Agenda item

Claire White introduced the report, which set out the Government’s funding settlement for the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) and the overall budget position for 2017/18.This report set the context for other reports that would be discussed later on the agenda, which covered each of the three blocks in more detail.

The reform of the School and High Needs funding blocks had been delayed by a year and it was proposed that this would take place from 2018/19. The second stage of the consultation was underway and responses were required by the 22^nd March 2017. This would be discussed in more detail at the meeting of the Schools Forum in March.

Funding allocations for each block had been received on the 20^th December 2016. Table one of the report summarised the overall position and more details were included within Appendix A of the report.

Regarding the School Block, the pupil rate for 2017/18 was £4,348.43. October 2015 pupil numbers were 22,235, resulting in a Schools Block allocation of £96.687m. Claire White explained that after taking into account centrally retained budgets and running the school formula on the current funding rates, there would be headroom of £226k.

Regarding the Early Years Block, no change had been made to West Berkshire’s proposed funding rate following the consultation on the new formula. Additional funding had been allocated to support the increase in provision from 15 to 30 hours for eligible children from September 2017. This would be adjusted based on actual numbers in the January 2018 census. In the first year, rates to providers were likely to be lower than they should be, in order to recover the deficit from 2016/17. The Early Years Funding Group would be aim to balance the budget going forward.

Claire White moved on to talk about the High Needs Block. The 2017/18 settlement for West Berkshire had received an additional £350k to the allocation, which was based on actual population and assumed population increases. Although the High Needs Block grant had received a welcomed increase, based on estimated expenditure for 2017/18 there would still be a shortfall in funding and further savings would need to be made. More detail on this would be provided within the report under item eight of the agenda, where a number of saving options would be presented to the Schools Forum for further discussion.

RESOLVED that the Schools Forum noted the report.