Public Document Pack Bristol Schools Forum
Agenda - Wednesday, 20th May, 2020 at 3.30 pm
Virtual Meeting - Zoom Committee Meeting with Public Access via YouTube
Start Item Action Owner Paper 1. 3.30 Welcome A Chair
2. Forum Standing Business A Clerk (a) Apologies for Absence (b) Confirmation meeting is quorate (c) Appointment of new members/resignations (d) Notification of Vacancies: Two Primary Academy Heads; Two Primary Maintained Heads; Two Primary Academy Governors; Two Secondary Academy Heads; (e) Declarations of Interest
3. Minutes of the Previous Meeting A Chair 3 - 11 (a) To confirm as a correct record
(b) Matters arising not covered on agenda
4. Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) Di AH To and the High Needs Block Written Statement of follow Action
5. Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) De AH 12 - 17 and the High Needs Block - Milestones and Impact of Covid 19
6. Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) Outturn for 19/20 I GB 18 - 29
7. Place Planning and the Growth Fund I AH 30 - 37
(*) A = Admin, I = Information, De = Decision required, C = Consultation, Di = Discussion Clerk: Corrina Haskins email: [email protected] Tel: City Hall Chair: Carew Reynell (contact via clerk)
FUTURE MEETINGS Date Items 15 July 2020 To be confirmed September 2020 Composition of the Forum Agenda Item 3
Bristol Schools Forum Wednesday, 15 January 2020 Bristol Schools Forum Minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday, 15th January, 2020 at 5.00 pm at The Writing Room - City Hall, College Green, Bristol, BS1 5TR
Present:
Karen Brown Maintained Secondary Governor Rep, St Mary Redcliffe & Temple Rob Davies Nursery Governor Rep, Speedwell and Little Hayes Nursery Federation Simon Eakins Academy Primary Head Rep, Cathedral Primary Simon Holmes Nursery Head Rep, St Phillips Marsh Nursery Sarah Lovell Academy Secondary Headteacher Rep, Bristol Metropolitan Academy Kate Matheson Maintained Primary Governor Rep, St Barnabas Primary Aileen Morrison Pupil Referral Unit Rep, St Matthias Park Chris Pring Maintained Primary Headteacher Rep, Cabot Primary Carew Reynell Academy Secondary Governor Rep, Blaise High School Emma Richards Special School Head Rep, Claremont School Cedric Sanguignol Maintained Primary Governor Rep, Bishop Road Primary Simon Shaw Maintained Secondary Head Rep, St Mary Redcliffe & Temple Christine Townsend Maintained Primary Governor Rep, Whitehall Primary Stephanie Williams Academy Primary Head Rep, Bannerman Road Community Academy
In attendance from Bristol City Council: Graham Booth Finance Manager Cllr Anna Keen Cabinet Member for Education and Skills Corrina Haskins Clerk to Schools Forum Alison Hurley Director of Education & Skills Denise Murray Director of Finance Travis Young Corporate Finance
Observers: Alderman Brian Price Karen Rose – Speedwell Nursery School Jen Smith
Action 1. Welcome The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.
2. Forum Standing Business
a. Apologies for absence Apologies for absence were received from: William Brown (Union Rep, Bristol NEU); Marian Curran (16-19 Partnership); Kris Hristakev (Special Schools Governor); Garry Maher (Diocese of Clifton); Ruth Pickersgill (Secondary Academy Governor) and David Yorath Secondary Academy Governor Rep, Cotham School.
b. Quorate The Chair confirmed the meeting was quorate.
1 Page 2 Bristol Schools Forum Wednesday, 15 January 2020
c. Resignations There were no resignations to report.
d. Appointment of New Members The following new Members were welcomed: Emma Richards – Special School Rep, Claremont School.
e. Notification of Vacancies The Clerk advised of the following Schools Forum Vacancies which would be advertised through the Heads/Governors Bulletins: Two Primary Academy Heads Two Primary Maintained Heads Two Primary Academy Governors Two Secondary Academy Heads
f. Declarations of Interest Rob Davies asked that it be recorded that he worked part-time for the Primary Heads Association, Bristol (PHAB).
3. Minutes of the Previous Meeting RESOLVED - that the minutes of 26th November 2019 be confirmed as a correct record, subject AM to an amendment to request that Forum receive the latest information for 18/19 in relation to the breakdown of teams and income relating to Trading with Schools.
Matters Arising
In response to the actions agreed at the last meeting, it was noted: Out of Area Placements/Alternative Provision: The information requested at the previous meeting was included in the appendices to agenda item 6, Budget Monitor. Voting Arrangements: Guidance on which members could vote on specific issues had been included as an attachment to the minutes. Minimum Funding Guarantee (MFG): This issue would be discussed at the next meeting of the Finance Finance Sub-Group later in the year. Sub-Group HR Systems iTrent: Chris Pring confirmed that schools had been sent the monthly report, but he DM was still awaiting the instructions/guidance required to use the information. The Director of Finance undertook to raise this with the Human Resources Manager.
4. Presentation on Early Years Funding GB gave a presentation on Early Years Funding as follows: 3 main areas: o How BCC gets funding from Government; o How the funding gets passed on to providers; o The effect of changes to participation leading to surplus/deficit; The funding in from Government was worked out in a different way to the funding out to providers; Funding in from Government: o Means of allocating funding for free early education and childcare for 3 & 4 year olds was universal 15 hours + 30 hours for eligible working parents;
2 Page 3 Bristol Schools Forum Wednesday, 15 January 2020 o This was introduced in 2017 to ensure fair distribution of funding and transparency; o For 3 & 4 year olds: . Base rate; . + Additional needs (Free School Meals; Disability Living Allowance (DLA) and English as an Additional Language); . Area costs (which differ in different parts of the country); o 2 year olds – separate funding arrangement at a regional rate (BCC was the same as neighbouring LAs) o 19/20 rates: . 3 & 4 year olds - £5.69; . 2 year olds - £5.43; o Census data – 3-4 year old 9863 PTE pupil numbers; 2 year old 1210 PTE pupil numbers; o Other funding within block: . EY Pupil Premium = £299,340 (similar to primary and secondary); . Disability Access Fund = £99,630 (this may add to the underspend for this year as forecast at 50% of budget) . Maintained Nursery School Supplement £743,670 (BCC was trying to sustain funding at 2016/17 level prior to EYNFF and may seek approval from Schools Forum to use the EY underspend to top up this supplement again this year); o Total Block = £36.876m Funding out to providers o For 3 & 4 year olds: . Universal Base rate . 95% pass through . Additional supplements (up to 10%) Deprivation (mandatory) Quality Emerging SEN o For 2 year olds: . No pass through requirement and no additional supplements
How funding is received and spending calculated: o Funding received was based on one Census figure (January) each year, but taken from last Jan (5/12ths) and current Jan (7/12ths) to account for variations in take up; o Expenditure was calculated based on 3 x different census points and averaged; o Changes in participation levels had a budgetary impact.
In response to questioning, GB confirmed: o The number of children referred to those taking up places, not those eligible. o If additional supplements were agreed this would come off the overall funding so children not entitled to supplements would get less. It was commented that additional supplements may benefit the most disadvantaged and vulnerable children.
3 Page 4 Bristol Schools Forum Wednesday, 15 January 2020 Early Years Representatives made the following comments; o It was acknowledged that there was a number of eligible children whose families were not taking up places and more work was needed to inform people of their entitlements; o Participation in Children Centres had decreased and family awareness of nursery provision had gone down as a consequence; o Birth registration data had only been available for 12 months and so the information had not been available to target families; o One of challenges for Nursery Providers was that it was difficult when income depended on the number of children and this figure changed throughout the year. It was difficult to appoint staff on this basis as well as meet other annual costs and this was the reason that many nursery providers were in deficit; o It was difficult for Nursery Providers to plan 5 year budgets when they did not know how much income they were getting from one term to the next; o Current birth rate data suggested that the birth rate was starting to rise again and the need for nursery provision would increase accordingly.
