To confirm the minutes of the meeting of the Schools’ Forum held on 22 September 2016.

The minutes of the meeting of the Schools’ Forum held on 22 September 2016, copies of which had been previously circulated, were confirmed as a true and accurate record of the meeting.  There were no matters arising.

Mr Wilby introduced Gill Curtis, who has recently joined the authority as Head of Service Learning & Skills and was attending her first Schools’ Forum meeting.

In accordance with the Regulations, Members are invited to declare any personal or prejudicial interests they may have and the nature of those interests in respect of items on this Agenda and/or indicate if Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 applies to them.

Mr S Cox and Ms V Savage declared an interest in matters relating to DSP.

To receive any petitions, deputations and questions received from Members of the Public in accordance with the provisions of Procedure Rule 217.

The total time allowed for this item shall be 30 minutes.  Petitions, declarations and questions shall be dealt with in the order in which they are received.  Questions may also be submitted at short notice by giving a written copy to the Committee Administrator 15 minutes before the start of the meeting.

The total time allowed for questions at short notice is 15 minutes out of the total time of 30 minutes.  Any petitions, deputations and questions that have been submitted with prior formal notice will take precedence over questions submitted at short notice.  Any questions that are not considered within the time limit shall receive a written response after the meeting and be the subject of a report to the next meeting.

No petitions, deputations or questions were received from members of the public.

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Mr C Smith joined the meeting at 4.10pm

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To receive and consider paper Schools Budget 2016/17 Update & Appendix.

Ms Greaves introduced the paper Schools Budget 2016/17 Update & Appendix 1 Forecast outturn 2016/17 paper. Schools’ Forum NOTED the contents. During discussion the following points were made:

4.1       Dr O’Neill advised that alongside preparation for an Ofsted SEND inspection, the Council will be embarking on a piece of work which will attempt to reduce  the number of out of county high needs placements, making greater use of the high needs provision within Rutland and thereby reducing the current high needs overspend. This will be a complex piece of work involving partner agencies, schools, and looking at the approaches taken by neighbouring authorities.

4.2       Mr Wilby advised that funding has been made available from a DfE SEND reform grant which will fund the appointment of a dedicated Project Officer to oversee this work. In addition to focussing on SEND provision, the approach taken will also consider aspects of and involve children’s social care, education and health provision. In planning future high needs provision, it will be important to engage at an early stage with parents.

4.3       Ms Greaves advised the Forum of two national consultations currently in progress for High Needs and the National Schools Funding Formula, which close 22 March 2017. The Council’s Finance Department will email to all Head Teachers the link to the DfE website, where the consultation documents can be found. These documents provide illustrative budget figures for all schools.

4.4       Members of the Forum expressed concern that the proposals within the Funding Formula consultation could have a negative impact on a number of schools leading to a loss of funding. Members were particularly concerned about changes to the primary secondary pupil ratio, which could adversely affect all secondary school provision within Rutland. It was suggested that the Council should make representation to the Government about these proposals through it’s MP.

4.5       The consultation documents provide illustrative figures only and consideration should focus on the principles behind the proposals, as opposed to looking at the potential negative or positive impact on individual schools. Schools’ Forum AGREED that the Local Authority (LA) will co-ordinate a group of representatives from each sector, who will meet to consider the proposals with a view to formulating a considered response representing the view of all provision within Rutland. Early February was suggested as the timescale for this. The response once compiled can be fed back through the consultation process and/or to the Government as thought fit, and can be circulated to all Head Teachers for their information.

 4.6      Ms Greaves advised that the High Needs consultation was primarily concerned with how funds are allocated by the LA, not how funds are spent. High Needs budgets will be under pressure if the number of pupils requiring high needs provision continues to increase.

4.7       Mrs Darlington provided a brief update regarding Early Years funding. Providers will be receiving less funding per child, whilst having to deal with increasing living wage and pension commitments. Providers have made representation to the DfE (November 2016) but with  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

To receive and consider paper Schools Funding for 2017/18.

Ms Greaves introduced the paper Schools Funding for 2017/18.  Schools’ Forum NOTED the contents. During discussion the following points were made:

5.1       Members considered the £400k shortfall in High Needs funding and further discussion focussed particularly on funding for DSP units. Dr O’Neill advised that moving forward the LA plans to work closely with Oakham CofE Primary/The Parks School, and Catmose College on how best DSP is managed within the County, with a view to building capacity and developing change by agreement. This will also link with the work to reduce out of county placements in 4.1 above.

5.2       Clarity was sought regarding the DSP funding for 2017/18.  It was noted that the current DSP arrangements will be honoured for the forthcoming financial year and this will be reflected in the budget being submitted on 20^th January 2017.  It is recognised that this funding will put additional financial pressure on the High Needs Budget which could be up to £300K overspent by the end of the coming financial year if significant adjustments are not made to the rate of spending, particularly on out of county placements where there are vacancies within Rutland provision. This SEND provision is currently being reviewed and the Local Authority will be working with schools to address this issue over the coming year.  It is acknowledged that if this overspend cannot be accommodated through reduction in costs, this will be recovered from the School’s Budget.

5.3       A report ‘Placement for Pupils with Special Educational Needs or Disabilities’ will be presented to Cabinet on 17 January  2017, and once approved work will proceed. 

5.4       Schools’ Forum RECOMMENDED that funding to cover the High Needs shortfall should not be taken from the Schools Block.

6.1       Ms Savage advised that Catmose College had applied to the DfE for additional places under Growth Funding and been referred to the Schools’ Forum. Ms Greaves advised that Schools’ Forum had previously made the decision not to have a Growth Fund.

6.2       Ms Greaves highlighted to the Forum for their information, the implementation of the Apprenticeship Levy, and advised that invites to a meeting regarding this had been sent to all maintained schools. It was commented that this could potentially be a major issue for small schools.

Thursday 30 March 2017, 4.00 pm – 5.00 pm in the Council Chamber, RCC, Catmose.

Proposed Agenda Items:

The next meeting will be held on Thursday, 30 March 2017 at 4.00 pm at RCC, in the Council Chamber.

Proposed agenda items: Election of new Chair of Schools’ Forum

For information, the following additional meeting dates have been previously agreed for 2017:

Thursday 8 June 2017

Thursday 21 September 2017

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The Chair declared the meeting closed at 5.40pm.

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