1 Consultation with Schools on the Barnet School Funding Formula For
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Consultation with schools on the Barnet School Funding Formula for 2018-19 Please follow the link in the email from Claire Gray in order to respond to the consultation, by completing the survey. This WORD version of the text is just in case colleagues wish to read through all the text before going online to respond to the survey. Screen 1 Following consultation, the Department for Education (DfE) recently published its detailed proposals for the National Funding Formula alongside provisional budget allocations to local authorities for 2018-19. All schools will be funded in accordance with the National Funding Formula (NFF) from 2020-21. In the two years before that, the ‘Schools Block’ funding allocations to local authorities will be calculated by aggregating the amount of funding for all primary and secondary schools (maintained schools and Academies) as calculated for each school under the national formula. Transitional funding formula However, local authorities are not required to implement the national formula during this period. They may do so, or they are free to adopt a transitional funding formula for each of the next two years, in consultation with their Schools Forum and schools. The Barnet Schools Forum, which is made up of governor and headteacher representatives from all types and phases of state-funded schools in Barnet, met on 12 October and discussed options for the Barnet School Funding Formula for 2018-19. Current funding formula The Schools Forum agreed to a recommendation from council officers that the existing Barnet formula should not be proposed as an option. The council and the Schools Forum have decided to rule it out because: It would mean that there would be no move towards addressing what is deemed by the DfE to be current underfunding for some schools. It would create too much of a cliff-edge for losers when the National Funding Formula is implemented in full. Furthermore, the existing formula would result in a small overspend on the schools block and thus the shortfall would need to be found from another funding block, such as High Needs, or the funding rates for the existing factors would need to be modified downwards to fit within the overall funding available e.g. by reducing the AWPU or reducing deprivation funding. Two options The Schools Forum agreed with the council's proposal to consult on the following two options: Option 1 – National Funding Formula – implement the NFF in full in 2018-19 Option 2 - National Funding Formula with additional protection – the phased introduction of the NFF between 2018-19 and 2020-21. Schools are invited to consider these two options. Details of each option are shown on the next two screens. 1 After describing the two options, we have included tables on two further screens: Table One, which shows the effect of each option across all primary and secondary schools Table Two, which shows the indicative allocations under each option for each school Please note – the modelling of both options is based on October 2016 census data and is thus only indicative at this stage. Final figures will be confirmed once October 2017 census data is confirmed and actual 2018-19 DfE funding allocations are confirmed. This is expected to be in December 2017. Screen 2 Option 1 - National Funding Formula – implement the NFF in full in 2018-19 Key points about this option: Under this option the council would implement the full National Funding Formula (NFF) in 2018-19, using the rates provided by the DfE The Minimum Funding Guarantee (the limit on reductions in per pupil funding) would be at the level set by the DfE, which is -1.5%. In other words the maximum loss in funding per pupil for any school would be 1.5%. This would result in an underspend of £1.78 million against the £242.8 million available in the Schools Block (the amount set by the DfE for allocation to schools). This would be added to the Schools Budget reserves and be available in the following year e.g. to increase High Needs spending or to fund pupil growth. Potential benefits and problems: The new National Funding Formula is intended to provide a fair and transparent system of school funding, based on objective factors and needs. Moving to the national formula immediately would mean that schools that might be deemed to have been underfunded in the past would move towards fairer funding sooner than if the NFF is introduced on a phased basis. On the other hand, moving to the full national formula would mean much greater losses in a single year for schools that lose funding under the national formula than they would face under a phased introduction of the formula. This could be disruptive to school budget planning as some schools would have to make large budget adjustments in a single year in order to avoid an overspend. 