Buckinghamshire County Council SCHOOLS FORUM Minutes AGENDA ITEM MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE SCHOOLS FORUM HELD ON WEDNESDAY 15 SEPTEMBER 2004 IN SEMINAR ROOM 2, GREEN PARK TRAINING CENTRE, COMMENCING AT 6.00PM AND CONCLUDING AT 8.15PM. PRESENT Headteachers Kieran Salter Aston Clinton School (Chairman) Tim Heaton Grendon Underwood School Bob Milne Tylers Green Middle School Shela Rowan Oak Green School Linda Melton Wye Valley School Mike Barrie Heritage House School Jon Howard-Drake The Misbourne School Jamie Shaw Henry Allen Nursery School Sue Tanner Chalfonts Community College Governors Dominique Moat Wingrave Church of England Combined School Jenny Wainwright The Misbourne School Richard Morris Sir William Ramsay School Martin Ball Hamilton Primary School Ted Brown Sir William Borlase’s Grammar School Alexandra Dart Great Marlow School Mike Morrey The Grange School Dennis Morse Alfriston School John White Buckingham School Representatives Colin Roberts NASUWT Roy Davey Oxford Diocese Andy Croft MKOB Learning & Skills Council Officers Alan Mander Assistant Head of Finance, Schools Jane Brown Accountancy Manager, Schools Sue Imbriano Strategic Director, Schools Gill Callaghan Democratic Services Officer Nick Powley Head of Policy Performance and Planning (Schools) David Shaw Group Manager, School Management Support Claire Humphreys Project Leader, Communication with Schools Project 1 The Committee noted the departure of the Clerk, Gill Callaghan and thanked her for the support given to the Committee. 1 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE/CHANGES IN MEMBERSHIP Apologies were received from Christine Wilding, Early Years and Child Care Partnership; Mark Scott, Governor, Claytons Combined; Paul Hughes, Governor, St Edwards Catholic Junior School; Michael Moore, Catholic Diocese of Northampton; Catherine Hinds, Governor, Hughenden Infant School. 2 MINUTES The minutes of the meeting held on 14 July 2004, copies of which had been previously circulated, were agreed as a correct record subject to the correct spelling of Mr Michael Moore. 3 MATTERS ARISING Minute 7 - Three-Way Reconciliation Resolutions There were only a handful of minor points outstanding. The Auditors had started work and to date no issues had arisen from their work. Minute 9 – School Funding Arrangements 2005/06 Kieran Salter reported on and, read out the response he had received from John Leyshon, Remodelling Central Project Team, DfES, in answer to the letter sent to David Milliband MP, requesting clarification on PPA. The Forum agreed that the letter was unsatisfactory and did not address the issues which had been raised. The Forum also noted that a copy of the letter had been passed to Steve Edgar, BCC Remodelling Adviser, and noted his response. It was agreed that the Chairman would continue to pursue the matter. A copy of the correspondence is attached at appendix 1. 4 UPDATE ON THE APPOINTMENT OF THE CONSULTANT, DR RAPHAEL WILKINS Kieran Salter introduced a report which updated the Forum on the process to appoint a consultant to review the school funding formula. A copy of the minutes from a meeting of the Funding Group, together with the Terms of Reference for the steering group, were tabled for the Forums approval. Members were asked to approve the Terms of Reference. It was noted that the work programme and work plan was being developed and would be circulated to members when finalised. Kieran Salter introduced Dr Raphael Wilkins, the Consultant appointed to carry out the review. Raphael Wilkins outlined the process that would be undertaken to gather information from schools. He outlined the timescales in terms of data collection, identification of issues and possible options. The participation of schools was vital to the success of the project and they would be encouraged to discuss the issues openly. Any issues raised outside the remit of the review would be noted and included in the Schools Forum work programme. Details on how to contact the Consultant would be circulated, however he was contactable by email at the council on [email protected] . Kieran Salter reported that 12 schools had been identified for a more in depth interview in terms of geographical spread and sector – Grammar, upper, combined, junior, primary, department within mainstream, SEN and Nursery school. To date 7 had agreed. A list of the 12 schools would be circulated once they had all agreed to take part. The Forum welcomed the appointment. 2 RESOLVED That the Schools Forum agreed the Terms of Reference for a School Funding Review Steering Group. 