Agenda item

To receive and consider a report containing an unpdate on the 2018/19 High Needs Block financial position.

Jim Leviers presented the 2018/19 High Needs Block (HNB) update.  He stated that the anticipated overspend in the HNB was likely to increase rather than decrease in the future, and he pointed out that there was no immediate solution to the current situation. 

Jim Leviers informed that in Wokingham there were:

·           867 young people with an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) whose needs varied, of which 750 had significant needs;

·           Of these 867 young people, 340 were placed in special schools;

·           Of the 340 pupils in special schools, 133 were placed outside of the Borough in specialist places (this number had gone up every year).

Jim Leviers stated that the number of young people coming into the system was increasing and the Local Authority had failed to address the anticipated increase in demand. 

Jim Leviers stated that this was a national issue and that many other local authorities faced similar challenges in relation to HNB deficit.  There had been a national increase in the production of EHCP of 35% since the introduction of the Families Act 2014.  The national HNB deficit would exceed 250 million this year.  The government had indicated that they would be looking to address this deficit, however they were asking Local Authorities to provide details of plans to tackle the issues.

Jim Leviers stated that there was an indication that the home to school transport budget in Wokingham would be overspent by £600k by the end of this financial year.

Jim Leviers stated that some ideas had already been identified by senior officers to start to address the HNB deficit, mainly around increasing the number of specialist places within the Borough. 

It had been proposed that Addington School be expanded by approximately 50 places.  However, this was time lagged and the impact of the expansion would not be seen until the 2020 financial year.

Foundry College, although not specialising in High Needs, had a number of High Needs pupils, therefore the Local Authority was also proposing to expand Foundry College by approximately 30-40 places.  This was pending  planning application and refurbishment works, and would impact on the 2020 financial year.

Jim Leviers stated that another issue in relation to local provision was that Northern House School, which had converted to academy status 18 months ago, had recently undergone an Ofsted inspection and the resulting report was very damming.  This represented a challenge for the Local Authority and a huge problem for the children and education in Wokingham. 

Jim Leviers reported that out of the 72 places available in Northern House, Wokingham used approximately 30 places at any one time.  Removing these children would potentially cost 2-3 million, therefore, given the current financial situation, it was not viable.  As a consequence of that, a decision had been made at senior level not to place any new children in the Northern House School until such a time as the Local Authority was satisfied that the children would be safe there.

Jim Leviers stated that the Regional Schools Commissioner was considering whether to seek out a different sponsor for the school.  Jim reported that the Local Authority had had conversations with the new headteacher, who was already taking some positive steps towards improvement.

Jim Leviers stated that there was a service level agreement between the Local Authority and Northern House which would expire on 31 December, and this needed to be re-negotiated.  It had been agreed to retain the status quo until March 2019, under a new service level agreement in which the Local Authority would insert a number of performance measures to hold the school to account.  Jim explained that the Local Authority did not want to risk the sponsors walking away as this would increase the pressure on the HNB.

Jim Leviers stated that previous agreements with the Northern House had been generous to the school, he assumed this was because there had been a need for places at the school.  This agreement needed to be re-thought through and he was going to be working on it.

Jim Leviers stated that the conclusion that came out of the Resource Places Review was that most schools were under resourced, in the region of around £100k per school, and would need more funding which would have to come out of HNB.  There was also a recognition that unless local schools could provide places, the costs to HNB would continue to go up.

Jim Leviers stated that this area was much neglected in education and local authority engagement, as this should have been tackled over the last three years and it was important to do something about it now.

Jim Leviers informed that the Addington expansion report was going to be submitted to the Executive for formal approval in January, and Foundry College expansion was being progressed.

Jim Leviers stated that 0-25 Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Strategy was in the process of being updated and would soon go out to consultation with schools and key partners. 

During the discussion of the item the following comments were made:

·           Lynn Samuel stated that the Local Authority was waiting for confirmation from central government on what the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) was going to be, so the HNB Block Budget for 19/20 was not yet finalised;

·           Ginny Rhodes felt burdened about the impact the HNB deficit was having on individual children’s education.  She worried that the financial situation was influencing panels decisions in relation to awarding EHCPs;

·           Members recognised that it was positive to see some strategic development in the right direction, however, it was worrying that the Budget would continue to increase;

·           Jim Leviers stated that local authorities could not continue to pick up the increased cost of HNB caused by the 2014 legislation, he believed the government would have to help local authorities;

·           Coral Miller stated that all local authorities in the south were working together and bidding the government for more funding;

·           Paul Doherty stated that as well as working collectively with other local authorities, Wokingham would be asking for a separate meeting with the DfE, specially taking into account the fact that Wokingham was the worse funded local authority in the country; 

·           In response to a question Lynne Samuel stated that the Local Authority had already started discussions with the DfE at a recent meeting;

·           Jim Leviers informed that an application had been made to the DfE to set up a new free school;

·           Paul Miller stated that a HNB Task and Finish Group had been set to look in more detail at possible solutions to the HNB deficit;

·           Councillor Younis stated that the first meeting had taken place and they were in the process of setting up priorities, dates for future meetings were being identified;

·           In response to a question Jim Leviers stated that Council leaders and elected Members were acutely aware of the current situation;

·           In response to a question Coral Miller stated that the Local Authority had an obligation to submit a balanced Budget to the DfE;

·           The Chairman suggested that officers should concentrate on working out a ‘real’ budget;

·           In response to a question Jim Leviers stated that the decision to overspend was for the Local Authority to make.

The Chairman thanked officers for the report, which had provided transparency and enabled a better understanding of the challenges faced by the Local Authority in relation to the HNB deficit.

In response to a question Jim Leviers stated that he had arrived in Wokingham to cover the post of Children’s Services Director, which Carol Cammiss had now been appointed to permanently.  He had then covered the post of Assistant Director for Education, which now Paul Doherty had been appointed to permanently.

Carol Cammiss, Children Services’ Director stated that there was a serious commitment within the senior leadership team to get it right and to be more transparent.  She stated that the team wanted to work together with Schools Forum and asked members to contact her or Paul Doherty if any clarification was needed.

RESOLVED That the report be noted.