Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Steve Haigh, Allan Symons, Clive Wisby and Elaine Pickering.

The Forum is asked to approve as a correct record the minutes of the last meeting held on X

The minutes of the meeting held on 19 December 2017 were agreed as a correct record.

Carole Smith, Corporate Resources

The Forum received a report on the DSG funding settlement. It was reported that the funding settlement was received on 19 December 2017, overall it was good news with Gateshead receiving an estimated £145.209m DSG for 2018/19, this is an increase of £6.7m from last year.

It was noted that the DfE will allocate in four main funding blocks;

·         The Early Years Block – for 2, 3 and 4 year old funding, including Early Years Pupil Premium

·         Schools Block – for mainstream schools

·         Central Schools Services Block – for retained duties and historic spend

·         High Needs Block – includes Special Schools, PRU and high needs top-up and place funding

In terms of the Early Years Block it was noted that the hourly rate remains the same as 2017/18  at £4.53, which is an equivalent of £4,303.50 per FTE. There  is an increase of £1m from £11.8m last year to £12.8m for 2018/19 due to increased estimated hours. This is estimated allocations and will be updated in the summer following  the January census data.

The Central Schools Services Block is new and takes elements that used to be top sliced from the schools block. There is a slight increase from the equivalent funding last year but it does not address the funding gap due to the elimination of the Education Services Grant.

In relation to the Schools Block the Primary Unit of Funding is £4,036.39 per pupil and the Secondary Unit of Funding is £5,023.26 per pupil and the historical element totals £4,449,590, this includes growth, premises and mobility factors. The total allocation in the Schools Block has increased by £3.581m from last year, this is partly due to pupil number growth of 198 pupils, 154 additional primary and 44 additional secondary pupils, which totals £0.843m, the rest of the increase is due to the National Funding Formula.

The High Needs Block has increased slightly to £21.79m, this is due to the positive MFG set by government.

It was reported that the rates per pupil for the pupil premium will remain the same for 2018/19 but will increase for looked after children and children adopted from care from £1,900 last year to £2,300 per pupil for 2018/19.

Universal Infant FSM continues at the same rate of £2.30 for 2018/19. Also, the Primary PE and Sport Premium will continue,  with a national allocation of £320m for 2018/19. Further details will be made available later in the year as to the widening of the remit of this grant and the individual allocations.

It was questioned what the total percentage of overall pupils is SEN. It was noted that this was looked at previously during an inspection and it showed Gateshead slightly below its statistical neighbours, this was due to a disparity in recording census data. It was agreed that this would be looked into to establish the proportion of pupils who have SEN.

RESOLVED    -           That the Schools Forum noted;

(i)            The estimated Early Years Block

(ii)           The Central Schools Services Block

(iii)  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

Carole Smith, Corporate Resources

Schools Forum received the proposed Authority Proforma Tool (APT) for submission of Gateshead Schools funding factors and values to the DfE for approval.

It was noted that the model was agreed at the last meeting on 19 December 2017, it is an affordable model and provides some left over funding.

It was reported that all schools will now pay rates, including voluntary aided and voluntary controlled schools at the reduced rate of 20%. Academy rates were not received for Riverside Academy from the DfE so therefore will be funded at the same value as last year. The PFI factor was re-calculated to take into account the changes in pupil numbers and updated PFI charges.

The APT was received 15 December 2017 and shows an updated data set, with just under 200 additional pupils. It was confirmed that primary FSM has increased but Ever 6 has decreased.  In terms of the mobility factor funding received was £193,000, however the number of mobile pupils decreased and therefore the overall funding allocated via this factor reduced to £154,000. 

The funding cap was removed to allow additional resources to be allocated to schools gaining from the formula revisions, EAL rates for primary and secondary are now at NFF level, as well as IDACI band D and B.  KS3 AWPU increased by £4.88 from the previously agreed level.

It was confirmed that the model was reviewed and it complied with the amount of funding that has to be distributed by pupil factors.

The proposed proforma was provided which showed that the primary and secondary ratio had not changed. A school breakdown was provided which showed that most schools gained, this was post MFG but not post de-delegation therefore is indicative at this stage.

RESOLVED    -           That Schools Forum approved;

(i)            The removal of the funding cap from schools gaining under the proposed formula

(ii)           Additional funding for EAL to move to the NFF value

(iii)          Additional funding for IDACI primary band D and secondary band B to move further towards the NFF value

(iv)         A small amount of additional funding for KS3 AWPU

(v)          The proposed APT.

Jeanne Pratt, Care Wellbeing and Learning

Following comments made at December’s Schools Forum regarding the capacity of the Primary Behaviour Support Team given the increased demand for support, a report was presented identifying a number of options for additional de-delegation funding.

The options outlined were; an additional teacher, an additional Teaching Assistant, two additional Teaching Assistants or a combination of all three options. The funding options relating to each possibility was also highlighted.

It was noted that a survey was carried out to gather the thoughts of Headteachers, 30 responses were received, 14 of which preferred the status quo and the rest were mixed. It was pointed out that there seems to be a lot of uncertainty as to the impact of the team and it was agreed more qualitative feedback and case studied be reported through Talking Heads. The point was also made that the bigger strategy around these children needs to be clearer and in particular what the service is doing in relation to this strategy.

It was confirmed that 75% of the pupils seen by the service last year did not need specialist support and the majority of pupils permanently excluded in the PRU were not seen by the service.

It was reported that TA’s are funded through de-delegation and Teachers funded from the High Needs Block, there is no capacity in the High Needs Block to fund additional capacity.

RESOLVED    -           (i)         That the Schools Forum received feedback from

mainstream maintained primary schools on the additional de-delegation for the Primary Behaviour Support Team.

                                    (ii)        That maintained primary representatives agreed the

implementation of option 2, an additional TA.

Jeanne Pratt, Care Wellbeing and Learning

A report was presented on the de-delegation of the Primary Behaviour Support Team, offering a similar proposal to secondary schools and academies via a Service Level Agreement.

It was agreed that this needed to be discussed at GASH and a further report be brought back to the Forum following those discussions.

RESOLVED    -           That the Schools Forum seeks feedback from secondary

schools / academies to provide a teacher and special needs assistants.

Thursday 8 February 2018 at 2.00pm

The date and time of the next meeting is Thursday 8 February 2018 at 2.00pm.