It was requested that the slides from the presentation be circulated to Schools Forum GB/CH Members.
5. Verbal update from Director: Education and Skills The Director of Education and Skills, AH, gave an update as follows: The Joint Ofsted/Care Quality Commission (CQC) Inspection of the Special Education Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND) service had taken place in October and the publication of the outcome had been delayed due to the General Election; The results of the Inspection had now been made public and the report highlighted 5 areas of concern: o 2 of the concerns related to the timeliness of Education and Health Care Plans (EHCP); o The underachievement of children with SEND in Bristol; o Engagement and relationships between the SEND service and parents/carers; o Leadership; The report also acknowledged that recent changes had been made to the service, but these had not been embedded and so impact of the changes could not be demonstrated; BCC was working with the Health Authority to draft a “Written Statement of Action”, a high level strategic plan to address the 5 areas of concern and this would be backed up by a detailed action plan; She had met with the Department for Education (DfE) to discuss timelines for improvements and BCC had 3 months to submit the plan; In view of the Council elections, the plan needed to be submitted by 23 March at the latest and Ofsted/CQC would have 10 days to say if the plan was fit for purpose; BCC could not publish the plan until it had been agreed by Ofsted/CQC, although the Council was able to share the work through co-production opportunities; Once the plan was agreed, BCC had 18 months to deliver against the milestones before a re-inspection in October 2021; Co-production was key to the process to ensure: o the plan was owned across the city; o actions were fit for purpose; o plan was embedded and would bring about sustainable change.
4 Page 5 Bristol Schools Forum Wednesday, 15 January 2020 The route for co-production was: o tapping into parent/carer forums and looking at how this could be developed; o working with colleagues in schools, including Special Educational Needs Co- ordinators (SENCOs) to ensure schools get a voice in the Written Statement; o attending Governor meetings/Forums. The BCC People Scrutiny Commission would be meeting on 3 February to do a deep dive exercise and the outcome of this would be captured in the Written Statement; Progress would be monitored by the Children Improvement Board and BCC Scrutiny; There would also be a deep dive in relation to data cleansing to ensure an accurate baseline to demonstrate progress by creating a full data dashboard for SEND; In terms of next steps, there was a need to make sure the Education Transformation Programme aligned with the Written Statement of Action.
Schools Forum considered how it could participate in the process and the following comments were raised: o Early Years representatives had close contact with families and this connection was often lost as children got older and families were less visible to education providers. Early Years providers were able to identify where public bodies could work closer together to support SEND children and their families; o As the role of Forum related to the monitor of the DSG budget, a key role of the Forum was to monitor the High Needs block in the context of the Education Transformation Programme and this could be a standing item.
RESOLVED - that the verbal update and comments raised be noted.
6. Dedicated School Grant (DSG) Budget Monitor 2019/20 P8 BCC Finance Partner, GB, introduced the report and drew attention to the following: o The report detailed the latest Budget Monitor position as at November 2019; o The Budget position was monitored every month and reported to Forum every two months; o The position had improved between Period 7 and Period 8; o There had been an increase in top up funding in Alternative Provision (AP) and other placements; o In response to a request at the previous meeting, the figures relating to AP had been broken down and this was detailed in Appendix 2; o There was still an underlying underspend in the Early Years Block; o There had been a change in forecast between Period 6 and Period 8 to reflect the decision taken at the last meeting; o BCC may need to ask Forum for approval to use the underspend to top up nursery supplement at a future meeting.
In response to questions, GB/AH responded: o GB would clarify whether there was twice as many places at Woodstock to reflect the GB 100% increase and report back to the next meeting; o The BFA contract had been recouped and the funding associated with Catch 22 was before the closure of that provider as of 1 November; o CLF had taken over from Catch 22; o There had been an increase in places and GB would confirm the exact number along GB with the requested information relating to cost per place; information on the places
5 Page 6 Bristol Schools Forum Wednesday, 15 January 2020 required; whether there was spot purchasing of providers outside those listed in the table; o There were 5 listed Pupil Referral Units, even though Meriton had closed it still had a DfE number associated with it which triggered data; o The review of the Hospital Education Service had been paused and would be picked up as part of the wider review of AP.
Forum Members also made the following comments: o There had been a large increase in AP costs and some of these children may be better placed in special schools. AH agreed that there needed to be a single strategy and the Written Statement of Action would address it in a holistic way; o The categorisation of PRUs and AP in the report was out of date – Bristol Free School was not a PRU; St Mathias was AP, the difference being PRU was where a student would be sent for an initial assessment and AP would be the alternative to mainstream provision; o In view of the likeliness of the free school programme being rolled out further, BCC needed to talk to providers about AP need. AH confirmed that discussions had taken place, but it was difficult to discuss in detail until the need had been identified; o The nature of education was such that there was a transitory population going through the education system and so flexibility and adaptability was essential.
RESOLVED – that the latest in-year 2019/20 position for the overall DSG be noted.
7. Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) 2020/21 GB introduced the report and drew attention to the following: o The Education and Skills Funding Agency (EFSA) had released the actual allocations on 19 December and the funding levels under Block movements were now based on actual figures rather than the estimates provided at the previous meeting; o Schools were consulted on the funding formula after the last meeting of Schools Forum and consultation responses were included in Appendix 1 of the report. The response rate was 25% of schools, which was low, but of those that responded there was support for an option using NFF values and 0.5% MFG; o the final allocations from Government were contained in Table 1 of the report; o due to the change in pupil numbers generated by the October census, there had been a small reduction in the allocation for Bristol Primary Schools and an increase for Secondary Schools; o Central Services Block: the funding for historic commitments had been reduced by 20% leaving £0.333m for Prudential borrowing which had ended for Bristol in 17/18 and so it was proposed to transfer this amount to the High Needs Block; o High Needs Block: this was the largest percentage increase in funding and would take the funding to the level of the current years projected spend but would not allow the advance funding from 19/20 to be repaid in 20/21. This would not affect future funding; o In relation to Education Transformation Programme funding agreed at the previous meeting, the details of how this would be spent would be set out following the approval of the Written Statement of Action; o Schools Block: this would be covered in the next item, set out below; o Early Years: there had been a small change with the rate for 2 year olds increased by 8p and it was proposed that the whole rate be passed to providers.
6 Page 7 Bristol Schools Forum Wednesday, 15 January 2020 In seeking clarification in relation to the figures relating to School Admissions, Members asked that the information be presented in a consistent manner year on year to allow comparisons to be made.
Forum Members raised the following comments: o It was disappointing that only 25% of schools responded to the consultation and was difficult to believe that Heads were apathetic in relation to school funding. Further thought may be needed about how to engage Heads and ensure they were aware of the importance of the consultation; o There should be some feedback to schools who did respond and this may also encourage the engagement of schools with the Forum; o Concern was expressed about the continuing pressure on the High Needs Budget, especially in view of the outcome of the Ofsted Inspection and questions were asked about how the provision could be improved without an increase in funding. AH responded that the process of the Written Statement of Action would allow an evaluation of the SEND landscape of the city and the expectations of schools and settings; o Councils were running out of options to fund SEND, there was less opportunity to transfer between the different blocks and the DfE had consulted on prohibiting the use of general fund money to fund gaps in the DSG which would mean even less flexibility; o It was noted that some Local Authorities had sought to disapply the minimum funding to release more funding for High Needs but there had been no response from Government in response to the disapplication; o As agreed at the previous meeting, the transfer between blocks should be subject to further information being presented to Forum on how the funding will be spent in the High Needs Block, including milestones and evidence of impact; o Different figures were quoted for the cost of the School Admissions service. This should be avoided in future reports.
