Agenda item

The DSG Management Plan and Safety Valve Update was presented by Jonathan Wilding, Safety Valve and SEND Consultant.

Currently, there was a consultation with schools about priorities and to update on the progress of the programme to address priorities.  This consultation would end on 28 July, and the result of this consultation would be used to refresh plans.  Schools would then be consulted again with new proposals and budgeting matters.  The results of this second consultation would be presented to Schools Forum in October.

Schools would be asked to agree to a 1% transfer from the Schools Block to the HNB.  It was recognised that this was a higher amount than previously asked for, the broad financial situation justified such a request.  This money was not intended to pay for the HNB deficit, it was to fund investment in schools and provision of services which would benefit schools.

It was proposed that the HNB deficit would be paid for by the Safety Valve fund and the Council tax levy.

Following discussions with secondary schools, the local authority was asked to produce a model to mitigate the disproportionate negative effect of the 1% transfer to smaller schools.  Schools Forum was being asked to decide if such a model should be developed, in light of the fact that it would take a considerable amount of Officers’ time and legal advice to produce it.

In response to a question, Jonathan Wilding stated that having a proposed model to mitigate the impact on smaller schools would potentially help smaller schools to agree to the proposal.

Corina Gillard stated that schools would want to know more details about how the money would be used.  In her opinion, schools would be more likely to support the transfer if the proposal contained specific information about how the money would be invested.

Jonathan Wilding stated that the consultation had an accompanying document which contained detailed information about the investment.  He re-assured Schools Forum that there were many new and innovative initiatives to fill the gaps, and the project was moving at rapid pace.

Sara Attra informed that she had had technical difficulties in accessing the SEND consultation, she worried that other headteachers may have the same problem and may not be able to read the documents attached to it.  Jonathan Wilding agreed to look into this.

Ming Zhang emphasized that it was important to work with schools and identify what the schools’ priorities were, and both he and the officers had reached out to individual school leaders to inform the priorities that were being presented to Schools Forum today.  The block transfer would be used to spend in these priorities areas as resources being invested back to schools.

Councillor Bray, Executive Member for Children’s Services thanked Ming Zhang and Jonathan Wilding for their efforts in engaging with schools.  She recognised that in the past schools had not been in favour of transferring 0.5% of the Schools Block to the HNB, it is possible that it had not been properly explained to schools what the money was for.  This time, this transfer was crucial to achieve the outcomes set out by the Deficit Management Plan.  She added that the smaller schools would benefit the most.

Councillor Bray explained that it was extremely important to work together to tackle the HNB deficit.  If this transfer was not agreed, the DfE would not give Wokingham any more money towards the Safety Valve and the plan would fail, and therefore everyone would fail.  She accepted that this decision would be difficult for some schools as budgets were tight.  However, there were real risks if the plan failed.  She offered to speak to any headteachers who needed more information to understand the situation.

Derren Gray asked what was the definition of ‘small’ school?  Jonathan Wilding explained that this had not been defined, he believed that the fairest way to differentiate would be by numbers on roll.  The system did not currently allow for this differentiation, the local authority would have to apply for disapplication, and the methodology was still to be worked out.

Liz Woodward stated that 85% of her school’s budget was to fund teachers’ salaries.  She asked what would happen if schools agreed to the 1% transfer and subsequently there were increases in salaries and schools went into deficit as a result?  What support would there be for schools if salary raises were not funded?

Katherine Vernon explained that the local authority passed all the funding received to schools.  There was the possibility of developing a mechanism to clawback funds from the schools balance reserves. 

Ming Zhang added that it was the local authority’s intention to support schools as much as possible, not just financially but with other resources as well.

Upon being put the vote, Schools Forum voted unanimously in favour of asking the local authority to develop a model to support smaller schools in respect of the 1% transfer from the Schools Block to the HNB.

RESOLVED That:

1)     Schools Forum notes the report and current consultation with schools to inform investment in the transformation and improvement of the local SEND system; and

2)     Schools Forum endorses the proposal to review DSG/Schools Forum guidance to evaluate the possibility of transferring a sliding scale percentage based on school size and intake.