Issue - meetings

1.         That the proposed revisions to the schools’ formula funding factors and transitional arrangements be approved in order to comply with new legislation.

2.        That the transfer of £27m of Dedicated School Grant funding from core to deprivation funding to mitigate adverse impacts on schools catering for disadvantaged groups, as supported by the Schools Forum, be approved.

3.         That authority be delegated to the Assistant Director Schools & Learning, in consultation with the Leader and the Cabinet Member for Children and Learning, to update and amend the formula as appropriate following receipt of DfE autumn term pupil data in December 2012, to ensure that total allocations under the formula are affordable within current resources.

Reason for Decisions

To ensure that the council’s funding formula for schools complies with new regulations and that turbulence of funding at individual school level is minimised.

[The decisions on this item can be called in by the Education Select Committee]

New regulations require local authorities to re-design their schools’ funding formula on a more simplistic basis, with the aim being to ensure greater national consistency. Surrey is a relatively low funded authority and, in order to target funds effectively, has had a relatively complex funding formula.  The Cabinet considered amendments to the council’s schools funding formula, to be submitted to the Education Funding Agency, necessary to comply with the regulations and also to mitigate unavoidable turbulence at individual school level.

It was noted that the reduction in funding factors that could be considered from 37 to 9 would affect Surrey’s ability to respond to local conditions. Smaller and rural schools would lose out under the new proposals and this could have a significant impact on some schools in Surrey. The Department for Education had stated that no school should lose more than 1.5% over the first two years and had indicated that it was likely that this might be extended. The Leader of the Council had written to the Secretary of State to highlight the impact that this policy could have on Surrey schools, pointing out that some schools could potentially lose 20% of their funding.

The support of local schools and the Schools Forum, who had agreed with the increase in deprivation funding and the maintenance of support for special needs provision, had been crucial to the council’s efforts to limit the negative impacts of this national policy. Local primary and secondary schools had worked together, even where this might mean that secondary schools lose some money in order to support primaries. The Leader and Cabinet Members expressed their gratitude to the Schools Forum and local schools for the way in which they had worked together on this issue.

Surrey was noted to have good schools with very well run finances. The proportion of schools running deficits was very small compared to the picture nationally. The Cabinet expressed concerns on the impact that this policy could have in the long term on some of the county’s smaller, well loved and well maintained schools. Discussions with the Department for Education would continue on this matter.

RESOLVED:

1.         That the proposed revisions to the schools’ formula funding factors and transitional arrangements be approved in order to comply with new legislation.

2.        That the transfer of £27m of Dedicated School Grant funding from core to deprivation funding to mitigate adverse impacts on schools catering for disadvantaged groups, as supported by the Schools Forum, be approved.

3.         That authority be delegated to the Assistant Director Schools & Learning, in consultation with the Leader and the Cabinet Member for Children and Learning, to update and amend the formula as appropriate following receipt of DfE autumn term pupil data in December 2012, to ensure that total allocations under the formula are affordable within current resources.

Reason for Decisions

To ensure that the council’s funding formula for schools complies with new regulations and that turbulence of funding at individual school level is minimised.