In considering the recommendations, it was;
RESOLVED – that (1) The 2020/21funding levels be noted; (2) The consultation responses be noted and a response be prepared to schools who had responded to the consultation; (3) The final transfers between blocks be approved as follows, subject to a further information being presented to Forum on how the funding will be spent including milestones and evidence of impact: (a) A transfer of 0.5% (£1.369m) from the Schools Block to the High Needs Block (the maximum now allowed by ESFA rules); (b) A transfer o. £0.333m from the Central School Services Block to the High Needs Block; (4) The DSG net deficit carry forward from 2019/20 be noted; (5) Bristol City Council be informed of the following views of Schools Forum for consideration in making final decisions on the Schools Budget for 2020/21 by Cabinet/Council: (a) Schools Forum requests that information is provided on how resources transferred to the High Needs Block are being used effectively including milestones and evidence of impact; (b) the scale of the High Needs deficit needs to be taken into account in the Written 7 Page 8 Bristol Schools Forum Wednesday, 15 January 2020 Statement of Action and associated SEND action plan; (c) SEND planning work needs to be joined up across BCC departments and organisational boundaries. (6) Central School Services Block allocations be agreed as follows: a. LA Core Functions £0.978m; b. School Admissions £0.494m c. Schools Forum £0.023m d. Combined Services £0.599m
8. Schools Block 2020/21 Finance Officer, TY, introduced the report and explained the three different options for applying the funding formula for mainstream schools and academies for 2020/21 (all with a minimum funding guarantee of +0.5%: Option 1 – using the 2019-20 formula unit values as the starting point; Option 2 – using the NFF unit values as the starting point, including the NFF lump sum value; Option 3 – using the NFF unit values as the starting point, but keeping the lump sum at £125,000.
He reported that: o consultation responses from schools supported an option based on the NFF being the starting point; o all schools would see an increase in per-pupil funding in 2020/21 even though there was a variance depending on which option; o falling rolls were not protected and that was the only issue as unit values for pupils were increasing; o Two disapplications had been lodged but no decisions had been received. In the case of the Steiner School which was proposing to go from being a through school to a Primary School, it was likely a decision wouldn’t be taken on the funding until confirmation of the closure of the secondary part of the school.
In response to a request for Schools Forum to receive the underlying figures, it was agreed that anyone requiring this level of information could be provided with it on request.
In voting for the options, the Clerk advised that members representing maintained schools, academies and Private Voluntary and Independent Nurseries (PVI) could vote on the funding formula and therefore 14 members present were eligible to vote.
On voting on whether to support an option based on NFF (options 2 and 3) - 14 in favour and 0 against
On voting for option 2 (2 in favour – not carried) On voting for option 3 (11 in favour, 2 against 1 abstention)
RESOLVED
(1) that the following formula model be agreed as the preferred model for 2020/21 mainstream funding formula: Option 3: using the NFF unit values as the starting point and keeping the lump sum at £125,000 and minimum funding guarantee of +0.5%.
8 Page 9 Bristol Schools Forum Wednesday, 15 January 2020 (2) that the preferred proposed arrangements for the 2020/21 mainstream funding formula, including the amount set aside for the Growth Fund be endorsed.
9. Schools Forum Constitution and Composition
The Chair clarified that the only amendment to the Constitution was a change to the balance between Local Authority and Academy primary schools to reflect 2019 pupil numbers and that the number of vacancies on the Schools Forum had been adjusted accordingly.
The following comments were raised relating to the composition: The figures were not correct for the number of secondary maintained students and needed amending, although it was acknowledged that this did not make a difference to representation on the Forum; A concern was expressed that there was an over representation of Faith School representatives on the Forum giving rise to a concern that not all Members had an “equal voice”. However it was also noted that the Diocese represented both Primary and Secondary schools; It was noted that as long as there was one maintained school in the local authority area, this sector had to be represented on the Forum in accordance with regulations and guidance; There may be a need to review the number of Heads/Governors from each sector to reflect pupil numbers and address the issue of filling vacancies; The membership could include more representatives from SEND in view of the ongoing pressures on the High Needs budget; It was clarified that Heads could be represented by another member of staff in accordance with regulations and guidance.
It was noted that it was a matter for the Local Authority to decide on the composition of the Forum and the Director of Education and Skills undertook to review this while having regard to the issues raised by Forum Members and consultating with the wider Education community.
RESOLVED (1) that the changed to the constitution to reflect the membership and pupil numbers be AH noted; (2) that the Director of Education and Skills look at the composition of the Schools Forum with view to reporting back to a future meeting.
The meeting closed at 7.42 pm.
9 Page 10 Agenda Item 5
Bristol Schools Forum – 20 May 2020 Supporting paper for agenda item number: 5
Bristol Schools Forum Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and the High Needs Block: Milestones and Impact of Covid-19
Date of meeting: Tuesday 20 May 2020 Time of meeting: 3:30pm Venue: Zoom
1. Purpose of report (for decision)
The purpose of the report is to provide Bristol Schools Forum with additional detail to fulfil the transfer of £1.300m funding from the Schools Block to the High Needs Block in 2020/21. The transfer was agreed on a conditional basis on 26 November 2019; subject to further information on how the money will be spent.
2. Recommendation
a) The recommendation is that Bristol Schools Forum fulfil the transfer of funds based on the additional detail provided in this report.
3. Background:
a) A report introducing a proposal to deliver a system-wide SEND and Inclusion improvement programme was introduced at Schools Forum on 25th September 2019. A subsequent report was presented to Schools Forum at the November meeting, which outlined the broad scope, and funding requirement for the whole programme, specifically seeking a £1.3m allocation from the Schools Block to the High Needs Block as part of an overall programme investment sum of £3m. b) The transfer of £1.300m funding from the Schools Block to the High Needs Block in 2020/21 was agreed on a conditional basis, subject to further information on how the money will be spent. c) In responding to that requirement, this report provides the activities and milestones for delivering the HNB funded improvements set out in the Bristol Local Area Written Statement of Action (WSoA) for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). Bristol’s Local Area WSoA was approved and deemed fit-for-purpose by Ofsted in a letter dated 19 March 2020. See Appendix 1. d) There are additional HNB funded activities presented in the same format which support the actions contained with the WSoA.
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e) An experienced programme manager with a proven track record for delivery has been assigned to the programme, working to public sector standard project and programme methodologies. As part of the council’s portfolio of change, the programme is subject to mandatory reporting to divisional, directorate and Corporate Leadership Boards. f) Furthermore, monitoring and tracking of delivering the milestones within the WSoA is robust and overseen by the DfE via quarterly monitoring visits. In between the DfE visits, the SEND Partnership Group (SPG) will meet four weekly and is co-chaired by the Service Director Education and Skills and Director of Transformation, Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire CCG. The SPG is responsible for driving the actions set out in the written statement of action (WSoA) and establishing task and finish groups as necessary to focus on specific areas of work. g) Accountability for progress and impact is through reporting to the bi- monthly, multi-agency SEND Improvement Board and via BCC and CCG governance.
4. Financial Implications
A transfer of £1.3m from the Schools Block to the High Needs Block.
5. Glossary of Terms
Not applicable, all abbreviations have been explained in the text.
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Improvement Priority 2 Outcomes we are aiming to achieve Children and young people with SEND receive the best possible, appropriate and effective support and provision at the right time. Impact Measures Increase in the percentage of parents reporting they know how to access early intervention and have used these services.
Action Milestones July 2020 November 2020 March 2021 Develop a SEND ‘first call’ Role of team co- Team recruited and Team embedded. single point of contact service designed with parent launched. for parents, carers and carers. Service user feedback professionals – aligned to evidences positive Family Support and Inclusion impact of team. Team – to ensure an accessible pathway to advice Sustainable funding and referrals to SEND Local secured. Offer for families that need support before or after an EHC Plan is in place. A support system for SENDCo briefing Forward programme of Briefing meetings education, training and skills meetings established meeting agendas and evaluated. settings (0-25) to understand to enable the sharing content coproduced their responsibilities in of information and with SENDCos and SENDCo’s feedback relation to the SEND Code of good practice. informed by parents’ evidences they are Practice feedback. being kept informed An agreed co- and benefitting from constructed plan Structures and direct lines of documenting purpose channels agreed for communication. and format of other disseminating communication with information and SENDCos. guidance. Early Years current Comprehensive SEND Feedback from trainees training offer reviewed training programme used to evaluate and to identify gaps. developed for Early further develop Years staff in settings. programme. A comprehensive 3- SEND Workforce An evaluation of year SEND Workforce Development feedback from Development Programme workforce and parent Programme for implemented. carer experience used education settings to further evaluate and including leaders, develop programme. teachers, staff, governors and councillors.
