PAPER A

Name of meeting SCHOOLS FORUM

Date and time THURSDAY, 21 JANUARY 2016 COMMENCING AT 10.00AM

Venue COUNCIL CHAMBER, COUNTY HALL, NEWPORT,

Present Pat Goodhead (Chairman) – Christ the King College Amanda Bitchenor – Chatterbox Day Nursery Lynne Christopher – Roseleen Cullen – Island Day Nursery Beverley Gilbert – Brading CE Primary Janet Giles – Dover Park Primary Richard Marinelli – Enterprise College Katherine Marshall (Vice Chairman) – Carisbrooke CE Primary Peter Prismall – Island Innovation Trust (substitute for Richard Williams) Kay Wood – Summerfields Primary David Thornton – Carisbrooke CE Primary

Observer: Cllr Jonathan Bacon – Isle of Wight Council

Officers: Josie Barfoot – Hampshire County Council Kayleigh Bowers – Isle of Wight Council Barry Downer – Isle of Wight Council Gordon Shinn – Hampshire County Council

Apologies Councillor Jonathan Bacon, Clive Barnes, Elisabeth Nicholas, Urszula Topp, Jeff Williams, Kay Wood

9. Minutes

RESOLVED :

THAT the Minutes of the meeting held on 15 December 2015 be confirmed, subject to the following amendment:

That ‘be noted’ be inserted at the end of the first resolution of minute number 7.

A - 1

10. Declarations of Interest

There were no declarations received at this stage.

11. Schools Budget – 2016/17

The Senior Finance Business Partner for Hampshire County Council provided members with some context regarding the Isle of Wight Council’s current financial position and the cuts being considered as a result of the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2016/17.

Although final figures would not be announced until February 2016, the current proposals contained within the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement provided an indication of what the Council would be facing. This included a staggering level of government grant cuts over the next 4 financial years, in order for local government to be fully funded by council tax, business rates and local revenue by 2020.

Members were advised that adult social care featured prominently as a budget pressure over the next 4 years, and the difficulty in achieving such huge savings whilst still maintaining statutory services was emphasised.

The Schools Funding Accountant for Hampshire County Council provided an update on the 2016/17 schools budget proposals following the announcement by the Department for Education (DfE) of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) figures. Members were reminded that the proposals reflected previous Schools Forum decisions and incorporated other adjustments following the detailed funding announcements.

Members noted that a balanced budget was required to be set for 2016/17 and sent to the Education Funding Agency (EFA) by 21 January 2016. There had been minimal change to the overall forecast for 2015/16, which was based on figures from December 2015, and it was still planned that the overspend from the previous year be funded through the use of the uncommitted 2014/15 Dedicated Schools Grant underspend of £489,000 and retrospective rates rebates.

It was noted that the DfE had announced an increase to local authorities’ high needs block by a total of £92.5 million to account for the high needs growth nationally. This equated to an allocation of £205,000 for the Isle of Wight which would be put towards the high needs block pressures. It was unclear whether this amount was an ongoing allocation or a one-off payment.

Changes to the Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index (IDACI) funding were explained. It was noted that there was a shift in the number of children moving down the bands, and a higher proportion of Isle of Wight children were now within bands 0 and 1, with band 0 being the least deprived. Due to a reduction in IDACI funding in line with the reduction in pupil numbers, an amount of ‘freed’ up funding could be put back into the formula and it was proposed that the majority of this funding be used to remove the current cap applied to Isle of Wight schools. The remaining funds would be used to A - 2 increase each IDACI band by £9 per pupil. Members raised concerns regarding whether this would negatively affect small primary schools, but it was noted that this would not be the case.

Members were reminded that, as part of addressing ongoing budget pressures, it was agreed at the Schools Forum meeting on 15 December 2015 that a total reduction in the lump sum of £336,000 be made from mainstreamed schools. Two options had been presented with regard to this, and members shared that at a recent meeting of primary headteachers it was agreed that option two (proportional reduction across the two phases according to total budget share) was preferred.

A question was asked as to whether the reduction could be based on pupil numbers as opposed to schools. Whilst this had been considered, it would result in knock-on implications and the desired savings would not be achieved; therefore, it was not a viable option. Concerns were raised regarding whether special schools would need to contribute to funding and if bandings would be adjusted. It was noted that should option two be agreed, further information on this would be brought to the Schools Forum meeting in March.

The Forum was advised that following negotiations with the EFA, it was agreed that the local authority would receive £148,000 for 2015/16 as a consequence of the closure of on 31 December 2015. This amount would be shared with schools which accepted additional pupils from Weston Academy for the Spring term. This would be at a rate of £3,994 per pupil, which would equate to a total of £51,000 for those schools affected.

Primary school representatives were strongly advised to agree to de-delegate £5 per pupil to create a contingency budget in order to be able to deal with ad hoc issues that arose and an ongoing commitment previously funded through this budget. However, the representatives voted against this. The Senior Finance Business Partner for Hampshire asked Schools Forum to note that this would mean that any costs that would otherwise have been funded through this contingency would, in future, be charged direct to individual schools.

RESOLVED :

(i) THAT the 2015/16 forecast outturn be noted.

(ii) THAT the proposal to de-delegate £5 per pupil in order to create a contingency budget not be agreed and the potential impact on individual schools be noted.

(iii) THAT the proposed budget allocations for 2016/17, as set out in Appendix B, be agreed.

(iv) THAT a reduction of the lump sum proportionally to school budget shares with £4,500 for Primary and £19,500 for Secondary be agreed.

A - 3 CHAIRMAN