join Schools Forum.

The Chairman welcomed the new members to Schools Forum, Nicky Taylor-Dickens, Jen Comber and Andy Hinchcliffe.  He emphasised the need to recruit a governor representative to Schools Forum.

In relation to academies representation, Councillor Pittock suggested that there should be no over representation by one particular trust, there should be a variety of trusts with representation in Schools Forum.

Shirley Austin agreed with Councillor Pittock’s suggestion and also asked that the name of the trust members represent be included in the membership list for clarity.

Upon being put to the vote, members voted unanimously in favour of the new structure.

In relation to the Task and Finish Groups membership, the Chairman asked if members were willing to continue their participation.  Those members that were present confirmed that they were willing to continue to work in the Task and Finish Groups.  Members of the Early Years Task and Finish Group were not present and would be contacted to confirm their participation outside of the meeting.

In response to a question, it was clarified that the membership structure which was being adopted would continue for the entirety of the 2023/24 academic year.

RESOLVED That:

1)     The new structure, as described in the report be adopted for the 2023/24 academic year;

2)     Academy members will have the name of the trust they represent displayed in the membership list;

3)     The membership of the various Task and Finish Groups will be retained as per the previous year; and

4)     The Early Years Task and Finish Group members would be contacted to ascertain their participation in this year’s work programme.

To receive and consider the 2023/24 Revenue Monitoring report.

Katherine Vernon, Schools Finance Manager presented the 2023/24 Revenue Monitoring report.  She introduced Al Moore, Finance Business Partner who would be working with schools’ finance going forward.

Since the last report there had been an increase of £2m in the deficit, this was a movement caused by the High Needs Block (HNB).  The reasons for the increase were outlined in the report. 

Of note was the number of alternative provision for pupils still in mainstream schools who still required a special school place.  There was an increase in the number of pupils that had to be placed in out of borough provisions and independent schools and two new expensive (Education Otherwise Than at School) EOTAS packages.  In addition, the income received by the DfE was reduced due to the import/export adjustment. 

The report also highted risks and opportunities, included in the Safety Valve programme.  It was positive to note that the new Oaktree School had now opened and it had taken 25 Wokingham children, avoiding the need to send them to out of borough provisions.  Also, the new Addington satellite school was due to open after the October half term and two new SEND schools were being planned to open in 2026.  All those measures would increase local special school capacity.

In relation to the Early Years Block, the government had increased the funding by £0.44 for 3-4 year olds and by £2.59 for 2 year olds from September 2023.  100% of this additional funding will be passed to settings.

The clawback in the Early Years provider reserve fund had been much less than anticipated, and the difference would be passed on to settings this term.

There had been no variances in the Schools Block and Central Services Block.

Councillor Bray, Executive Member for Children’s Services highlighted the fact that there was indication from the government that the HNB deficit would have to addressed in three years (despite the fact that this principle had not been applied in previous years).  This was a difficult challenge, and one that had to be managed by schools and the Council together.

RESOLVED That the 2023/24 Revenue Monitoring report be noted.     

To receive and consider the 2024/25 DSG Budget Update report.

The 2024/25 Designated Schools Grant (DSG) Update report was presented by Katherine Vernon.

The DfE advised Wokingham Borough Council at the end of July 2023 what the primary and secondary units of funding for 2024/25 would be.  The service was working on models of funding with this information.

There was a requirement to move closer to the National Funding Formula (NFF), as such there was less scope to move the budget locally to support schools.  For example, in the past the lump sum had been kept artificially hight to support smaller schools, and this was become more difficult.

The report showed a comparison of the allocation for last year's with the next year.  There had been an increase in the allocation for all blocks.

Carole Simpson asked for information about the recent reports in the media that had said that the government had produced wrong numbers to local authorities.

Katherine Vernon explained that from information received to date that it was the Minimum Per Pupil Funding that had gone down, not the other numbers as reported in the media.  The tables contained in report (page 45 of the agenda) had been produced before this announcement.  A new tool had been received to calculate the difference, it was anticipated that there would be a variance of 1% up or down for different schools.