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Action Milestones July 2020 November 2020 March 2021 A support system for Clear communications Bristol Support Plan Evidence that the education settings to about the Bristol being used by consistent use of the understand their Support Plan increased numbers of Bristol Support Plan is responsibilities of early encouraging its use in educational settings. leading to good quality, identification and assessment all educational settings. coproduced using a ‘graduated response’. assessments and effective support.
Improvement Priority 4 Outcomes we are aiming to achieve Leaders across the local area will work together to ensure that the children and young people with SEND will experience inclusive cultures, enabling them to achieve their full potential. Develop our systems and resources to enable young people with SEND/EHCP to be better supported to achieve a successful transition into education, training and employment between ages 14 -25 and beyond. Impact Measures Reduce the overall rate of fixed-term exclusions to bring Bristol inn line with statistical neighbours (all schools) Agree a fixed-term exclusion reduction target for SEN support and EHCP (primary, secondary, special) Reduce the percentage of sessions missed through overall absence to bring Bristol in line with statistical neighbours (all schools) Agree a percentage of sessions missed through overall absence for SEN support and EHCP (overall and persistent absence) PE302b Reduce the percentage of SEND Young People aged 16-25, who have an EHCP and are NEET or Not Known BCP270 Increase experience of work opportunities for priority groups, including SEND young people
Action Milestones July 2020 November 2020 March 2021 Establish the structures and Multi-agency Operational activity Operational activity systems to improve (education, health and mapped and coordinated. attendance and reduce fixed- social care) Exclusion coproduced, Bristol- term exclusions for pupils and Attendance work wide approach to Oversight of KPIs and with SEND stream agreed and address issues of non- scrutiny by senior Task & Finish Group attendance and decision makers, established – including exclusion agreed and including elected parent carers – to launched. members. support the development of a Launch of coproduced system-wide approach assessment tool that to identify the range of will shape the complex factors that approach of different underpin pupil agencies in keeping absence, adopting a students in education. contextual safeguarding approach.
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Action Milestones July 2020 November 2020 March 2021 Extend the SEND Data Tracker 80% of young people 90% of young people 100% of young people (BG6) temporary contract to aged 19-25 with SEND aged 19-25 with SEND aged 19-25 with SEND ensure there is sufficient will be known and/or will be known and/or will be known and/or capacity to carry out critical EHCP ceased EHCP ceased EHCP ceased research and contact functions to build an accurate picture of Bristol young people aged 19- 25 with SEND (currently there are 633 young people in our cohort) Extend the Post-16 SEND 20 SEND young people 35 SEND young people 50 SEND young people Participation Worker (BG9) aged 19-25 will have aged 19-25 will have aged 19-25 will have temporary contract to ensure been supported to been supported to been supported to there is sufficient capacity to successfully progress successfully progress successfully progress carry out critical face to face into training or into training or into training or support and IAG activities employment employment employment with young people with SEND aged 19-25 to secure positive progression from Education to Training and Employment Extend the WORKS Project 420 SEND young 500 SEND young 840 SEND young Manager temporary contract people aged 14-16 will people aged 14-16 will people aged 14-16 will so that we can work in have taken part in have taken part in have taken part in partnership with schools and employer workshops employer workshops employer workshops education settings to embed and experience of work and experience of work and experience of work careers development into the activities to increase activities to increase activities to increase curriculum, expand the aspirations and aspirations and aspirations and number of employer pledges, awareness of future awareness of future awareness of future and co-design exploratory career options career options career options career insights and experiences of work for young people aged 14-16 with SEND Develop a strategy with Current education Significant increase in Increased capacity health and schools to ensure providers are engaged number of places across the local area to specialist provision is used to work with Bristol available in specialist meet demand to effectively and there are City Council to ensure provisions. 2021/22 and beyond. sufficient appropriate places sufficient school places to meet need. for all children and Review of effectiveness young people carefully of resource bases and matched to meet their alternative provision is particular needs in line undertaken. with SEN Code of Practice.
Mapping exercise completed and gaps and issues understood to inform Specialist Provision Sufficiency Strategy.
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Action Milestones July 2020 November 2020 March 2021
Principles for specialist provision planning are agreed.
Forecast demand to ensure there are sufficient places in specialist provision (schools and resource bases) to meet need.
Improvement Priority 5 Outcomes we are aiming to achieve Parents and carers have a positive experience of the SEND system in Bristol and their confidence in the system improves Impact Measures Findings from quality assurance activity (audits, feedback cards, surveys, complaints) demonstrate ongoing improvement in parental confidence and satisfaction with the SEND system and Local Offer.
Action Milestones July 2020 November 2020 March 2021 Coproduce the Local Offer Developed working Completed stage one Completed stage two website with children, young groups with young of the Website of the Website people, parents and carers in people, parents and Development Plan in Development Plan in order to ensure information is carers to identify their coproduction with coproduction with clear, comprehensive, key needs and agreed young people, parents young, parents and accessible and up-to-date. way forward for the and carers. carers. Local Offer website. Annual report of Local A co-produced Website Offer progress Development Plan, published. ratified by all.
In addition to the above, there are three ‘Coproduction Projects’ each costed in at £50,000 that will be developed with schools, in the broad subject areas of; 1) Autism; 2) KS2 to KS3 SEND transfer and 3) School SEN Support. Milestones for these projects are in development.
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Bristol Schools Forum 20 May 2020 Supporting paper for agenda item number: 6
Bristol Schools Forum DSG Overview 2019/20 (Outturn)
Date of meeting: 20 May 2020 Time of meeting: 3.30pm Venue: Virtual meeting
1 Purpose of report
1.1 This report explains the year-end outturn for the 2019/20 DSG. This includes identifying year-end balances and seeking any indications from Schools Forum on the approach to treating them, plus reporting on maintained school balances.
2 Recommendation
2.1 Schools Forum is invited to:
a) note the 2019/20 outturn position set out in Table 1, which includes a net cumulative deficit of £0.5m, which is an adverse movement of £1.5m from the forecast position at Period 8. b) note that the total DSG deficit carried forward will be £2.9m as £2.4m of funding was accelerated from 2020/21. c) note the carry forward balances in each block, and that discussion on the use or transfer of these balances will be discussed at the point of the first monitoring report. d) note the number of maintained schools with surplus and deficit balances and the overall position by sector. e) note the Covid-19 updates from ESFA/DfE and implications for 2020/21 budgets.
3 Background
3.1 Schools Forum has been receiving updates on the financial position of the DSG for 2019/20 throughout the financial year. Due to the cancellation of the March 2020 meeting the most recent update was for Period 8, which forecasted an overall in-year overspend of £0.961m. Taking account of the overall surplus of £1.962m brought forward, this indicated a forecast cumulative surplus of £1.001m at the end of March 2020. The final position has deteriorated by £1.486m and this is explained in the report.
3.2 The financial position of individual maintained schools is considered. This includes the numbers of schools with surpluses and deficits, the overall financial position of each sector and changes since March 2019.
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4 Summary DSG Outturn 2019/20
4.1 The previously reported position in January 2020 was a forecast £0.961m in-year deficit on the Dedicated Schools Budget for Period 8 2019/20. This would have reduced the brought forward surplus on the DSG from £1.962m to £1.001m.
4.2 The latest position overall has worsened by £1.486m leading to a final deficit carry forward of £0.485m.
4.3 £2.407m funding was advanced from 2020/21, recognising the forecast pressures in the High Needs Block. This advanced funding will add to the carry forward deficit as it represents additional spend in-year over the available funding.
