Agenda item

Jane Seymour introduced the report, which advised the Schools’ Forum members of planned places allocated currently to special schools, resourced schools, FE providers and mainstream sixth forms and likely numbers of pupils in those institutions requiring planned place funding 2019-20.

The report was brought to the Forum on an annual basis. Jane Seymour reported that a number of Planned Places were set by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) and there was no option to increase the number of places allocated apart from for academies and FE providers. If extra places were agreed by the ESFA for these settings then funding for these places was top sliced from the High Needs Block and allocated to by the ESFA. Jane Seymour explained that some of the funding was recouped through import /export adjustments.

New regulations required local authorities to fund all places for high needs students at FE colleges regardless of where the students were resident and which local authority had financial responsibility for them. In West Berkshire this equated to a request for an additional 43 places for Newbury College, which if agreed would need to be top sliced from the High Needs Block. An import /export adjustment would be made to the 2019-20 High Needs Budget to reflect the placed places which West Berkshire had funded for students from other local authorities however, it was possible that there would still be a shortfall. Jane Seymour added that there was little flexibility to move places around.

RESOLVED that the Schools’ Forum noted the report.