Agenda item

Action

Claire White presented the report on the schools budgets 2014/15 and schools in financial difficulty.

Of the 74 budgets submitted in 2014-15 only three schools have submitted a deficit budget John O’Gaunt Secondary School (£536k), Bradfield Primary School (£75k) and Kintbury Primary School (£25k).

John O’Gaunt

The school continues to operate with pupil numbers that do not generate sufficient funding to cover their costs. Discussions are on-going to find a solution and a deficit recovery plan that is acceptable to the West Berkshire Council, Hungerford Town Council, the school, the parents and the tax payer in West Berkshire. Hungerford Nursery, Primary and John O’Gaunt are all working closely together to generate positive publicity.

Bradfield Primary School

Bid for Primary Schools in Financial Difficulty funding was agreed under item 7 of this meeting.

Kintbury Primary School

Pupil numbers have fallen impacting on funding and the redundancy costs of a proposed restructure would take the school into deficit in 2014/15. The continuation of the Minimum Funding Guarantee in 2015/16 will allow the school to delay the restructure pending further financial modelling.

15 schools have set budgets with a contingency of £2k or less. This is expected as school balances continue to diminish, funding rates remain static but costs increase. 15 schools have also forecast a year 2 deficit of greater than £25k which will be reviewed with each school by Schools’ Accountancy. None of the schools that submitted a year 2 deficit for 2014/15 in their 2013/14 budget plan have actually submitted one in 2014/15. This is due to improved financial planning and assistance from Schools’ Accountancy where necessary.