4.4 The Outturn position is set out in Table 1 with more detail set out in Appendix 1.
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Table 1: Summary DSG position 2019/20 Period 12 (all figures in £000s) DSG funding/ Outturn Forecast Movement budget Period 12 In-year Cumulative Period 8 since b/f 2019/20 2019/20 variance c/f c/f Period 8 Schools Block 0 259,445 259,271 (174) (174) 0 (174) De-delegation (414) 0 (49) (49) (463) (414) (49) Schools Central Block 0 2,329 2,329 0 0 0 0 Early Years (1,115) 36,771 37,907 1,136 21 (1,531) 1,552 High Needs Block (433) 58,904 60,438 1,534 1,101 944 157 Funding (355,043) (355,043) 0 0 0 0 Total (1,962) 2,407 4,853 2,447 485 (1,001) 1,486
4.5 Schools Block (-£0.174m cumulative underspend). The Growth Fund underspent by £181k, this was offset by expenditure on historic NNDR commitments. Detail on Growth Fund Spending is outlined in Appendix 2.
4.6 De-delegation (-£0.414m cumulative underspend). The majority of this underspend is attributable to Schools In Financial Difficulty, this balance hasn’t moved as no new funding was de-delegated and there were no financial commitments, this balance is held to provide additional support to eligible maintained primary schools if required. The in-year movement is attributable to underspends on the trades union services. The balances are set out in Table 2.
Table 2: Outturn for de-delegated items 2019/20
Brought Carry In-year forward forward movement 1/4/2019 31/3/2020 £'000 £'000 £'000 Schools In Financial Difficulty (335) 0 (335) TU Facility Time (83) (46) (129) Health & Safety Roving Reps. 4 3 1 De-delegated Services (414) (49) (463)
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4.7 School Central Block (balanced budget). This block ended the year in a balanced position.
4.8 Early Years (£0.021m cumulative overspend). The final analysis of the January 2020 pupil census was not available until very late in the financial year and accounts for the swing from the previous forecast as it generates 7/12ths of the income for this block.
4.9 For 2 year olds, we had been forecasting a 19% reduction in numbers, based on uptake figures and previous trends, but the final figure was only a 6% reduction. Whilst this reduced our income into the block by less than we were forecasting it also reduced expenditure, but by a lesser extent, as the January census is only used to calculate 1/3rd of the expenditure. This led to an increase from the previous forecast of £493k.
4.10 For 3 and 4 year olds we had seen an increase in payments in the Autumn term of around £1m and if participation levels had continued to increase into the spring term the increased census would have generated more income and compensated for the expenditure increase. The actual census figures only showed a very slight increase to numbers overall so the Autumn term spike has resulted in an increase in expenditure from forecast of £1.059m.
4.11 There was a carry forward balance of £1.1m at the start of the year on this block and Schools Forum agreed for this to be spent during the year on a number of items, including topping up the Maintained Nursery Supplement (£0.517m), a top up of SEN rates (0.208m), as well as support for quality and subsidy of 2 year old provision in areas of disadvantage (£0.390m). This was all spent during the year so the block has ended up with a very small deficit carry forward, the actual position ignoring this use of carry forward is that the block had a balanced in-year position.
4.12 High Needs Block (£1.101m cumulative overspend). The outturn for 2019/20 was broadly in line with the forecast position (£157k worse than at Period 8), ending with an in-year overspend against budget of £1.534m. The main areas of pressure in the block continue to be top-ups, which have seen an increase in number of pupils receiving them of 14%, equating to an increase in expenditure of £2.7m, as well as costs of Alternative Provision. Further detail of Alternative Provision spending is outlined in Appendix 3.
4.13 The underlying position in High Needs is worse than the reported position as £2.407m of funding was accelerated from 2020/21 and added to the budget. Nationally the pressures in this area have been recognised by government and we have seen an increase in funding for 2020/21 of 13%.
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4.14 Funding. The outturn figure for funding has moved slightly as it has taken account of final recoupment figures as well an estimate of the change to the Early Years Block of the January census. The total funding of £355.043m is £0.311m less than previously forecast.
4.15 The overall in-year position for the DSG was a £2.447m overspend against budget but the advanced funding of £2.407m into the High Needs Block means the true position against funding was a £4.853m overspend. Adding this to the brought forward balance means the total carry forward balance is a £2.892m deficit.
5 2019/20 year-end balances by block.
5.1 The Local Authority is obliged to carry forward the balance on the Dedicated Schools Grant, whether it is in surplus or deficit. It has become customary for Schools Forum to review year-end balances and advise whether they should remain in the block where the surplus accrued, or to move surplus balances to other blocks where deficits might exist.
5.2 Table 1 indicates that there is a net deficit on the DSG of £0.485m at the end of 2019/20 financial year. Both the High Needs Early Years Blocks ended the year in deficit, with a small surplus on the Schools Block. There is also a surplus on de-delegated items that will carry forward to be used for the purpose that it was de-delegated for.
5.3 In previous years balances have been moved between block, particularly to transfer spare funding to the High Needs Block, after retaining Early Years carry forward to fund priority areas. The proposal is to keep the balances in each of the blocks and to have a discussion about potential movements when the first quarter monitoring is reported, when we will have a better understanding of pressures in each of the blocks. Table 3 sets out the carry forward positions.
Table 3: DSG year-end balances 2019/20 £'000 b/f 2019/20 movement c/f Schools Block 0 (174) (174) De-Del (414) (49) (464) CSSB 0 0 0 EYB (1,115) 1,135 20 HNB (432) 1,534 1,102 Sub-total (1,962) 2,446 485 Advanced funding 0 2,407 2,407 TOTAL (1,962) 4,853 2,892
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6 Individual School Balances
6.1 Overall schools balances have improved by £0.544m on revenue and reduced by £1.234m on capital. Table 4 has the summary position.
Table 4: Maintained School (and Children’s Centre) balances 2019/20
Revenue Revenue Revenue Capital Capital Capital b/f Movement c/f b/f Movement c/f 1/4/2019 2019/20 31/3/2020 1/4/2019 2019/20 31/3/2020 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 Nursery 1,295 314 1,609 -304 66 -238 Primary -6,741 -48 -6,789 -2,686 776 -1,909 Secondary -592 74 -518 4 -4 0 Special -1,478 -934 -2,412 -1,411 376 -1,035 Hospital -263 -130 -393 -13 15 2 Children's Centre -69 179 110 -26 5 -21 Total -7,848 -544 -8,392 -4,436 1,234 -3,202
6.2 13 out of 72 LA maintained schools started the year with a revenue deficit. By the end of the year, 14 out of 69 had deficits to carry forward into 2020/21. Table 5 has the summary position.
Table 5: Numbers of schools with revenue b/f and c/f surpluses and deficits for 2019/20
Deficit Surplus Deficit Surplus Change Change April April March March in in Change 2019 2019 Total 2020 2020 Total deficit surplus in total Nursery 8 4 12 9 3 12 1 -1 0 Primary 4 45 49 4 42 46 0 -3 -3 Secondary 0 2 2 0 2 2 0 0 0 Special 1 6 7 1 6 7 0 0 0 Hospital 0 2 2 0 2 2 0 0 0 Total 13 59 72 14 55 69 1 -4 -3 Children's Centre 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 -1 0 (amalgamated total)
6.3 Part of this improvement has been because of the efforts made by schools to keep their budgets under control.
6.4 The reduction in the number of schools is a result of 3 primary schools becoming academies during the year. These schools had surplus balances
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totalling £337k at the start of the year and these, along with any in-year movement, were transferred to the academy after conversion.
6.5 For those schools in surplus, the average surplus increased from £185k to £204k in the year, whilst for schools in deficit the average deficits also increased but by a smaller amount from £208k to £211k. 3 primary schools moved from deficit to surplus positions, whilst 3 moved into deficit from a surplus.
6.6 14 individual institutions are currently in deficit.