2 Screen 3 Option 2 - National Funding Formula with additional protection – the phased introduction of the NFF between 2018-19 and 2020-21 Key points about this option Under this option the council would implement the full National Funding Formula (NFF) on a phased basis between 2018-19 and 2020-21. It would achieve this by adjusting the allocations under the national funding formula by applying a higher level of protection to schools that lose funding under the formula The Minimum Funding Guarantee (MFG) protection would be increased to about -0.5% per pupil (instead of -1.5% per pupil protection). So the maximum loss of funding per pupil would be 0.5% instead 1.5%. In order to offset the additional cost of a higher level of protection for losers, there would be a cap on gains for winners. The council would aim to set this at around 0.5% if possible. The actual levels of protection (MFG) and caps would depend on the final allocation of budgets by the Department for Education, taking account of school census data from October 2017. Once final budget allocations are announced by the DfE, it is proposed to adjust the protection and ceilings so that the schools block is fully allocated. Potential benefits and problems This option would give schools that lose under the national formula more time to prepare for the expected losses. It would thus provide a smoother transition and avoid the cliff- edge of a large change in one year. On the other hand, the new National Funding Formula is intended to provide a fair and transparent system of school funding based on objective factors and needs. Delaying the move to the national formula would mean that schools that might be deemed to have been underfunded in the past would move towards fairer funding more slowly than if the NFF is introduced in a single year. 3 Screen 4 Table 1 – Comparison of impact of options across all schools in 2018-19 Option 1 Option 2 NFF with additional National Funding protection – phased Formula (NFF) introduction Max cash loss for any one school -£94,087 -£31,362 Max cash gain for any one school +£104,080 +£32,271 Max % loss for any one school -1.47% -0.49% Max % gain for any one school +7.03%* 1.23% Average Primary loss % -1.23% -0.44% Average Primary gain % +2.93% 0.49% Average Secondary loss % -1.22% -0.43% Average Secondary gain % +1.30% 0.48% Average Primary loss £ -£17,051 -£5,315 Average Primary gain £ +£41,092 +£9,040 Average Secondary loss £ -£48,953 -£17,635 Average Secondary gain £ +£70,174 +£24,062 Notes: 1. Gains and losses are based on a comparison with 2017-18 base-line formula funding. 2. 100 Barnet schools lose funding under both options (81 primaries, 2 all-through and 17 secondaries) while 15 schools gain funding (9 primaries, 1 all-through and 5 secondaries). 4 Screen 5 Table 2 - Indicative allocations of each option for each school Option 1 Option 2 2017/18 data/ NFF applied 2017/18 data/ NFF + protection %age %age change vs change vs LAESTAB School Name 17-18 Post MFG Budget 17/18 actual 17-18 Post MFG Budget 17/18 actual 3023520 Akiva School 1,524,218 -1.37% 1,538,347 -0.46% 3023317 All Saints' CE Primary School 1,030,658 -0.86% 1,039,862 -0.44% 3023300 All Saints Primary School 981,484 -1.18% 990,196 -0.44% 3022020 Alma Primary 583,105 -1.19% 587,788 -0.40% 3023514 Annunciation Junior School 965,342 -1.31% 973,883 -0.44% 3022050 Ashmole Primary 433,189 -1.09% 436,360 -0.36% 3022002 Barnfield School 2,187,161 -1.40% 2,207,863 -0.47% 3022079 Beis Yaakov 1,692,801 -1.38% 1,708,615 -0.46% 3023524 Beit Shvidler Primary School 841,106 -1.27% 848,346 -0.42% 3022003 Bell Lane Primary School 1,817,296 -0.82% 1,834,296 -0.46% 3023511 Blessed Dominic School 1,760,459 -1.40% 1,777,105 -0.47% 3023519 Broadfields Primary School 2,723,763 -0.30% 2,750,011 -0.47% 3022008 Brookland Infant & Nursery School 1,143,637 1.73% 1,153,858 -0.44% 3022007 Brookland Junior School 1,412,756 -1.36% 1,425,710 -0.45% 3022009 Brunswick Park Primary & Nursery School 1,760,539 -1.37% 1,776,817 -0.46% 3022067 Chalgrove Primary School 1,160,691 -0.16% 1,171,092 -0.44% 3022010 Childs Hill School 1,486,892 -1.36% 1,500,561 -0.45% 3023302 Christ Church CE Primary School 845,482 -1.28% 852,810 -0.43% 3022011 Church Hill Primary School 954,744 -1.30% 963,109 -0.43% 3023522 Claremont Primary School 1,875,801 -1.40% 1,893,579 -0.47% 3022014 Colindale School 2,882,280 -0.20% 2,909,029 -0.46% 3022015 Coppetts Wood 1,176,396 -1.32% 1,186,890 -0.44% 3022016 Courtland School 919,514 -1.28% 927,469 -0.43% 3022017 Cromer Road Primary School 1,726,940 -0.83% 1,743,060 -0.46% 3022073 Danegrove JMI School 2,708,992 1.62% 2,708,992 0.00% 3022019 Deansbrook Infant School 1,294,161 5.08% 1,282,139 0.45% 3022018 Deansbrook Junior School 1,703,628