Agenda item

RESOLVED:

1.         The approach to identifying and delivering £10m savings in SEND services in 2017/18, as described in paragraph 13 of the submitted report be approved and final approval of the savings be delegated to the Assistant Director, Schools and Learning, the Leader of the Council and the Cabinet Member for Schools, Skills and Achievement. (Any proposal that requires a public consultation will be referred to Cabinet.)

2.         The following changes to the schools funding formula, as recommended by the Schools Forum, be approved:

a)    That following the DfE’s removal of DSG sixth form funding as a permitted formula factor, the current allocation of £1.327m be allocated across all secondary schools in 2017/18.

  b)    That following changes in DfE regulations, DSG funding previously targeted to school improvement be allocated to all schools on a per pupil basis.

  c)    That a sum of £300,000 arising from a surplus on the risks contingency to which primary schools contributed, be returned to primary schools.

3       The proposed Surrey formula factors for 2017/18, as set out in Annex 4 of the submitted report, be approved.

4.       Authority be delegated to the Assistant Director, Schools and Learning, in consultation with the Leader of the Council and the Cabinet Member for Schools, Skills and Achievement to approve amendments to the schools funding formula as appropriate following receipt of the DSG settlement and DfE pupil data in December 2016. This is to ensure that total allocations to schools under this formula remain affordable within the council’s DSG settlement to be announced during December 2016.

Reasons for Decisions:

To comply with DfE regulations requiring formal Council approval of the local funding formula for Surrey’s primary and secondary schools, including academies.

[The decision on this item may be called in by either the Education and Skills Scrutiny Board or the Council Overview Board]

The Cabinet Member for Schools, Skills and Educational Achievement said that this report set out the recommended funding formula for Surrey schools in 2017/18 for approval. It was produced annually, ahead of the Council’s main budget decisions, in order to meet the Department for Education (DfE) deadline of 20 January 2017 and followed the annual consultation with all Surrey schools during September and the recommendations of the Schools Forum on 7 October 2016.

All Surrey schools, including academies, were funded from the Council’s Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) allocation. This was divided by the DfE into three blocks covering Schools, High Needs special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and Early Years. Councils were permitted to move funding between blocks and continuing pressures in High Needs SEND provision in recent years had necessitated funding transfers from the Early Years and the Schools blocks.

As further unfunded SEND pressures totalling £10m are expected during 2017/18 and schools are reluctant to see further transfers from the Schools block, they were consulted on the scope for savings in SEND services in a series of events during 2016.  A working group of Schools Forum members met with officers and CSF Cabinet Members to finalise savings proposals during November and the Cabinet Member updated Cabinet on its outcome. She confirmed that she was confident that these savings could be made and that a further report to Cabinet on 13 December 2016 was now not required.

She said that 177 schools had submitted responses to the proposals and that their collective response had been discussed at the Surrey Schools Forum. She also drew attention to the Equality Impact Assessments annexed to the submitted report.

Finally, she thanked the Schools Forum and Council officers for their work in producing this report and its recommendations.

Cabinet Members made the following points:

·         Clarification of the DfE’s reasoning for the removal of DSG sixth form funding as a permitted formula factor and that the County Council should monitor its impact on small sixth forms.

·         The disparity in funding for Surrey schools versus schools in London boroughs and that credit was due to Surrey schools for achieving good results with less funding.

·         SEND issues.

RESOLVED:

1.         The approach to identifying and delivering £10m savings in SEND services in 2017/18, as described in paragraph 13 of the submitted report be approved and final approval of the savings be delegated to the Assistant Director, Schools and Learning, the Leader of the Council and the Cabinet Member for Schools, Skills and Achievement. (Any proposal that requires a public consultation will be referred to Cabinet.)

2.         The following changes to the schools funding formula, as recommended by the Schools Forum, be approved:

a)    That following the DfE’s removal of DSG sixth form funding as a permitted formula factor, the current allocation of £1.327m be allocated across all secondary schools in 2017/18.

  b)    That following changes in DfE regulations, DSG funding previously targeted to school improvement be allocated to all schools on a per pupil basis.

  c)    That a sum of £300,000 arising from a surplus on the risks contingency to which primary schools contributed, be returned to primary schools.

3       The proposed Surrey formula factors for 2017/18, as set out in Annex 4 of the submitted report, be approved.

4.       Authority be delegated to the Assistant Director, Schools and Learning, in consultation with the Leader of the Council and the Cabinet Member for Schools, Skills and Achievement to approve amendments to the schools funding formula as appropriate following receipt of the DSG settlement and DfE pupil data in December 2016. This is to ensure that total allocations to schools under this formula remain affordable within the council’s DSG settlement to be announced during December 2016.

Reasons for Decisions:

To comply with DfE regulations requiring formal Council approval of the local funding formula for Surrey’s primary and secondary schools, including academies.