Agenda item

Claire White introduced the report (Item 6), which set out the overall calculation of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) in 2018/19, and the current position for each of the funding blocks. The Central Schools Services Block was a new block for 2018/18. This and the way funding for the Schools Block and high needs Block was calculated, had significantly changed in 2018/19 following two consultations carried out by Government over the last two years.

The actual allocations for 2018/19 would be announced by the Government mid December 2017. The Early Years and High Need funding allocations would be provisional, and the budgets for these blocks would need to be set using estimates.

Claire White drew attention to Table 1 under section four, which summarised for 2017/18 and 2018/19 the estimated DSG funding to be received for each funding block and the estimated expenditure.

The Schools’ Block was based on 2016 pupil numbers. If the number of pupils remained relatively similar then there would be a small amount of headroom. It was currently unknown how changes in pupil characteristics would impact upon the headroom. Claire White stated that the census figures should be available imminently and this would have an impact on what funding each school would receive.

Claire White moved on to talk about the Central Schools Services Block in more detail and stated that it was possible that funding could be moved from the Early Years and High Needs Blocks into the Central Schools Services Block to meet the shortfall in this block.

Reverend Mark Bennett noted that West Berkshire was a small Local Authority and questioned if partnership working with other similar authorities was an option that had been explored. Ian Pearson stated that the Local Authority was always looking to drive efficiencies. Conversations had taken place with other authorities regarding shared services and this was happening across other services within the Local Authority. Sometimes these arrangements worked well, but it was worth noting that partner agencies often suffered from each other’s funding pressures.

Claire White reported that the funding rates for the early years block had now been published and would remain the same. The Local Authority had argued that the area cost adjustment was unfair and as a result had secured a meeting with the Department for Education on the 15^th January 2018. It was unlikely that anything would change for 2018/19 however, a review could take place for 2019/20.

Claire White moved on to the talk about the Early Years Block and reported that the deficit for the block had been carried forward to 2017/18 and was due to be repaid over a three year period. It was hoped that the indicative funding rates given to providers earlier in 2017 for 2018/19 could be honoured, but this would need to be reviewed in light of the current year expenditure compared to forecast funding, in order to keep the deficit under control.

Louise Griffiths referred to paragraph 6.7 of the report and stated that early years settings were often unable to access some of the statutory services. Claire White confirmed that only services early years settings could benefit from, would be taken into account in any transfer of funding to the central block. Claire White confirmed that more would be known in January 2018.

Claire White moved onto the High Needs Block. A new formula for allocating high needs funding to local authorities was being used in 2018/19. Under this formula West Berkshire would receive less than the current High Needs Block Allocation however, the Department for Education had ensured that all authorities would gain a minimum of 0.5% over their baseline.

Paragraph 8.5 showed how the funding was calculated for the block. The deficit was still higher than had been hoped, as demand in the high needs area continued to grow.

RESOLVED that the Schools’ Forum noted the report.