Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Sheila Gallagher.

The Forum is asked to approve as a correct record the minutes of the last meeting held on 10 November 2022

The minutes of the meeting held on 10 November 2022 were agreed as a correct record.

Colin Jackson / Julie McDowell, Education Schools and Inlcusion

The Forum received a report on the work delivered by EMTAS and was asked to consider de-delegation for the financial year 2023-24.

The Forum was advised of the current staffing model of the team and the key areas of work going forward. It was noted that de-delegation levels would not change from previous years.

It was questioned whether the caseload was expected to be higher than the current year. It was noted that the service would usually anticipate more referrals than had been received this year and therefore further communication work would be required. It was acknowledged that there was some confusion amongst schools between the role of officers funded by the official Home Office programmes for asylum seekers and the refugee and EMTAS role. It was noted that this would need greater clarity. It was also identified that some of the cases are the team working with groups of children so the figure may not be a true reflection of the actual number of children being worked with.

The point was made that it is not always the teacher that is the expert in some cases.  Therefore would there be more value in employing other professionals on the team rather than another teacher. It was acknowledged that alternative models for the team can be looked at taking into consideration feedback from service users. The Forum was asked to contact Julie McDowell on this issue so further discussions could be held outside of the meeting.

RESOLVED    -           That the Schools Forum noted the work undertaken by EMTAS

to support the educational achievement of all EM and GRT pupils in Gateshead schools and settings and approved the de-delegation of funding for EMTAS at the rates of £3 for every maintained mainstream pupil and £250 for each primary maintained mainstream EAL pupil.

Naomi Mellor, Education Schools and Inclusion

The Forum received a report requesting funding be de-delegated from maintained primary schools to fund the post of the Fair Access Panel (FAP) Education Psychologist (EP).

During the academic year 2021-22, there were 35 active cases.  As all primary schools have contributed funding but not all may access individual referral time, a training package is available online.  This year’s training package is now live and it is hoped that this will allow primary schools to be better able to meet the needs of all children.

RESOLVED    -           That Schools Forum approved the de-delegation of funds for

the Primary Fair Access Educational Psychologist.

Carole Smith, Resources and Digital

The Forum received a Growth Fund application from Thorp Academy following an increase of 140 pupils in one year.

It was acknowledged that when the procedure was developed this level of growth was not anticipated and a funding cap of £111,400 is stipulated within the criteria. It was therefore proposed that the cap be multiplied by three to provide additional growth funding to Thorp Academy of £334,200.

RESOLVED    -           That the Schools Forum approved the allocation of £334,200

of growth funding for the additional 140 children from October 2022 at Thorp Academy and that funding above the £39,614 held centrally growth fund be funded from DSG reserves.

Carole Smith, Resources and Digital

The Forum received a report confirming the 2023/24 DSG funding settlement.

The DfE issued the funding settlement on 19 December 2022, Gateshead will receive £185.980m, before recoupment and deductions. This is an increase of £11.501m from last financial year.

The Early Years Block will see a 16p per hour increase for 3 and 4 year olds, however 11p per hour increase is the result of mainstreaming the former teachers pay and pension grants (TPPG).

The Central Schools Block historic commitments element is reduced by 20%.

In terms of the Schools Block, all elements have increased except growth funding. There is an increase in funding due to the mainstreaming of the additional grant.

The High Needs Block has increased by £2.878m.

Increases in Pupil Premium was noted and it was confirmed that Service Children would receive £335 not £3335 as was written in the report.

Since the report was written, additional grant has been announced for mainstream schools of £5m, the allocation process has been published.  A further £1m has been allocated to the HNB and some will be allocated to alternative provision and special schools. It was confirmed that not all information is known about these additions and further information will be made available once known.

The point was made that School Led Tuition funding only lasts until this academic year and schools will have to contribute 75% for the next academic year.

RESOLVED    -           That Schools Forum noted;

·         The estimated Early Years Block

·         The Central Schools Services Block

·         The Schools Block

·         The High Needs Block allocation

·         The other grant information

Carole Smith, Resources and Digital

The Forum received the proposed Authority Proforma Tool (APT) following modelling work to enable the calculation of mainstream schools’ individual budgets for 2023/24.

A number of funding pressures were outlined, including; increases to KS3 and KS4 and a decrease in primary pupils, an increase in IDACI numbers and increases in EAL pupils. In addition, premises funding received is less than the calculated premises factors. The increase in the minimum per pupil funding for primary schools has led to £579,000 to primary schools but has allocated no funding to secondary schools. It was reported that XP continues to be a pressure as pupil numbers have to be adjusted within the APT to reflect that it is a new and growing school. It was also noted that the PUFs and SUFs are calculated using October 2021 census data so does not reflect the changes in data for October 2022. Another funding pressure is the transfer of £85,000 from the schools block to the central services schools block to support admission processes for all schools.

A number of different models were tried and it was proposed that model 5 be approved. This model is based on MFG at 0.5%, primary, KS3 and KS4 base rates reduced by 0.75%, without capping and scaling and using £537,000 of the £623,000 growth fund.

RESOLVED    -           That the Schools Forum approved the factor values, MFG and

growth fund in appendix 1 and noted the information in appendix 2 and 3 of the report.

Carole Smith, Resources and Digital

The Forum received a report requesting approval to centrally retain the former retained duties element of the Education Services Grant which was mainstreamed into the DSG.

The DSG allocation received in December 2022 was based on 23,885 pupils and the retained duties element is calculated as £15 x 23,885 which equals £358,275.

RESOLVED    -           That the Schools Forum approved the central retention of

funding allocated for retained duties.

Carole Smith, Resources and Digital

The Forum received the consultation document on the proposed changes to the Early Years Single Funding Formula (EYSFF).

It was reported that to ensure Gateshead received at least a 1% increase, protection funding of 12p per hour has been allocated under the new EYNFF. DfE allowed an increase to 12% for the amount that can be allocated via supplements.

Further guidance has been requested from the DfE but this has not yet been received. Therefore it was proposed to still consult, however if further guidance is received this may need to be updated.

RESOLVED    -           That the Schools Forum approved the proposed updates to

Gateshead’s EYSFF for consultation with all funded settings as per appendix 1 of the report, but may have to change the formula and the consultation depending on the response from the DfE.  The proposed consultation period is 13 to 27 January 2023 and the consultation outcomes will be brought back to Schools Forum for consideration in the February 2023 meeting of Schools Forum.

It was requested that the use of DSG reserves be considered at a future face to face meeting. It was suggested that this would be looked at for June or July’s meeting to give time to establish what the DSG reserves are.

Thursday 16 February 2023 at 2.00pm

Thursday 16 February 2023 at 2.00pm.