Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies from Members of the Forum.

Apologies for absence were received from Gill Crowley, Erika Podmore, Amanda Wilson, Geoff Osborne and Jon Kelly.

Members to declare any personal and financial interests in items on the agenda. Attention is drawn to the Council’s Constitution; the Council’s Code of Conduct and associated advice.

There were none.

Members are requested to confirm as an accurate record the Minutes of the meeting held on 16 January 2024.

No motion or discussion may take place upon the Minutes except as to their accuracy, and any question on this point will be determined by a majority of the Members of the body attending who were present when the matter in question was decided. Once confirmed, with or without amendment, the person presiding will sign the Minutes

Resolved –

That the Minutes of the meeting of the Schools Forum held on 16 January 2024 be agreed and signed as a true and accurate record.

To consider the status of any actions arising.

Members discussed the outstanding actions from previous meetings noting that all but one action arising from previous meetings had been completed. This item will be checked.

The Schools Forum is asked to note the Forward Plan for the coming year.

The Chair noted that the meeting dates in December and January were very close these aligned with DfE deadlines linked to school budgets.  This means that the turnaround for the reports for the January meeting is very tight.  It was likely that any actions agreed in December would not be achieved by the January meeting. 

The Strategic Lead for Inclusion and Place Planning commented that the Place Planning and Capital Programme Report due in December was for information only.

Resolved –

The Schools Forum noted the Forward Plan for the coming year.

The Schools Forum is asked to note the outturn position of the 2023-2024 Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG).

The Accountancy Business Change Manager summarised the information report.  The main point to note was that 2023-2024 was closed with an £1.4m accumulative overspend.  The main area of overspend was High Needs.  There was an overall projected overspend of £3m.  The overspend in High needs was due to the rise in demand for EHCPs and independent and alternative provision.  It should be noted the overspend would have been £4m if the decision to transfer money from the Schools Block to High Needs had not been made.  There was an underspend in the Early Years Block this was due to the funding methodology used for deprivation.  Meetings had been held to think about how to change this but no decision had yet been made.  There was a small amount of reserve of around £900k.  In response to a query, the Business Change Manager and Director of Children’s Services confirmed that the figures for the High Needs spending included 19-25 year olds.  Going forward all references in the reports to independent places would state schools and colleges, to make this clear.

The Business Change Manager said that the financial situation was now on a cusp.  Chair asked for an outline of what intervention decisions it would trigger and what the options would be if the reserves ran out and what the implications of this would be.

Action:  Business Change Manager

The Director of Children’s Services said that Ipsos was about to publish some in depth research into SEND provision which showed that the whole system was under significant strain and would make a number of strong recommendations.  She would circulate the details of this to Forum members when published.  On a strategic level work was underway to look at how the imbalance within schools as to the number of SEN children they had, could be addressed and to increase DSPs and special needs provision in order to reduce the need for Independent Schools.  An update on this would be brought back to the next meeting.

Action:  Director, Children’s Services

In response to a question regarding the Trade Union overspend, the Business Change Manager said that a review of this would be undertaken in view of cost of the trade union service.  This would be brought back to the Forum at a future meeting.

Action:  Business Change Manager

          Resolved –

That the 2023-2024 Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) Outturn Position be noted.

The Schools Forum is asked to note the report.

The Accountancy Business Change Manager summarised the information in the report.  There had been an overall drop in balances.  19 schools were in deficit and RBG had received £554k of additional funding from the DfE in recognition of the pressure schools were under.  The schools currently in deficit were not all the same as previous years.  Some schools were now in deficit for a longer period that a single year.  The teaching staff pay awards had also had an impact.

The Director of Children’s Services added that whilst place planning was the responsibility of the LA it was a complex area which required collective decision making with schools.  Staffing costs and the growth of the number of children requiring SEN provision and EHCPs were both leading to significant financial pressures for schools.

A Forum member commented that there had been lots of different models tried out across the country and suggested if any forum members had good or innovative examples to share them with the Director and AD Director Inclusion Learning and Achievement.

Action:  All Members of the Forum

The Assistant Director Inclusion Learning and Achievement said that schools in deficit were being supported by way of peer support.  In response to a question asking if there was some ‘commonality’ between the schools in deficit and this was an area that could be looked at further to establish any common issues.

Action:  The Assistant Director Inclusion Learning and Achievement

Resolved –

That the 2023-24 Revenue and Capital Balance Position for Schools report be noted.

The Schools Forum is asked to note the current position of the 2024-2025 Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG).

The Accountancy Business Change Manager presented the report.  There was a big increase in funding for Early Years due to the under 2 initiatives for working parents.  Funding had been allocated but there was no data yet as to the take up of these initiatives.  The money was allocated on projected numbers and was there to pay providers.  A balanced budget was projected for 2024-25 however the Forum needed to be mindful of the High Needs Block.  2024-25 would be a year of transition and would depend on the level of resource available to fund the initiatives.  High Needs would have added pressure.

Resolved –

That the 2024-25 Dedicated Schools Grant Funding update be noted.

The Schools Forum is asked to agree an increase in the fixed fee in the Academy Conversion Services and Charges procedure and agree that schools issued with an Academy Order by the Secretary of State for Education (SoS) on the basis of being judged inadequate by Ofsted are no longer to be exempted from any charge

The Strategic Lead for Inclusion and Place Planning introduced the report.  The Academy Conversion procedure was agreed in 2018 and was kept under review to be tested before returning to the Forum for further consideration.  The proposal was to increase the fee to £15k per school, per conversion.  This fee would hopefully cover the legal costs associated but that there were other costs incurred across the council and officer time was not included in that figure.

The Forum had a discussion around this.  Some members felt that there should be a more nuanced approach to charging to take account of each school’s individual circumstances and that the proposed implementation date was too soon.

There was a query over which members of the Forum were eligible to vote on this matter.  Therefore it was agreed the item would return to the next meeting once voting rights had been established.  However, as the School Forum had expressed they would be minded to agree an increase to the fee, any schools that were to enter into the academisation process now, should be made aware the fee was likely to be higher starting from 1 September 2024.

Resolved –

That the matter be deferred to the next meeting of the Schools Forum to determine voting rights.

To note and review the attendance at the meetings of the Forum.

Resolved -

          That the Schools Forum attendance record be noted

To consider any other business

The Director of Children’s Services announced that Steve Harris had been appointed to the role of Director at Greenwich Learning Partnership and as such could not continue to chair the Forum.  He would remain on the Forum as an Observer.  Expressions of interest would be sought from Forum members who would be interested in assuming the role of Chair and a vote would take place at the next meeting.

Action:  Director of Children’s Services

The Assistant Director Inclusion Learning and Achievement said that the Free School Meals programme in London had been made permanent and work was ongoing for an auto-enrolment programme.