6 AUDIT COMMISSIONS REPORT ON EDUCATION FUNDING Alan Mander introduced a paper which set out the Audit Commissions report on the impact and effectiveness of measures to stabilise school funding following the national concerns that were expressed in relation to the 2003/04 financial year. The report identified five key findings and made three recommendations. The Strategic Director for schools referred to the second recommendation which acknowledged that both schools and Councils needed greater certainty about the basis upon which education funding would be calculated, and reported that clarification would be sought on what the Gershon report meant to schools in terms of the 2.5% savings he had identified. Concern was expressed that this issue could potentially effect the outcomes of the review of the schools funding formula and that government constraints and cuts could affect how schools were funded locally. Alan Mander reminded members that the minimum guarantee was per pupil not per school, however, he reminded members that the teachers pay award for next year would cost schools 4%. Items 7 and 8 were taken together 7/8 UPDATE ON TARGETED TRANSITIONAL GRANT 2004/05 / UPDATE ON THE INITIAL WORK OF THE SCHOOL FINANCE RECOVERY TEAM AND THEIR PRIORITIES FOR THE NEXT SIX MONTHS Nick Powley updated the Forum on the current position with TTG and the initial work of the recovery team. He reported that most of the schools accepted for TTG had submitted their recovery plan. The team was now checking each plan for its robustness prior to sign off by the LEA. Ten schools had already received a letter notifying them that their plans were robust and they would receive the grant. The Team was inviting schools into County Hall to discuss the plan, particularly those whose plans were not so robust. It was noted that only two schools had indicated that they were unable to attend the meetings in County Hall. It was suggested by members of the Team that schools who did not attend might not receive TTG. The Forum discussed this issue and was clear in their support for the LEA who were acting accordingly as the grant was so important. Nick Powley emphasised that all schools had to achieve a balanced budget by March 2007 whether in receipt of TTG or not. He reported that the Team was preparing for the next round of TTG and would be bringing proposals to the Forum. Future work of the team would include working with schools with TTG, those schools with deficit not receiving TTG and finally schools with excessive surplus. Currently there was no plan to recruit a third member to the team. It was important to manage resources properly and to deal with excessive work loads by buying in consultants. Nick Powley thanked the Forum members for their support. 3 9. REVIEW OF COMMUNICATION AND CONSULTATION STRATEGIES FOR SCHOOLS – IMPROVEMENT OF THE MANAGEMENT OF INFORMATION EXCHANGE AND POLICY DEVELOPMENT David Shaw, Group Manager, School Management Support and Claire Humphreys, Project Leader, attended the meeting to outline the project to review the communication and consultation strategies for schools. The presentation outlined the overall aim of the project, and its proposed structure over the next 12 months, including the vital audit and research phases. A project management board had been set up to oversee the project. The officers outlined that the project would examine all aspects of communication including email, web sites, telephone and paper as well as data collection and consultation networks. David Shaw explained that it was important to receive comments from as many governors and headteachers as possible on what schools felt were the issues to be addressed. The project would also look at how effective groups were, particularly as there were a number of vacancies on committees and groups. Members agreed that it was often difficult to fill committee vacancies due to a number of factors including timing of meetings and a feeling of not being part of the decision making process. 10 ANY OTHER BUSINESS Finances for the Future Alan Mander explained that the Schools Forum may like to take a view on the restructuring of Finance within the County Council. He explained that whilst the rest of the Authority had restructured, Finance had missed out. Tracie Evans, the new Head of Finance was tasked to carry out a restructure. Alan Mander outlined the changes that had occurred since the implementation of Sapphire (SAP) and how service managers were now responsible for ordering and paying of invoices. The restructuring would take effect from 1 April 2005. Alan Mander urged members to consider the principles schools might feel important. In response members raised the issue of SAP as it had not yet been implemented in schools. A concern was raised about implementing a restructure and bringing in SAP at the same time. In response it was noted that the Authority had purchased the whole SAP package, (no other Authority had yet used SAP for schools) which allowed staff to change personal information. Information regarding new staff would be input and directed to the appropriate areas, ie payroll and HR. The Forum suggested that in terms of schools needs the basis would be a good induction package that concentrated on how a school office worked. Concluding Comments The Chairman thanked everyone for attending the meeting and for the support given to the Consultant.