Agenda item

Claire White introduced the report, which informed School Forum Members of payments made to schools from the Growth Fund and Falling Rolls Fund budget in 2017/18.

Four schools had met the Growth Fund criteria and the relevant payments had been approved by the Head of Education.

The table under paragraph 4.3 showed the overall position of the Growth Fund and Falling Rolls Fund for 2017/18.

It had been agreed by the Schools’ Forum that the unspent balance of £76k should be carried forward and added to the next year’s growth fund, to ensure there was enough funding being built up for 2019/20 in order to pay formula funding for additional pupils in the new primary school in Newbury when it opens in September 2019. As funding received through the DSG was based on previous year’s pupil numbers, if additional funds were not set aside it would mean a reduction in funding available to allocate out to existing schools. The DSG allocation currently included a growth fund allocation based on 2017/18 costs only and there was no other source of funding in the first year of a new school or as year groups were added.

RESOLVED that the Schools’ Forum noted the report.