6.7 Directly managed “Children’s Centres” offer funded early years provision in locations where other providers are not doing so. The total balances in these setting have moved from a surplus to a deficit position, so work will need to be done to bring their finances to a more sustainable position.
6.8 The LA will continue to support and challenge the 4 primary schools and 1 special school with deficits to help them manage their recovery to a balanced position.
6.9 The nursery sector continues to be a concern, with 2/3rds of the 12 maintained nursery schools with a deficit, some of them representing a substantial proportion of their annual budgets.
6.10 An All-Party Parliamentary Group has been reviewing the future of maintained nursery schools and is due to report soon. This ought to lead to some conclusions about future funding arrangements for early years in the Spending Review whose timetable continues to be pushed back because of other more pressing government priorities.
6.11 Once it is clear how government sees the future for maintained nursery schools, Bristol can take a view about the policy and financial context in which our 12 nursery schools can operate. In the meantime, the Local Authority has tried to work with nursery schools to get them into a position where their financial position is not getting any worse. Of the 12 schools, 4 ended the year in a better position and 8 ended the year worse.
7 DSG Deficit 7.1 As outlined above the overall deficit in the DSG is £2.892m, this includes the advanced funding of £2.407m from 2020/21. The DSG is a ring-fenced budget and regulations state that it cannot be subsidised by the General Fund, so must balance in the longer term.
7.2 Whilst there are some small variations in each of the blocks, the High Needs Block is where the biggest pressure lies. The allocation for 2020/21
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reflects the level of spend in 2019/20 but is still not sufficient to meet any increase in need or to tackle the historic deficit.
7.3 The high level strategy for dealing with the funding pressures in the High Needs Block, continues to be: • Lobbying central government for more High Needs funding; • Transforming the High Needs service through the Education Transformation Programme via stakeholder engagement and public consultation; and • Transfers of funding from different blocks or funds to support the High Needs budget (within limits set out by ESFA, and only where appropriate and agreed by Schools Forum).
7.4 The budget for 2020/21 has been set, with the High Needs Block having a total funding of £62.376m (after transfers from Schools Block and CSSB). The transfer of £1.369m from the Schools Block will be used towards funding the Education Transformation Programme, leaving £61.007m. In order to achieve a balanced in-year position in 2020/21 expenditure can only increase by 1%.
7.5 The prime intention of the Education Transformation Programme is not to save money, but the longer term outcomes should include a reduction in High Needs costs as more pupils stay in mainstream settings. Until this takes affect costs in the High Needs Block will need to be contained to stop the deficit from growing. The programme will need to build a model of provision that is sustainable and will meet longer term need.
8 Covid-19 update
8.1 Following the coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak all schools closed to the majority of pupils from 20 March 2020, the exception being pupils of key workers. No reopening date has been announced at the time of writing this report.
8.2 ESFA have confirmed that schools will continue to receive their core funding in the normal way, they have said this will happen regardless of any periods of complete or partial closure. This is to ensure that schools can continue to pay staff and meet other regular financial commitments.
8.3 This is also the case for High Needs budgets, so top-up payments and funding for Alternative Provision will also continue as if pupils were still attending.
8.4 The DfE has also announced additional funding that is available for schools to cover additional costs as a result of Covid-19. Guidance for claiming this funding is expected in June, but in the meantime schools are being asked
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to keep a record of any additional costs. Examples of these costs (as given by ESFA) are as follows; • increased premises related costs • support for free school meals for eligible children who are not attending school • additional cleaning
8.5 DfE have also announced that to reduce the burden on education settings, a number of data collections will be either cancelled, deferred or, in some cases, replaced with simplified returns.
8.6 More detail on the Covid-19 measures and changes are available on the gov.uk website.
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Outturn position for Overall DSG 2019/20 Appendix 1 Forecast Brought Outturn Carry Movement Funding In-year Outturn forward Period 12 forward Period 9 to 2019/20 movement Period 8 1.4.19 2019/20 31.3.20 12 2019/20 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 Maintained Schools 77,572 77,580 7 80,270 (2,690) Academy Recoupment 179,527 179,527 176,829 2,698
Growth Fund 2,346 2,165 (181) 2,346 (181) Schools Block 259,445 259,271 (174) (174) 259,445 (174) De-delegation Services (414) (49) (49) (463) (49) Admissions 479 479 479 Centrally Retained 1,850 1,850 1,850
Schools Central Services 2,329 2,329 2,329 National Formula 29,182 29,332 150 28,223 1,109 2 Year Old Funding 3,459 3,955 496 3,085 870 Pupil Premium (EYPP) 267 235 (32) 312 (76) Additional Support Services 805 829 809 20 SEN Top up 1,042 1,660 618 1,253 406 Staffing 1,916 1,792 (124) 2,308 (515) Disability Access Fund 100 103 3 55 48 Early Years Block (1,115) 36,771 37,907 1,135 20 36,045 1,862 Commissioned Services 2,499 2,443 (56) 2,372 72 Core Place Funding 10,514 9,816 (698) 10,026 (210) Staffing 974 1,180 207 919 261 Top Up 26,753 28,537 1,784 28,694 (157) Placements 7,438 7,930 492 7,746 184 Pupil Support 740 772 32 640 132 HOPE Virtual School 236 198 (37) 234 (36) Academy Recoupment 9,561 9,561 9,650 (89)
High Needs Block (433) 58,904 60,438 1,534 1,101 60,281 157 (354,732 Funding (355,043) (355,043) (311) ) Total (1,962) 2,407 4,903 2,446 484 3,368 1,485
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Appendix 2 Growth Fund 2019/20 Budget £'000 Allocated from Schools Block 1,600 Refund Recoupment 746 Total Budget 2,346 Expenditure £'000 Phase School Name Amount Primary Ashton Gate Primary School 63 Primary St Werburgh's Primary School 57 Primary Chester Park Junior School 7 Primary Chester Park Infant School 38 Primary Cotham Gardens Primary School 111 Primary Filton Avenue Primary School 46 Primary Southville Primary School 110 Primary Redfield Educate Together Primary Academy 29 Primary Oasis Academy Marksbury Road 48 Primary Fairlawn Primary School 42 Primary Barton Hill Academy 35 Primary Wicklea Academy 32 Primary Whitehall Primary School 63 Primary Greenfield E-Act Primary Academy 18 Primary subtotal 698 Secondary Bristol Free School 194 Secondary Orchard School Bristol 22 Secondary The City Academy Bristol 78 Secondary Ashton Park School 28 Secondary Cotham School 125 Secondary Fairfield High School 58 Secondary St Bede's Catholic College 119 Secondary Redland Green School 194 Secondary Bristol Brunel Academy 172 Secondary Bristol Cathedral Choir School 146 Secondary Colston's Girls' School 133 Secondary Oasis Academy John Williams 40 Secondary Bristol Metropolitan Academy 158 Secondary subtotal 1,467 Total expenditure 2,165
Variance (underspend) (181)
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Appendix 3 – Breakdown of Alternative Provision expenditure. Ave. cost per Type Establishment Places Budget (£) Outturn (£) place £ EIB Funding CLF Nest 15 150,000 150,000 10,000 EIB Funding Woodstock 30 150,000 300,000 10,000 EIB Funding Lansdown Park 15 150,000 150,000 10,000 EIB Funding sub-total 60 450,000 600,000
BHES Bristol Hospital Education Service 2,155,000 2,156,610 BHES sub-total 2,155,000 2,156,610
ALP Block Contracts BFA [inc in recoupment] 50 8000 - ALP Block Contracts LPW [closed] 14 52,051 14,500 ALP Block Contracts LPW 25 107,497 16,500 Include (Catch 22) ALP Block Contracts 14 180,923 16,800 [closed] Include (Catch 22) ALP Block Contracts 8 134,529 17,136 [closed] ALP Block Contracts CLF 50 598,387 28,000 ALP Block Contracts sub-total 161 1,075,230 1,073,387 ALP Spot Purchasing 943,480 947,882
ALP Spot Purchasing sub-total 943,480 947,882 PRU Top-up Lansdown Park 299,189
PRU Top-up St Matthias 561,908
PRU Top-up Bristol Futures Academy 303,061
PRU Top-up sub-total 1,164,158
TOTAL AP Spend 4,623,710 7,587,038
Pupil Referral Unit place funding, funded via recoupment directly by ESFA
from LA HNB gross allocation
Ave. cost per Type Establishment Outturn (£) place PRU Places Lansdown Park 71 689,167 10,000
PRU Places St Matthias 65 650,000 10,000
PRU Places Bristol Futures Academy 50 305,833 10,000
PRU Places sub-total 186 1,645,000
Notes: 1) Lansdown Park was 66 places April to August, now 71 from September 2) Average cost of ALP block contract is cost per placement, not forecast divided by places.
