Schools Forum Minutes of Meeting held on Monday 6 July 2020 Virtual (Microsoft Teams) Members Present: Nicholas Dry Jenny Adamson Dave Winters Rob Veale Sharon Oliver Patrick Shields Cllr Joy Prince Cllr Maria Gatland Lorraine Slee Dan Bowden Tyrone Myton Rob Hitch Vivienne Esparon Josephine Copeland Chris Andrews Markieu Hayden Observers Present: Cllr Shafi Khan Cllr Flemming Cllr Margaret Bird Orlagh Guarnori Shelley Davies Michael McKeaveney Alison Farmer Kate Bingham Cathy Brearley Apologies: Diana Agyepong Jane Charman Roger Capham Kevin Standish Joe Flynn Dave Harvey Chair: Jolyon Roberts Vice Chair: Theresa Staunton Clerk: Heather Beck/Geraldine Truss Declaration of Interest There were none. The Chair welcomed everyone including new members to the first Virtual meeting held via Microsoft Teams and covered the protocol required for the meeting. The meeting was quorate. 1 1: Minutes and Actions from last meeting – 27 April 2020 Matters arising None recorded. 2: Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) 2019/20 outturn a) Appendix A – High Needs Final outturn for 2019/20 b) Appendix B – Early Years Final outturn for 2019/20 Orlagh Guarnori (OG) presented this paper The DSG funding for 2019/20 for Croydon Local Authority, after academy recoupment, was £164.660m. Table 1 illustrates the allocation for the Schools Block, Early Years Block, High Needs Block and Central Service Block. Please note next year’s allocation and subsequent year’s allocation for the Central Service Schools Block will be reduced. There has been an increase in the number of places required in Croydon’s special schools. The extension of Post 16 education plans has also impacted on the budget. Table 2- Para 2.2 gives an analysis of the overall movement from 2018/19 to 2019/20, evidencing the carry forward overspend of £14.558m to 2019/20. Table 4 demonstrates the Growth expenditure for Academy expansion, Start Ups, Bulge, KS4 pupils in alternative provision. Appendix A - Line 7 should read contingency of 3%. This will be on hold until there is clarity on the impact of Covid-19. The 3% will then be distributed by Autumn term. Appendix B -There is a pass through rate of 95% which we have to meet. The following questions were asked: Q1: Jolyon Roberts referred to Appendix A, indicates that High Needs is heavily overspent in Croydon Special Schools (Line 3) and in out of borough placements (Line 6). It is worrying that the department had not seen this high cost trend emerging. Why was this not allowed for in the budget. To be projecting £2.944m was quite a stretch; A1: Alison Farmer said the High Needs paper will show that there will be an increase in EHC plans as Croydon has issued an extra 300 EHC plans. The department had been advised the number of requests for EHCPs will increase. This should even out over the course of the Recovery Plan. There needs to be more accuracy in Croydon’s Further Education forecast which has been adrift for some time, this sector is vulnerable. When 2 the forecast was set to the budget we knew this would be a challenge but we had to set out our direction. This budget is difficult to forecast when you know it will not be achieved; A2: OG said Finance have to set a balanced budget for all areas and initially the budget must balance. We are aware of overspend and in P2 know where overspend will be as it is every year. Jolyon Roberts addressed the new members of Forum saying this may be a shock to them to see how overspent the high needs block in Croydon is and that it is not planned to come in line either this year or next year. It is difficult to sit every year looking over these figures as they always show a deficit in the high needs block but that is the system that we are living with. Q2: Tyrone Myton (TM) questioned where the money was coming from for the over spend; A2: Jolyon Roberts said we are not clawing the money back. It is a long term problem. TM is right when to ask how this overspend is dealt with and the answer is that it has been simply growing year on year. It is a problem nationally. High Needs is the problem in Croydon. For the past 3 years we have been over spent. There is a recovery plan outlined and there is a plan to come back in balance in the second year of that plan but all Schools Forums in the country are in this position. Q3: TM asked if this meant that some students are not being placed where they should be as it is determined by the budget and not the need; A3: Alison Farmer said when placements are made parental preferences are taken into account, as well as provision of suitable education and the efficient use of resources. The department is very robust when making placement decisions. In the last year where Croydon have been challenged on placements and there is a state funded option (e.g. in one of our special schools, of which there are 6 state funded special schools, currently in Croydon – and soon to be 7 when Addington Valley Academy opens in September 2021), we have been successful in tribunals when we have been challenged because our state special schools are excellent or outstanding. They are brilliant at representing Croydon and offering places to children with EHC plans. Out of borough schools are expensive, for example the cost variance between independent and state funded placements are currently £20k for a state school and £60k for an independent school. If a child remained in an independent school to complete their education the cumulative cost might be up to £1m. We are making efficient use of our resources. The recovery plan is set to take place over 7/8 years and will show the budget goes up for the first year but the last few years it will come back within budget. A shadow budget could be drawn up in line with the Recovery Plan to show whether the budget is running in line with Plan. 3 A4: Jolyon Roberts said EHC plans originally were in place for children between 0-18 years but that the range is now 0-25 years with no extra finding. In effect it is 25% more education but no more money. A5: Shelley Davies said Tyrone Myton might look at previous schools forum papers online in order to acquaint himself with the background to this situation. The recovery plan is accessible via the Croydon Council website link to Schools Forum below:- https://www.croydon.gov.uk/education/schools-new/statnotice- consult/croydon-schools-forum Q4: Patrick Shields said this was the first year for some time, that there was no transfer from Schools Block to High Needs. Is there planning in place for Schools Block not to support High Needs in the future? Government promises of funding for the Covid-19 pandemic may not be met. In terms of forward planning, is there a way to avoid the precedent of Schools Block assisting High Needs. There is a great need for Schools Block to keep its budget; A4: Jolyon Roberts said next year’s budget had no top slice of schools block in order to support high needs for the first time in many years. It is in everyone’s best interest to make sure our recovery plan is successful; A5: Alison Farmer said Croydon was adopting a strategic approach. In mainstream schools children have their needs met early and at the right time. It does not make sense to take money out of Schools Block and put it in High Needs when the only way of getting it is to request an EHCP. The approach taken is more in line with the SEN strategy and the Recovery Plan i.e. that money should be retained in mainstream schools to meet a child’s needs earlier so that they may not require the issue of an EHCP. It is a strategic commitment not to ask for a transfer from Schools Block to High Needs Block as we want the schools to have the money to meet the pupil’s needs. Jolyon Roberts asked if there were any further questions on the paper. He said by bringing TM up to date, the concerns of the £14.558m overspend had been covered. The secretary of state for education has set out regulations which came into force on 21 February 2020 regarding the treatment of DSG (Dedicated Schools Grant) deficit budgets. CIPFA (The Chartered Institute of Public Finance & Accountancy) have issued guidance in respect of the regulations and the treatment in the LA accounts: - that DSG deficit must be carried forward to be funded from future DSG income; - a DSG deficit may only be funded and recovered through DfE financial support and recovery arrangements; 4 - local authorities cannot fund a deficit from the general fund without the secretary of state’s approval; - the DSG deficit should be disclosed on the LA accounts as an earmarked reserve balance; 3: Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) 2019/20 Growth outturn Orlagh Guarnori (OG) presented this paper In October 2019 Schools Forum agreed the 2019/20 budget for growth. Appendix A illustrated the agreed growth factors. Table 1 summarises the growth budget to actual spend. The budget was set at £2,279,567, revised to £2,249,612 and actual spend was £2,249,612. There was a slight variance but the revised budget has been spent. There is a split between Croydon’s academies and mainstream schools.