To confirm the minutes of the meeting of the Schools’ Forum held on the 5th July 2018

It was requested that item 4, point A), section ii. be changed to read £150k instead of £150.

The remaining minutes of the meeting of the Schools’ Forum held on the 5th July 2018 were confirmed as a true and accurate record of the meeting.

Action 1

DSG 2018/19 Budget Forecast

It was agreed that specific budget numbers for each school would be sent as soon as possible.

Mr Della Rocca reported that he was not aware of the action being completed.  He agreed to contact Dawn Greaves and Andrew Merry for an update regarding the action.

            ACTION: Mr Della Rocca

Action 2

Consideration Of Terms Of Office

It was agreed that Jane would contact the 9 members due for renewal to identify which ones wished to stand for re-membership to the Schools’ Forum. 

Ms Narey confirmed the action had been completed.

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.

No declarations of interest were made. 

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.

(5 MINUTES for items 1, 2, 3)

No petitions, deputations or questions had been received.

Reports from Ms Greaves were presented by Mr Della Rocca. During discussion the following points were noted:

To receive a report from Dawn Greaves, Accountant

i.          Some changes regarding budget for the High Needs Block.  DfE has reduced the allocation by £42k.  Any new packages will therefore only increase the current overspend.

ii.         Mr Della Rocca agreed to circulate to members the link to the F40 minutes.

ACTION: Mr Della Rocca

iii.        The Council has the correct strategy currently in place.  Thanks were given to everyone for their help in producing this strategy. 

iv.        Dr O’Neill reported that he hopes to hear about the Capital Programme funding early next year and that he feels confident and positive about this.

v.         The SEND team is looking at innovative work to get special needs children back into mainstream education.

vi.        Funding situation is very serious and will continue to be so moving into next year

vii.      A School Summit meeting has been arranged with Kevin Quinn to look at the High Needs service and spending within that service.

Briefing regarding next year’s budget

viii.     A decision was required by the Forum regarding the transfer of money from the School Block (0.5%) to the High Needs Block.

ix.        Mr Della Rocca agreed that he would speak with Ms Greaves to detail how the money should be allocated to each school and that an explanation letter (for information, not consultation) be sent to all schools with all the details as early as possible.

 ACTION: Mr Della Rocca

AGREED: 

a.    It was AGREED that 0.5% (£0.114m) be transferred from the School Block to the High Needs Block.  There were no votes against and no abstentions

To receive a verbal update regarding the Early Years budget including feedback from the Early Years Work Party

(35 MINUTES)

x.         Mrs Milner confirmed that a meeting had taken place the morning of the 20^th September, the outcome of which was that nurseries were suffering regarding pupil numbers and budgets.

xi.        Both Uppingham settings did not attend the meeting but representatives from Oakham, Exton, Ryhall and Whissendine attended.

xii.      There are currently 3 nursery settings due for closure due to these factors.

xiii.     Good staff training is currently in place and James Frieland, Economic Development & Tourism Manager at RCC attended the meeting to brief attendees on support available from the Council i.e. advertising, marketing.

xiv.     Only 3 claims for the Pupil Premium funding were made last year.  More nurseries need to make claims for this funding along with grants and other funding.

To receive a verbal update on pupil place planning assessment returns from Gill Curtis, Head of Lifelong Learning. FOR INFORMATION ONLY

(5 MINUTES)

A verbal update was received from Gill Curtis, Head of Lifelong Learning.  During the discussion the following points were noted:

i.          No feedback had been received regarding the data already submitted so we were still awaiting official sign off for the data figures.

ii.         The data that had been submitted did not indicate any significant pressures.  However, the data only informs us of the current situation.  It does not show what is proposed for the future i.e. future housing planning permissions.

iii.        The current situation indicates there is spare capacity within Rutland.

iv.        The Local Authority keeps more detailed data that looks at school capacity in greater depth.

To receive a verbal update from Dawn Greaves, Accountant. FOR INFORMATION ONLY

(5 MINUTES)

A discussion was held regarding teachers’ pay.  The following points were noted:

i.          Mr Smith highlighted the current funding crisis regarding teachers’ pay.  He informed members that he had received an email from Ms Greaves regarding the funding crisis.  It was agreed that Ms Narey would circulate the email to all School Forum members for their attention.

ACTION: Ms Narey

ii.         It was also agreed that Dr O’Neill would share the two union letters he had received with Mr Smith for his agreement to share them with other members of the Schools Forum

ACTION: Dr O’Neill

To receive an update report regarding re-membership to the Schools’ Forum from Gill Curtis, Head of Lifelong Learning.  DECISION TO BE MADE

(5 MINUTES)

A verbal update regarding re-membership to the Schools Forum was received from Ms Curtis, Head of Lifelong Learning.  During the discussion the following points were noted:

i.          Mr Gooding apologised for not confirming his intention to stand and confirmed that he would be standing for re–election.

ii.         It was suggested that there be a random selection of those people standing for re-election in order to stagger the terms of office i.e. 2 academies would have terms of office for 3 years and 2 academies would have terms of office for 4 years. Ms Curtis to produce a briefing paper regarding which academies would have a 3 year term of office and which academies would have a 4 year term of office.

ACTION: Ms Curtis

iii.        It was agreed to hold the elections in November 2018 with the Local Authority providing administrative support.  There were none against and no abstentions.

AGREED:

a.    It was AGREED that future terms of membership would be staggered.

b.    It was AGREED that the elections would be held in November 2018.

New Schools Forum documentation has been published on the government website:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/schools-forums-operational-and-good-practice-guide-2015?utm_source=71cd00c3-051e-4925-b0a9-e9b0b22aab22&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=daily

(5 MINUTES FOR FINAL AGENDA ITEMS)

There was no urgent business

Review of draft forward plan for 2019

i.          It was agreed that Mr Smith and Ms Curtis would review and update the draft forward plan for 2019 and re-send it to members for their approval.

ACTION: Mr Smith and Ms Curtis

·         Thursday, 10th January 2019, 4.00 – 5.00 p.m., Council Chamber

·         Thursday, 11th April 2019, 4.00 – 5.00 p.m., Council Chamber

·         Thursday, 13th June 2019, 4.00 – 5.00 p.m., Council Chamber

·         Thursday, 10th October 2019, 4.00 – 5.00 p.m., Council Chamber

The meeting dates for 2019 were confirmed as follows:

·         Thursday, 10th January 2019, 4.00 – 5.00 p.m., Council Chamber

·         Thursday, 11th April 2019, 4.00 – 5.00 p.m., Council Chamber

·         Thursday, 13th June 2019, 4.00 – 5.00 p.m., Council Chamber

·         Thursday, 10th October 2019, 4.00 – 5.00 p.m., Council Chamber