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Bristol Schools Forum 20th May 2020 Supporting paper for agenda item number: 7
Bristol Schools Forum School Places
Date of meeting: 20 May 2020 Time of meeting: 3.30pm Venue: Virtual
1. Purpose of report
1.1 To update Schools Forum on school place planning across Bristol..
2. Recommendation
2.1 That Schools Forum note the contents of this report.
3. Summary
3.1 The city is experiencing a substantial rise in demand for secondary school places. A significant amount of work has already been undertaken to ensure all pupils continue to be offered a school place. Further places are planned through the provision of new free schools.
3.2 Offers of places at secondary schools were made on 2nd March. 76% were offered their 1st preference school and 93% were offered one of their 3 preferences. This is an increase from 72% and 91% in 2019. These increases are a result of some popular schools taking additional pupils and increased applications for schools that were previously less popular.
3.3 Offers of places at primary schools were made on 16th April. 87.5% were offered their 1st preference school and 97.5% were offered one of their 3 preferences. This is very similar to 2019.
3.4 Numbers requiring places at primary schools are now falling and places will need to be managed to avoid large numbers of empty places.
4. Context
4.1 Bristol has previously seen a dramatic rise in primary school pupil numbers. Reception admissions peaked in 2016 and since then numbers have been falling, mainly due to falling birth rates.
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4.2 These higher primary school numbers are now impacting on secondary schools. A number of schools have already been expanded and other schools are taking more pupils than their Published Admissions Number (PAN). Taking more pupils than the capacity is not sustainable in the longer term.
4.3 National Offer Day for secondary school places was 2nd March 2020. Although all pupils were offered a place, this was only possible as some schools agreed to offer above their PAN. 76% were offered their first preference. 7% were made an offer that not one of their preferences.
4.4 A total of 4,415 places were offered in Bristol schools, an increase from 4,354 in 2019. 213 of these were for pupils living outside Bristol (an increase from 199 in 2019). After offers were made there were no places remaining (compared to 38 in 2019 and 71 in 2018), This is the first time there were no places left unallocated on 1st March.
4.5 National Offer Day for primary school places was 16th April 2020. All pupils were offered a place. 87.5% were offered their first preference. 2.4 % were made an offer that not one of their preferences.
4.6 There are 5,763 places available in Reception for September 2020 and a total of 5,244 places were offered in Bristol schools. The number of places available is forecast to reduce to 5,601 for 2021 as some schools look to reduce their admission number.
4.7 Pupil projections are prepared annually for the DFE School Capacity Survey. These projections are used to allocate capital funding (‘Basic Need’) and also contribute towards decisions to approve the opening of new ‘Free Schools’. The School Capacity Survey will not take place in 2020 and there is currently no information on the next wave of capital funding for Basic Need will be calculated.
4.8 Birth rates are the main factor used in the pupil projection, with factors such as the effect of new housing and historical trends of gain/loss as pupils move through the school years being incorporated. The projections also take account of net ‘loss’ of pupils to schools in neighbouring local authority areas and the numbers of pupils opting for independent schools.
4.9 In addition to expansion of existing schools there is a need to provide additional places through the provision of new schools. The Department for Education (DfE) approved the establishment of 3 new schools. The first of these, Trinity Academy, opened in September 2019 in temporary accommodation with 4 forms of entry. The new school building is currently under construction and will accommodate 6 forms of entry Report name: School Places 2 Author: Report date: 20th May 2020 Page 30 Bristol Schools Forum 20th May 2020 Supporting paper for agenda item number: 7
(180 pupils per year).
4.10 Further new Free Schools were approved to serve the East Central and South areas. These schools were planned to ensure sufficient secondary places for the short to medium term growth from primary school numbers and the longer term needs created by new housing developments. The development of these schools is dealt with by the DfE not the local authority.
4.11 Development of Oasis Temple Quarter has been slow, with the initial target opening date being revised to 2021.The planning application for the wider development, including the school, is now due to go to Planning Committee on 28th May. Even if approved the decision may be subject to call-in due to concerns from the Environment Agency. Until planning permission is obtained development of temporary accommodation will not begin. It is therefore likely that the school will not open in 2021.
4.12 Admissions for 2021 are likely to be very difficult if the new Oasis Academy Temple Quarter free school does not open and Trinity is not at the full PAN. Projected demand is estimated to be around 4,500 with 4,300 places within PAN. There is likely to be a need to ask more schools to admit over PAN to ensure every pupil receives an offer. This may require additional commitments from the Growth Fund.
4.13 The planned new schools will provide an additional 600 Year 7 places. CST Trinity will provide 180 places, Oasis Temple Quarter 240 and 180 places at Oasis South Bristol. The table below shows pupil projections based on October 2018 census data and the number of Year 7 places following the opening of the new schools.
Table 1: Year 7 pupil forecasts and capacity 2019 - 2024 Year 2019 Oct Census Year 7 Capacity Data Projection 2019/20 4,321 4,209 2020/21 4,402 4,209 2021/22 4,573 4,269 2022/23 4,748 4,269 2023/24 4,793 4,269 2024/25 4,825 4,269 Incudes 120 places at Trinity from 2019 and additional 60 from 2021.
4.14 .Demand is projected to start to fall after 2024, in line with primary school numbers and it is unlikely that further additional places will be required in the medium to longer term.
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4.15 In-year admissions will be very difficult during the 2020/21year. There will be very few, if any, available places in Year 7 for pupils moving into the city or requiring a change of school.
4.16 Planning for secondary school place requirements is carried out using 3 geographical Planning Areas. Pupil projections for each area are included in appendix 1.
4.17 The significant issue facing primary schools in the short to medium term is over-provision. Changes to school funding have made the issue of surplus places particularly challenging. Officers have been working with schools to reduce the PAN at some schools where there is insufficient demand. This does not remove the places permanently but makes it easier for the schools to plan staffing levels with more certainty.
4.18 Reception admissions peaked in 2016 when 5,581 children started school. Although there was a small increase in applications for 2020 the longer term forecasts indicate that demand will continue to fall. For 2023/24 projections indicate around 4,800 children requiring a place.
4.19 Previously, when pupil numbers were falling there was a scheme to provide some protection for schools with falling rolls. This was withdrawn. The Schools in Financial Difficulty fund may be a source of support for schools in this position, but this only applies for maintained primary schools and not academies (or maintained secondary schools).
4.20 There has also been a rise in demand for specialist provision with a large increase in the number of Education and Health Care Plans. The rise is significantly above that which would be expected from the rise in the general school population. Existing specialist provision across the city is at or very close to capacity and will require substantial capital investment. Solutions to create additional specialist provision in both special and mainstream schools are currently being explored.
5. Financial Implications
5.1 This report is combining information on school place planning and the capital available to address the consequent pressures. The capital information is summarised in Appendix 1.
5.2 There will also be financial consequences for the Growth Fund. Appendix 2 sets out the current and future number of forms of entry that are expected to have a financial implication. This would either be through the mainstream formula for new and growing schools, or it would be through the Growth Fund for expanding schools. Either way, the funding received through the Schools Block DSG for growth would Report name: School Places 4 Author: Report date: 20th May 2020 Page 32 Bristol Schools Forum 20th May 2020 Supporting paper for agenda item number: 7
be the main source to pay for this.
