Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies from Members of the Forum.

Apologies for absence were received from Florence Kroll, Claire Harrison, Mark Dale-Emberton, Sharne Mclean, Tim Plumb, Amanda Wilson.

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 17 July 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 17 July 2024, be agreed upon 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 from previous meetings had been completed.

In relation to Action point 1 the Accountancy Business Change Manager verbally updated the Forum and said that in terms of the implications of what decisions would be triggered if the reserves ran into deficit, there would be 3 different stages that would need to be completed.  The first was a Management Tool which would be updated periodically and sent to the DfE for monitoring.  It would also be used for stakeholder and budget holders.  This would be a live document which would identify efficiency savings that could be used to hopefully bring the DSG back into surplus.  Greenwich were not there yet but would be completing the Management Tool in order to plan for the DSG.  For authorities which were in debt, there was another step Delivering Better Value (DBV), and this was to look at SEND and High Needs Provision as this was where most overspend was nationally.  These tools would be benchmarked and those authorities would work with the DfE to bring their DSG back into surplus.  Finally, there was a third step for those in significant deficit and this involved a detailed management plan designed to bring them back into surplus.  The DfE worked closely with those authorities in a structured way to support them back into surplus.

With regard to the review of the costs of the trade union service this work was currently ongoing.  Meetings had been held with HR and Legal and once the detail had been finalised a report would be brought to the Forum.

The Isos research paper referred to at the July meeting had now been published and would be circulated to Forum members.

The Assistant Director Inclusion Learning and Achievement gave a verbal update on the Strategic work being undertaken to try and reduce the need for independent provision for SEN pupils.  It was a complex problem within a wider context of a broken system nationally.  Greenwich had a high proportion of high needs block going out to independent providers which were not only very expensive, but also the standard of provision supplied was not always what Greenwich would expect for its young people.  The overall strategic plan was to increase SEN provision within the borough, both specialist and to support mainstream schools to be able to make provision for SEN within their own sites.  Rowan Wood’s secondary phase should be opening in the 2025/26 academic year with a site for the primary phase still to be established.  There were plans to open 4 new DSPs this year to offer provision to children with more complex needs.  Since the closure of the PDC on Waterdale Road, this service had reduced and was now located in the Eltham Centre.  The premises at Waterdale Road would hopefully be used to expand the provision offered by Willowdene School (subject to Member approval).  They were also looking at moving other services to increase space  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Following a proposal from a member the Schools Forum voted unanimously for the Vice Chair to remain in the Chair for the rest of the year.

Resolved –

The Schools Forum agreed that the Vice Chair should remain in the Chair for the rest of the current term of office.

The Schools Forum is asked to note the current position of the 2024-25 Dedicated Schools Grant. (DSG) and the current National Non-Domestic Rates (NNDR) accounting method for Schools & Academies.

The Accountancy Business Change Manager introduced the report said that the current position of the 2024-25 DSG was an overall deficit of £900,000.  The overspend as previously discussed, was mainly within the High Needs Block and mainly sits within the independent provision.  Steps were being adopted to try and mitigate this, but the High Needs Block deficit would increase more by the end of the year. The following year would likely be a year of transition.  When the plans were implemented this should mitigate the overspend.  With regards to the other blocks, they were spending to budget.  For the Early Years Block, Greenwich had received £44m from the Government for the introduction of the increased provision for disadvantaged under 2s and additional hours for qualifying working parents of 3-4 year olds.  At this stage it was not known what the take up would be and so it was possible the Government might claw back some of that money dependent on take up. 

In response to a question about falling roll numbers and implications for individual school budgets, the Strategic Lead for Inclusion and Place Planning said that it was hard to do place planning for early years and they were not sure what effect these measures would have.  It was possible they may encourage more parents to take up provision within schools.  The Head of School improvement added that the increase in funding was for under 3s and the majority of primary schools did not take 2 year olds so it should not have an impact on individual schools budgets, but it would impact PVIs.

