Decision details
Schools Budget 2021/22
Decision Maker: Cabinet member children and families
Decision status: Recommendations Approved
Is Key decision?: Yes
Is subject to call in?: Yes
Purpose:
To approve school forum’s recommended budget proposals for school budgets, central school services and early years within the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) for 2021/22.
Dedicated Schools Grant funding for the schools block in 2021/22 is £112.95m, which is an increase of £4.5m for primary pupils, £3.8m for secondary pupils, a total of £8.3m although this includes £5m of grant for Teachers pay and pensions which was previously paid separately. The funding for high needs and early years block are provisional and are both subject to final adjustments for pupil numbers and commissioned places. The school funding values and formula calculations are in accordance with the national school funding formula as set by government. The funding above that required to implement the national funding formula is proposed to be distributed to schools at £17 per pupil and £300,000 transferred to the high needs block for 2021/22
Decision:
That: That: The local implementation of the National Funding Formula (NFF) for 2021/22 as set out in the consultation document and below, be approved for as follows; (a) The final school funding values be agreed, subject to a minimum total funding per pupil of £4,180 for primary schools and £5,415 for secondary schools, including the Minimum Funding Guarantee at 2% as follows:
(b) Growth funding for basic need expansion in the Golden Valley be agreed at a total cost of £234k, as follows; (i) Growth funding for basic need expansion at Kingstone High School, £75,715 for an additional 45 planned pupils for the summer term 2021 (ii) Growth funding be finalised for basic need expansion at Fairfield High School, £55,525 for an additional 33 planned pupils for the summer term 2021 (iii)Growth funding be finalised for basic need expansion at Kingstone High School, £77,070 for an additional 30 planned pupils in September 2021 (iv) Growth funding be finalised for basic need expansion at Fairfield High School, £25,690 for an additional 10 planned pupils in September 2021 (c) Transfer to high needs block to support the SEN protection scheme, £300k (d) Additional £17 per pupil for primary and secondary schools at a cost of £144,158 (e) That any minor adjustments to the schools budget up to £5k, in order to comply with DfE submission requirements, be made to the funding allocated to the growth fund in order to provide a contingency. (f) That the central services block be allocated as follows
(i) Statutory retained duties £369k (ii) Schools Forum administration costs £15k (iii) School admission costs £125k (iv) National licences for schools £140k (v)Additional funding for statutory duties for SEN casework team £25k (vi) transfer SACRE funding to statutory duties £5k (vii) Transfer to the high needs block £75k (g) That local authority maintained school members, approve the de-delegation of funding in 2021/22, and advise the Cabinet member for children’s and families for information, as follows (i) trade union facilities for primary schools only be approved at £2.75 per pupil (ii) school budgeting software licence at £405 per school (iii) ethnic minority support at £1.12 per pupil plus £6.60 per Ever-6 Free school meals and £107 per English as an Additional Language first year pupil (iv) school meals entitlement assessment at £1.25 per primary pupil and £0.94 per secondary pupil (Proposal A) for local authority schools (v) trade union facilities for secondary schools only be provided for through a Service Level Agreement at £2.75 per pupil (vi) that the statutory education services for non-academy schools be reduced by 50p per pupil and charged at £12 per pupil (h) The early years funding formula for Herefordshire providers from April 2021 be as follows; (i) Two year olds: £5.36 per hour (ii) Three and four year olds: £4.08 per hour + £0.35 per hour for Early Years Pupil Premium eligible children + a rurality supplement per provider of £52 per week (pro-rata for providers that deliver less than 100 hours per week) paid for 38 weeks per year (iii) Early years central expenditure be increased by 1.5% inflation (iv) the Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub be supported to help and support to early years settings at a cost of £10,000 per annum (j) to remove the reception uplift factor as proposed in the consultation paper (k) to reduce the maximum percentage for permitted carry forward of school balances to 20% of the school allocation (including early years funding) from April 2021 |
Alternative options considered:
1. Given School Forum's approval in October 2017, of the strategy to implement the NFF from 2018/19, neither Schools Forum nor the Budget Working Group (BWG) put forward any alternative proposals for the Schools Budget.
Reason Key: Expenditure;
Wards Affected: (All Wards);
Consultees
All schools, Schools Forum, Schools Budget
Working Group
Contact: Malcolm Green, Strategic Finance Manager Email: malcolm.green@herefordshire.gov.uk Tel: 01432 260818.
Publication date: 01/02/2021
Date of decision: 01/02/2021
Effective from: 06/02/2021
Accompanying Documents: