Agenda item

Action

Claire White presented the report on the schools’ formula 2015/16. The Department for Education (DfE) has yet to announce the arrangements for the 2015/16 funding formula.

It was proposed that the following changes are considered in principle:

Use of the Sparsity Factor

It was proposed that the distance criterion is reduced from the current 2 miles to 1.5 miles or more for primary schools with 90 pupils or less if this is allowed in the 2015/16 funding arrangements.

This would cost £279k in the primary sector in 2015/16 (excluding the MFG saving and based on the October 2013 pupil numbers) and benefit 8 out of 10 of the primary schools with less than 90 pupils.

The treatment of the federated primary schools would need to be considered.

Cap on Gains

It is likely that the MFG will continue, however some schools may have taken into account that the cap would end in their 2015/16 budgets. It is therefore proposed to no longer operate the gains cap in 2015/16. This would cost £52k using the current pupil numbers.

Deprivation and Prior Attainment Funding Rates

It is proposed to keep the same funding rates for 2015/16 although this may require additional funding and changes to the primary / secondary ratio. This will be reviewed once the October 2014 census data has been received from the DfE and the final decision will be made by the Schools Forum in the January meeting subject to funding being available.

Exceptional Premises Factor 

The criteria set by the Education Funding Agency (EFA) is that the nature of the premises cost is greater than 1% of the school’s total budget allocation and that such costs affect fewer than 5% of the schools in the authority.

It is proposed to ask schools whether they meet the criteria and provide evidence that this is the case. To be included in the consultation with schools and considered at the next Schools Forum meeting in September.

Allocation of Additional Funding

If the LA benefits from any additional funding this will be allocated on a per pupil basis after allocations for the above circumstances have been made.

ACTION: The funding arrangements 2015/16 are to be communicated with the schools once they are received from the DfE. The schools are to be informed that the consultation with schools will be emailed to the Headteacher the week before the start of the Autumn Term. 

C White