Decision details

The decision is to approve final hourly funding rates paid in 2023/24 to providers of the funded early entitlement for two, three and four year olds under the early years funding formula.  These hourly rates could not be agreed at the date of the Cabinet report because at that point insufficient data on take up of the funded early entitlement was available to determine affordability and the DfE had not yet published the rates at which local authorities would be funded for early years for 2023/24.

Decision made:

It was agreed that the one off funding of £1m, described in s27 of the Cabinet report, should be distributed to those special schools on the Surrey banding system, and to pupil referral units, and that the allocation would be pro rata to the estimated school level cost of the support staff pay increase, less the 2% increase for which schools were advised to budget. The school level share was estimated by LA officers from returns submitted by individual schools. The allocation would be a lump sum, separate from place and top up funding.

Reasons for Decision:

To allow the additional funding to be distributed and assistance to be given to the special schools and PRUs towards the cost of the Surrey support staff pay award. The pay award was higher than expected when budgets were originally allocated, due to the increase in general inflation pressures since March 2022. The award ranged from 1.7% for the highest pay bands to 7.8%. for the lowest. This particularly affected special schools and pupil referral units, because the cost of low paid support staff makes up a higher proportion of their costs than for other schools. The basis of distribution was supported by a working group of special school headteachers, and by the Schools Forum. It covers 94% of estimated additional costs.

Inflation funding for special schools and PRUs is a local decision, unlike in mainstream schools where it is set nationally through the national funding formula.

Other methods of distribution were considered but it was agreed that, in the circumstances and for a one off allocation, basing the distribution on estimated current costs as at September matched funding to current need more closely than other options. Other options included a per pupil allocation or varying the top up band rates or adjusting for January costs. As the allocation is essentially retrospective, the use of actual costs should not have any impact on future behaviour.

None.