Agenda item

SURREY SCHOOLS & EARLY YEARS FUNDING 2023-24

Meeting of Cabinet, Tuesday, 29 November 2022 2.00 pm (Item 182/22)
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Decision:

RESOLVED:

1. Cabinet Agree that the Council implement the Department for Education’s (DfE) recommended Minimum Per Pupil Level in full;

2. Cabinet Agree that the Schools Forum’s formula recommendations for schools and early years funding as set out in Annex 3, be approved; and the decisions in Annex 4 implemented

3. Cabinet Agree that the transfer of 1.0% (estimated at £7.8m) from the Schools’ block DSG to the High Needs DSG (subject to approval by Secretary of State).

4. Cabinet agree that authority is delegated to the Director of Education and Lifelong Learning in consultation with the Executive Director of Children, Families and Lifelong Learning and the Cabinet Member for Education and Learning to:

a. approve amendments to the funding rates in the schools and early years formulae as appropriate following receipt of the DSG settlement and DfE pupil data in December 2022. This is to ensure that total allocations to schools under this formula remain affordable within the council’s DSG settlement.

b. determine the use of the former “combined services” funding, estimated at £445,000 for 2023/24, following consultation with Schools Forum where appropriate.

c. approve changes to funding arrangements for pupils with Education Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) placed in mainstream schools. Work is underway to design a new framework to be implemented for the academic year 2023/2024, subject to consultation.

d. agree 2022/23 one-off exceptional funding allocations for Special Schools

Reasons for Decisions:

To comply with DfE regulations requiring formal council approval of the local funding formula for Surrey’s early years settings, primary and secondary schools.

(The decisions on this item can be called-in by the Children, Families, Lifelong Learning & Culture Select Committee)

Minutes:

The report was introduced by the Cabinet Member for Education and Learning who explained that funding of all Surrey schools (including academies) and the free entitlement to early years nursery provision is provided from the council’s allocation of Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG). The report set out the recommended funding formula for Surrey mainstream schools in 2023/24 and also proposes the principles to be adopted in the funding of early years in 2023/24. Schools were funded on a per pupil basis and the council set its own local formula on how much grant funding each school should receive within the government set framework. Each year the council held a formal annual consultation with all Surrey maintained schools about the formula, this was then considered and then agreed by the Surrey Schools Forum. The report provided detail on how this formula had been reached and would be considered by the Surrey Schools Forum the following week.

A Member queried how rural schools would be supported. The Cabinet Member stated that schools were managed by governing bodies and not the council. Rural schools had fewer pupils and therefore received less funding. The council worked very closely with these schools and had a sustainability strategy in place to support these schools. It was explained that the vast majority of Surrey schools were on annual fixed contracts for energy supplies through the Crown Commercial Services.