Derren Gray asked if it was the least funded schools, those on the Minimum Funding Guarantee (MFG) that would be affected the most by the drop in the Minimum Per Pupil Funding?  Katherine Vernon confirmed that this was the case, however she pointed out that they would be affected by only 1% or less.

Carole Simpson expressed concern that 1% was a large number for a school already running on a deficit budget.  Katherine Vernon explained that everyone would still see an increase of 5% overall on average (rather than 6%).  Carole Simpson stated that although this was an increase, costs had gone up.

Councillor Bray clarified that this was 1% of the increase, not the overall amount.

The Task and Finish Group had been working on models which assumed:

·           Keeping the MFG at maximum allowable of 0.5%

·           Not applying caps on gains, as there is no cap in the NFF

·           The Free School Meals factor could be increased to £300

There results of the consultation were not yet ready for sharing, but there was an overall 80% agreement to the principles applied with the formula.

The disapplication request for the all-through school had to be submitted every year, and this would be actioned again this year.

As per Schools Forum request, Officers were looking at ways to help schools with falling roll numbers.  This would be discussed with the Task and Finish Group and the findings would be presented to the December meeting.

Katherine Vernon asked schools to return the results of the October census as soon as possible to enable Officers to calculate the income for next year.

From September 2024 the Early Year’s free entitlement  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

To receive and consider the DSG Management Plan / Safety Valve Update.

Ming Zhang presented the DSG Management Plan / Safety Valve Update report.

During the presentation he made the following points:

·           A two stage survey with schools had been carried out about the proposal to transfer 1% from the Schools Block to the HNB;

·           The assumption of this transfer was part of the Safety Valve agreement with the DfE;

·           There was a risk that the DfE may not continue its support with the Safety Valve programme, should this transfer not be agreed;

·           There had not been a high number of responses received from the survey, however the results showed that schools were concerned about the potential negative effect of a 1% transfer in their own finances;

·           The vast majority of secondary schools were in favour of the 1% transfer, but the majority of primary schools were against it;

·           Schools had expressed that they understood the pressures and the reason for the request but were concerned about their financial situation.  They asked that alternative solutions be sought;

·           The Safety Vave programme had been agreed by the DfE with the assumption that there would be a 1% transfer from the Schools Block to the HNB, and a contribution from the Council.  The DfE reviewed the programme every three months and they could withdraw from the agreement if the 1% transfer was not agreed;

·           If the HNB deficit was not eliminated, through joint effort, it could escalate to £56 in the next five years, and the negative consequences to all involved would be enormous;

·           A pragmatic solution needed to be found, and this challenge was to be addressed in partnership with schools, the local authority and health;

·           In view of the fact that schools were unlikely to agree to a 1% block transfer, the possibility of reaching a compromise with a smaller contribution was being considered.

Jonathan Wilding, Safety Valve/SEND Consultant explained that since the publication of the agenda, conversations with colleagues had taken place which indicated that Schools Forum was unlikely to vote against the schools’ consultation survey results.  It was now understood that this option was not acceptable to schools, mainly because of affordability issues.

Taking into account the above mentioned issues, the local authority was reviewing the proposal and would be asking for 0.5% Schools Block transfer.  It was believed that a bit more dialogue with schools was needed to secure schools’ support before a decision could be made.  It was suggested that an extraordinary Schools Forum meeting be set up in early November to decide this matter.

Councillor Bray explained that the local authority was asking for 1% transfer because that was the expectation placed on the local authority by the DfE (not because the local authority thought that schools could afford it).  The Safety Valve programme included a £28m contribution from Council tax, £20m from the DfE to write off debt (this £20m could only be used to write off debt) and the 1% transfer from the Schools Block for the next five years.

Councillor Bray expressed frustration that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

To receive and consider the Schools Forum Forward Plan 2023/24.

The Schools Forum Forward Plan of work for 2023/24 was noted.