Agenda and minutes

          Apologies were received from Karl Landrum - Primary School with a Nursery representative.

          The minutes of the meeting held on 11 June 2025 were agreed as a correct record.

          It was confirmed that School Balances would be brought to the Forum before the end of the financial year.

          In terms of speech services, it was noted that the contract with the previous service provider ended in October 2025. Two extensions were made with the contract for lessons to be learnt by the Council and ICB (Integrated Care Board) regarding data transfers between providers. From a school finance perspective, the additional funding agreed in 2025 was utilised to build further capacity with speech and language services. The Council had a statutory duty to maintain these services for children with EHCPs (educational and health care plans).

          The Forum was presented with the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) and School’s Funding for 2026-27. The gross Schools Grant allocation for 2026/27 was announced on the 17th December as £178.850m and broken down as below with the current year equivalent figures shown in brackets:

• Schools Block £122.425m (£117.833m)
• Central Schools Services Block £ 0.768m (£ 0.765m)
• High Needs Block £ 31.877m (£ 29.267m)
• Early Years Block £ 23.781m (£ 20.686m)

          It was noted that there was no update on the national funding formula for 2026 unlike previous years which was why October’s meeting was cancelled. There was an increase of roughly £10.3 million for the DSG from the DfE (Department of Education) for 2026. The Schools Block provided funding for maintained schools and academies. Any school grants are part of DSG funding; therefore, the Schools Block increase included the Schools Budget Support Grant which was £3 million of the School Block’s increase.

          Policy stated that the Council followed the National Funding Formula and this would be mandatory in the future. Funding allocations from the DfE were based on this formula. The Forum needed to determine the Minimum Funding Guarantee (MFG) which had to be between -0.5% and 0%. The MFG at 0% would reserve £92,000 of the £122 million which officers recommended being transferred from the Schools Block and moved to the Central Services Block to be used as protection for schools who had experienced the highest drops in pupil numbers. The methodology for this was highlighted in Appendix A. The Forum could determine if this would become a ‘rolling fund’ or ‘growth fund’. If the MFG was reduced to -0.5% then this would be £40,000 which would go into the funding formula to be allocated to all schools.

          It was confirmed that the headroom funding had not been transferred to the Central Services Block before but pupil numbers in schools were reducing annually. The money had previously been used for contingency to help with staff redundancies. If the money was allocated to the Central Services Block and allocated for falling pupil numbers, 17 schools would benefit from it.

          Forum Members stated that as schools had different issues, the money should not be used to go to all schools in Halton, regardless of whether they needed the money, and it should go to contingency to help with staff redundancies and schools who have an aging workforce. Some schools may have falling pupil numbers but may not be able to afford redundancy payments.

          Officers noted that the money could be moved to the Central Services Block and allocated at a later date.

          It was acknowledged that some schools needed to take out loans to pay for staff redundancies. If the headroom funding was allocated for contingency, it would be insufficient for the number of schools who would need a restructure and make redundancies. Officers noted that they could only see the budgets of maintained schools.

          Regarding the place planning work, this work was ongoing, but it highlighted the financial difficulties that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

          The Forum was presented with the DSG Forecast Outturn for 2025/26.

          The finalised Dedicated Schools Grant allocation for 2025/26 is £168,645,754, following Department for Education’s revisions to the Early Years and High Needs blocks:

• Schools Block £117,833,053
• CSSB £765,250
• Early Years Block £20,287,728
• High Needs Block £29,759,723

          It was noted that there was an increase in cost pressures for the High Needs Block, and it was known that the Council would overspend the allocation amount; it was expected that the Council would overspend by £12.5 million. The cost increases came from the independent specialist school placements that Halton children were in; these placements were just under £10,000 on average. Significant pressures were not expected from the Early Years Block but a significant overspend in this block was unlikely. The overall DSG was predicted to be £18 million at the end of 2026. The Council had to provide the excess funding that the DSG did not cover.

          Officers agreed to provide the statistics on how much money would be needed if money was not invested into expanding school SEND and EHCP provision.

          Having specialist school placements in borough was the most cost-effective option. The English national average of specialist school placements staying in borough was 43% but it was 55% in Halton. It was not expected that there would be an increase of children being placed in independent specialist schools. Having a positive relationship with the resource provision at schools was vital to meet the needs of EHCP pupils in borough. The Service Level Agreement stated that match funding was available through a child’s EHCP, and more financial work was planned in the future.

          When the white paper from Central Government is published, there will be a statutory override for the DSG which meant that the deficit would have to be absorbed into the Council’s budget. Ahead of this, every local authority was being appointed an independent financial advisor by the DfE to determine the effective oversight of DSG overspending to ensure that it is kept at an appropriate level. This was because at least part, if not all, of the High Needs Block will be managed by Central Government.

          The Forum agreed that they should format a response on the escalating costs for SEND and EHCP provision and that there would never be enough money to resolve the financial burden this causes. The response should also highlight that there should be a radical change in the funding formula for the Nigh Needs Block.

          Regarding the projection for the High Needs Block, officers said that this work will be investigated in 2026 with the DfE appointed financial advisor. Service improvements will be factored in as part of this work, and they would need to ensure that the current strategy was fit for purpose. No additional funding was available to meet SEND and EHCP provision other than the funding from the High Needs Block. Money was transferred from the School Block to the High Needs Block in the past, but this did  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

          The Forum stated that they would liketo continue having in person meetings instead of remote or hybrid meetings.