Agenda item

Claire White presented the report on the arrangements for setting the primary and secondary school formula for 2016/17. As there has not yet been any announcements made by the DfE and there will be little time to devote to a review, it was proposed that there will be no changes made to the local formula for 2016/17 unless an announcement is made that would be of benefit to West Berkshire schools. There will be a short consultation to be sent to all schools and also School Forum members for two weeks in early September with a final view taken by Schools’ Forum at the end of September.

Claire also provided some benchmarking information setting out the West Berkshire formula compared to national averages, showing that we are not an outlier and our rates are close to the average for the main factors. Paul Dick expressed his concerns that our rates for deprivation and prior attainment are low. Claire explained that because we receive below average funding in our DSG rate and pay out base pupil funding rates and a lump sum close to average, it is inevitable that the rates paid out for other factors will be lower. If we were to receive additional funding it would certainly be a consideration.

The expectation is that the Government will start consulting on a national formula in the Autumn, for implementation from 2017. With our DSG funding rate now falling well below the average following the distribution of the additional £390m in 2015/16, there is a possibility this may mean more funding for West Berkshire schools, though we are unlikely to see any inflationary increases to the funding rate.

DECISION: Once the arrangements for 2015/16 have been received from the DfE, a two week consultation will take place with schools proposing no change, unless there is a change in the arrangements considered by officers to be advantageous to West Berkshire schools.

ACTION: A short consultation document to be produced and go out to schools early September

Paul Dick left the meeting after this item at 5:40pm.

Action

C White