Apologies were received from Mr P Barns, Mrs S Catlow-Hawkins, Mr T Edwards, Mr M Farmer, Mr N Griffiths, Mr T Knapp and Mr M Lewis.

Apologies were noted from the Director of Children’s Wellbeing

The chairman announced that Mrs Catlow-Hawkins had submitted her resignation from the forum and that other members of the forum would be standing down over the summer as they were leaving the posts through which they had been elected to the forum.

None.

Agenda item 6: Mr Lewandowski and Mr Deneen declared an interest as trade union representatives.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 10 March 2017.

Resolved:

that the minutes of the meeting of 10 March 2017 be approved and signed by the chairman as an accurate record.

To brief members of the forum on the new arrangements for scrutiny within Herefordshire Council and links to the schools forum.

The chairman introduced Councillor Carol Gandy, chairman of the children and young people scrutiny committee.

Councillor Gandy briefed the forum on the revised arrangements for scrutiny within Herefordshire Council which included the establishment of a scrutiny committee to focus on issues affecting children and young people.

Specifically the remit of the scrutiny committee included:

·         children’s social care including safeguarding;

·         transitional arrangements between children and adult services;

·         statutory education scrutiny powers;

·         statutory health scrutiny powers where this is in relation to the planning provision and operation of health services for children and young people.

Councillor Gandy reported that all members of the new committee were enthusiastic about improving the lives of children and young people and that there would be benefits from having a single committee scrutinise these areas. Previously these issues had been split between two scrutiny committees, with the result that members of the committees could not have a relevant level of interest and knowledge of all issues considered.

The scrutiny committee included a number of education co-optees. There was currently a vacancy for a parent governor from the secondary sector. Councillor Gandy requested that any suggestions to fill this vacancy be sent to the clerk to the scrutiny committee.

The first meeting of the children and young people was held on 5 July 2017 at which the corporate parenting strategy was considered. The committee heard from two young people about their experiences of the care system as part of their scrutiny of the policy.

Mr Lewandowski welcomed the return to a dedicated scrutiny committee for children and young people. He asked whether there could be representation from unions on the committee. Councillor Gandy agreed to take this suggestion away.

In response to other questions Councillor Gandy confirmed that meetings of the scrutiny committee were open to the public and that anyone could submit questions to the meeting. She also stated that she or her vice-chairman would seek to attend schools forum as frequently as possible.

To consider the report of the budget working group (BWG) on the following matters:

·         Dedicated schools grant outturn 2016/17;

·         Apprentice Levy;

·         Trade union facilities; and

·         Simplifying financial services to schools.

The schools finance manager presented the report.

Dedicated schools grant outturn 2016/17

The overall underspend of £211k was noted. It was recommended that this be added to balances with particular reference to pressure on the high needs budget. Work would take place over the summer on budget proposals for high needs expenditure in 2018/19. The outcome of this work would be brought to the forum in October for consideration.

Apprentice Levy

The schools finance manager reported that total available funding was estimated to be £155k. He reported that take up of funding from schools had so far been low. If funds were not used they would be reclaimed by the government. A reminder had been sent to all schools explaining how to access the funding.

The schools finance manager anticipated that the introduction of teacher apprenticeships would lead to better take up of funding. It had been suggested that the authority ask the DfE for an extension of the timescale for allocation of the current funding until these teacher apprenticeships were available.

Trade union facilities

The schools finance manager reported that the budget working group had discussed expenditure and de-delegation of trade union facilities. The school finance manager explained the changes made in the voucher system used. Comparison against national and “statistical neighbour” authority averages showed that Herefordshire was charging more per pupil. The schools finance manager noted that Herefordshire suffered from diseconomies of scale in comparison to other larger authorities.

The HR services manager had been requested to present a report to schools forum in October on trade union facilities. The schools finance manager would present plans for changes in de-delegation funding at a future meeting.

Mr Lewandowski recognised that there could be concern if Herefordshire was shown to be charging more than other authorities but cautioned that such comparisons might not be valid. For example the Herefordshire charge included facilities for non-teaching staff which might not be the case with other authorities. He also reported that other authorities were known to supplement the trade union facilities fund directly. The government was already investigating teacher facility time and was collecting data that could be directly compared.

It was acknowledged that pressure on school budget had led to more redundancies which incurred greater cost in union support during statutory processes. It was also noted that Herefordshire enjoyed good industrial relations and had a good HR department.

Mr Deneen asked what the background had been to the item being presented to the budget working group. He noted that the arrangements applied to local authority schools and those academies that chose to buy in. He supported the view that Herefordshire enjoyed good working relationships between schools, the authority and unions.

The schools finance manager explained that the chairman of the budget working group asked to be briefed in context of historical levels of expenditure and the changes to the voucher system. These changes would require Schools Forum to review the level of de-delegation.

Simplifying financial services to schools

The schools finance manager  ...  view the full minutes text for item 274.

To receive a report and consider proposals on the forum’s constitution and to receive the results of the annual review of membership to ensure proportionality.

The clerk to the forum presented the report. The constitution of the schools forum had last been reviewed in 2012 following changes in regulations governing the forum. No further significant changes in regulations had occurred but it was good practice that the constitution be reviewed periodically.

A draft revised constitution had been circulated to members of the forum for comments. Replies were detailed in appendix 2 to the report along with a response to each point and the draft constitution had been amended in light of feedback received.

The only changes proposed to the membership of the forum were to formally delete the seat for the 14-19 partnership which had been in abeyance since 2015 and to reflect the requirement for a specific seat for academy special school representative. The annual review of proportionality between academies and local authority schools had been carried out and no changes were required.

Other revisions related to arrangements for election and nomination of forum representatives and operational practices in regard to inquorate meetings and urgent decisions.

There being no comments, the forum was invited to recommend the draft constitution and its appendices to the Director for Children’s Wellbeing.

Resolved that:

(a)          the schools forum note the outcome of the review of its constitution;

(b)          that the Herefordshire Schools Forum be reduced to 26 members by the removal of the seat for the 14-19 partnership; and

(c)          the revised constitution and all appendices, as set out at appendix 1 to the report, be recommended to the Director for Children’s Services.

To brief members of the forum on the council’s budget priorities consultation for 2018/19.

The schools finance manager gave a presentation on the consultation taking place on the budget priorities of Herefordshire Council for 2018/19. He stressed the importance of schools engaging with the process even though focus was on the council budget. A questionnaire was available online or could be completed and returned in hard copy.

In response to questions the schools finance manager stated that it was not clear how proposed savings for children’s wellbeing would affect services to schools. The savings proposed for 2018/19 had not been fully developed but the forum would be briefed on any impact at a future meeting.