Agenda and minutes

Apologies had been received from Thalia Bell (sub in attendance) and Jackie Coughlan.

The minutes from the meeting held on 18 January 2023 were agreed as a correct record.

The Schools Forum considered a report of the Operational Director – Finance, which sought recommendations from the Forum on the DSG 2023-24 for Early Years and High Needs blocks.

As previously advised, the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) settlement was announced on 16 December 2022 and Halton was allocated a total of £143.393m, which was broken down as follows:

In addition to the DSG allocation above, Halton had received £4.796m as part of the recent £2 billion commitment for Education from the Autumn 2022 budget announcements.  It was reported that the amount relating to mainstream schools and academies, which would be provided in addition to the formula funding determinations for schools, is £3.741m – the balance of £1.055m is provided to support the High Needs block.

It was noted that Schools Forum approved the Schools and Central Schools Services block (CSSB) determinations and formula unit values at the January meeting; Early Years and High Needs block were considered for approval at this meeting. 

The report provided detailed commentary on the Early Years Block and High Needs Block allocations for consideration by Representatives.  Schools Forum was requested to approve the hourly rates and supplements to be applied to the 2023-24 Early Years Single Funding Formula (EYSFF) determinations for all providers; this was presented in the table on page 6.  For High Needs, the Forum was requested to approve the uplifts for 2023-24 for Mainstream Special / Resourced Units, Special Schools and the Pupil Referral Unite (PRU), and Further Education (FE) establishments.

These requests were discussed and officers provided responses to questions raised by the Forum.  The following concerns/comments were made and noted following the discussion:

·         PVI Representative – some settings that do not have private fee payers and relied on DfE funding alone could go out of business, this is a concern for now and the future;

·         The Council is aware of the Early Years pressures and do provide business support for those settings who were struggling.  Noted that there were sufficient places currently in Halton but this was being reviewed continuously;

·         Early Years funding sustainability – the DfE was lobbied at every opportunity by the Council and other stakeholders were encouraged to do the same;

·         The quality supplement was discussed – PVI Representative requested calculations be done to show the difference it would make to funding if this was removed – Financial Management agreed to look at this;

·         Given the emphasis DfE place on the quality supplement it was felt that this may become mandatory in the future.  Previous consultations with the sector have been favourable for the quality supplement to secure high quality provision for children;

·         A meeting was requested to discuss banding levels across High Needs settings – agreed this should be reviewed ahead of next academic year; how to process this would be looked at;

·         The delays with the Free School were noted; exacerbating pressures on High  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.

§  14 June 2023

§  11 October 2023

§  17 January 2024

§  21 February 2024

For the information of the Forum, next year’s meeting dates were provided as follows:

§  14 June 2023

§  11 October 2023

§  17 January 2024

§  21 February 2024