          Resolved –

That the current position of the 2024-2026 Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) and that the current National Non-Domestic Rates (NNDR) accounting method for Schools and Academies be noted

The Schools Forum is asked to note the current guidance relating to the 2025-26 Dedicated Schools Grant. (DSG) and National Funding Formula.

The Accountancy Business Change Manager said that there was currently no information available about the 2025-26 funding due to the election and change of government.  They were expecting to receive something by the end of October so would look to bring a report to the Forum in December.

Resolved –

That the current guidance relating to the 2025-26 Dedicated Schools Grant. (DSG) and National Funding Formula be noted.

The Schools Forum is asked to note the current position of the 2024-25 DSG Central Block.

The Accountancy Business Change Manager presented the report.  She said that the Central Block comprised of two strands, ongoing commitments and historic.  Historic commitments were reducing year on year.  Every year they looked at budgets supported by the Central Block to see where strategic savings could be made.  It became more difficult each year to look at restructuring services that are supported by the Central Block or transferring costs to other blocks within the DSG as well as looking at other initiatives that could be supported elsewhere and not the central block.  They were hoping to stay within budget within the Central Block.  The historical commitments reduced by about 20% each year.  The DfE expect that no new contracts are entered into which were part of these historical commitments and Greenwich had adhered to this so had stayed within budget.  There was the possibility that it would reach the point where there was very little left to cut or there would be less that could contribute to other budgets.

Resolved –

That the current position of the 2024-25 DSG Central Block be noted.

The Schools Forum is asked to note the current position of the 2024-25 DSG High Needs Block.

The Accountancy Business Change Manager presented the report.  The overspend was mainly due to SEN provision and Independent Placements.  As the Assistant Director, Learning and Inclusion had updated the meeting earlier, initiatives were being developed to be introduced over time to try and mitigate the need for independent provision.  Things were in play, but it would be a time of transition.  They were looking at SEN support as well and an update would be brought to Schools Forum following consultation to inform which mechanism they would be utilising.

Resolved –

That the current position of the 2024-25 DSG High Needs Block be noted.

The Schools Forum is asked to agree an increase in the amount schools are charged in the Academy Conversion Services and Charges procedure agreed by Schools Forum in July 2017 and to 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 item was deferred from the July meeting after discussion at the Forum.  Historically there was a flat fee charge of £7000 for each school entering into the Academisation process.  The original proposal was for a higher flat fee however some Forum members felt it would be fairer to have a more nuanced approach which took into account the individual school’s financial circumstances.  Therefore the proposal now would be for a standing charge of £9500 with an additional ‘pupil charge’ of £7.50 per pupil, so that schools with less pupils would pay less.  It should be noted that this was for the external legal fees incurred during the process and did not reflect the total cost to the LA.  The implementation date would be from today if the Forum agreed and would apply to schools which had not yet informed the LA of their intention to convert to an Academy.

The Chair put the matter to the vote and with the majority of Forum members in agreement the proposal was carried.

Resolved –

That an increase in the amount schools are charged in the Academy Conversion Services and Charges procedure agreed by Schools Forum in July 2017 be agreed.

That the fixed fee of £7k be changed to a sliding scale between £10k and £25k (based on a standard rate of £9.5k per school, plus a per pupil charge of £7.50).

That all new academy notifications made to the LA, after the Schools Forum agreement (25 September 2024), should be subject to the new conversion charges be agreed.

That all notifications received prior to that date will be charged at the current rate be agreed.

That 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 be agreed.

To note the attendance at the meetings of the Forum.

It was noted and agreed that due to special circumstances, Gill Crowley’s membership of the forum would remain despite missing three consecutive meetings.      

Forum members were reminded of the Constitutional rule that non-attendance for 3 consecutive meetings would automatically disqualify a member and to ensure that if this was an issue, to notify the clerk beforehand to allow for the required dispensation to be obtained. 

Resolved –

That attendance at the Forum be noted.

To consider any other business

Under Actions Arising the Vice Chair canvassed opinion on the idea of extending the term of office for Forum members to 4 years.  The Forum was supportive of the idea and stated that it had originated from the Forum itself.  It made more sense to have a 4 year term rather than a 2 year term.

There was no other business