Agenda item

Lisa Potts introduced the report (Agenda Item 11), which set out the budget proposal for services funded from the Central Schools Services Block (CSSB) of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG).

Lisa Potts explained that historically, indicative allocations from the Department for Education (DfE) were received during the summer, but at the time of writing the report, no figures had been available. An indicative value had since been received, based on the previous year’s census data, although the final allocation would not be confirmed until later in December.

Lisa Potts highlighted that the CSSB funded key services such as school admissions, copyright licences, and statutory and regulatory duties, as summarised in Appendix A. Based on the indicative figure, a shortfall of approximately £55k to £60k was forecast against the cost of delivering these services. One of the main pressures on the block was the rising cost of the Capita/MRI system, which continued to increase year on year beyond anticipated levels. Lisa Potts noted that predicting the grant level remained challenging until the October 2025 census data was finalised.

RESOLVED that no questions or comments were raised by the Schools Forum and the report was noted.