5.3 The forecast numbers are based on existing plans and average costs for primary and secondary pupils. Actual costs will vary school by school. Actual numbers of pupils will depend on whether new expansions occur at the expected time and if actual pupil numbers account for the expected full forms of entry. Delays to expansions or variations to actual pupil demand will affect these figures. These numbers are very high level and are less easy to predict the further in the future they relate to.
5.4 The current Growth Fund, has a budget of £2.7m for 2020/21, consisting of the £2.0m allocated plus £0.7m refund of recoupment. Existing commitments suggest spend of £2.3m, allowing some contingency for arising variation. When adding in “New and Growing Schools” which are funded from the schools formula directly then total funding rises to £3.2m and expected commitments total £2.8m
Table 2: Forecast extra forms of entry and cost to Schools Block 2020-2024 Type of Growth Sep-20 Sep-21 Sep-22 Sep-23 Sep-24 TOTAL number of forms of entry (ie classes of 30) 26 32 28 24 21 Forecast cost (£'000) 2,145 2,750 2,538 2,176 1,904
5.5 It is clear that Bristol will need to provide for growth for many years to come.
5.6 The report also refers to falling rolls in primary because of a falling birth rate. Schools with falling rolls often experience difficulties in managing the consequent loss of funding. The mainstream funding formula operates on a lagged basis, so a school that had fewer pupils in October, would not bear the loss of any funding for another two terms, at the start of the financial year (or three terms, in the case of academies). Any consideration of a Falling Rolls Fund would need to recognize that this would be a call on Schools Block funding.
Appendices:
Appendix 1: Capital Update Appendix 2: Future Growth Fund forecasts
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Appendix 1
Schools Capital Funding
The table below demonstrates the capital budget from 2017/18 to current.
The majority of capital funding from this period has been allocated to the secondary sector in order meet the demand of additional places that had previously been seen in the primary sector. Key projects include:
• Council construction of Trinity Academy 6FE secondary school in Lockleaze – ring fenced grant from the DfE from the Free Schools Programme • Redland Green 1FE expansion • Bristol Free School 2FE expansion • Bristol Cathedral Choir School 1FE expansion • Cotham 1FE expansion • St Bede’s 1FE expansion
The DfE are currently due to deliver 2 new free schools:
• Oasis Academy Temple Quarter 8FE to cater for young people from East and Centre – target opening date 2021 (in temporary accommodation) • Oasis Academy South Bristol – On the site of The Park in Knowle West. Likely opening date 2023.
Failure to deliver the planned schools would require additional provision to be accommodated within existing schools. Funding for this would need to be discussed with the DfE but would in all likelihood need to include some level of basic need grant funding. It should be noted there is also significant pressure on the basic need grant funding to increase provision for pupils with SEND requiring capital investment from the same sources.
The only planned increase to primary provision is at Perry Court Primary where additional place will be required as a result of major new housing. The capital costs of this expansion are being funded from the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL).
The table demonstrates that there is currently £1.069m unallocated Basic Need Grant Funding within the education capital programme. A review is currently underway considering how best to allocate this. Considerations are primarily around SEND sufficiency and how best the Council can deliver its statutory responsibility in this sector,
Report name: School Places 6 Author: Report date: 20th May 2020 Page 34 Bristol Schools Forum 20th May 2020 Supporting paper for agenda item number: 7 Appendix 1 Summary of capital grants 2017/18 to 20120/21
EDUCATION CAPITAL GRANTS (£'000) 2017/18 2018/19 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 TOTAL Grant Purpose £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 Basic Need (2020/21 grant confirmed as 3,197 5,114 10,998 0 19,309 Pupil place sufficiency (statutory responsibility). zero) SEND Capital 0 841 2,600 841 4,281 Capital to improve special provision for children & young people with education, health and care (EHC) plans. School Condition Allocation (for LA 2,716 2,271 2,057 7,044 Capital to improve and maintain school estate at LA schools. maintained schools) Healthy Pupils Grant (from the Soft Drinks 0 207 0 0 207 Investment in facilities for physical activity, healthy eating, mental Industry Levy) health, wellbeing & medical conditions. ESFA Ringfenced grant ringfenced for 4 2,229 0 0 0 2,229 Ringfenced for the expansion of 4 specific early years settings. Early Years projects Devolved Formula Capital - LA schools 596 540 467 439 2,042 Funding for LA maintained schools (excl.VA) to maintain their (excludes VA) buildings & fund small capital project (or can be pooled across the LA with the schools’ agreement). ESFA 35 Page ringfenced Grant for Cathedral Trust Schools 215 4,137 17,051 2,597 23,999 Ringfenced for the construction of the new Trinity Academy. Trinity Academy TOTAL KNOWN FUNDING RECEIVABLE 8,738 9,187 24,131 14,459 2,597 59,111 2017/18 TO 2020/21
ALLOCATION OF GRANTS £'000 Comment Ringfenced and devolved funding 28,270 £24.0m Trinity + £2.2m Early Years + £2.1m Devolved Capital Allocated SEND Grant 4,047 ABW Service AED in education capital programme Unallocated SEND Grant (Cabinet report on SEND strategy with proposals pending) 234
Allocated to projects in the Education Capital Programme 25,491 of which £8.5m for secondary expansion, £12.8m for SEN, £3.0m for Primaries, £0.5m for Early Years, £0.7m for project scoping/OR's/feasibilities Unallocated (Cabinet report on SEND strategy with proposals pending) 1,069 TOTAL ALLOCATIONS 59,111
Report name: School Places 7 Author: Report date: 20th May 2020
Bristol Schools Forum 20th May 2020 Supporting paper for agenda item number: 7
Appendix 2 High Level forecast of Growth Fund for next 5 years
Additional Forms of Entry Type of Growth Sector School Sep-20 Sep-21 Sep-22 Sep-23 Sep-24 Growth Fund Primary Ashton Gate 1 1 0 0 0 Growth Fund Primary Cotham Gardens 1 1 0 0 0 Growth Fund Primary Southville 1 0 0 0 0 Growth Fund Primary Whitehall 1 1 0 0 0 Growing school APT Primary Redfield 1 0 0 0 0 Growing school APT Primary Marksbury 1 1 0 0 0 Growing school APT Primary Fairlawn 1 1 0 0 0 Growth Fund Secondary Bristol Free Sch 1 0 0 0 0 Growth Fund Secondary Cathedral 1 1 0 0 0 Growth Fund Secondary City Academy 1 1 1 1 1 Growth Fund Secondary Fairfield 1 1 0 0 0 Growth Fund Secondary Redland Green 2 1 0 0 0 Growth Fund Secondary John Williams 1 1 0 0 0 Growth Fund Secondary Bristol Brunel 2 2 1 1 0 Growth Fund Secondary Bristol Met 2 2 2 1 0 Growth Fund Secondary Colston Girls 2 2 2 1 0 Growth Fund Secondary Cotham 1 1 1 0 0 Growth Fund Secondary St Bedes 1 1 1 0 0 Growing school APT Secondary Trinity 4 6 6 6 6 Growing school APT Secondary Oasis Temple Q 0 8 8 8 8 Growing school APT Secondary Oasis S Bristol 0 0 6 6 6 TOTAL number of forms of entry (ie classes of 30) 26 32 28 24 21
Type of Growth Sector Average amount Sep-20 Sep-21 Sep-22 Sep-23 Sep-24 for 7/12ths of year Growth Fund Primary £2,01 4 3 0 0 0 3 Growing school APT Primary £2,01 3 2 0 0 0 3 Growth Fund Secondary £3,02 15 13 8 4 1 2 Growing school APT Secondary £3,02 4 14 20 20 20 2 TOTAL number of forms of entry (ie classes of 30) 26 32 28 24 21
Forecast cost (£'000) £2,145 £2,750 £2,538 £2,176 £1,904
Report name: School Places 8 Author: Report date: 20th May 2020 Page 36