The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.  Apologies were received from Gill Curtis, Head of SEND, Inclusion and Learning and Kulwinder Bola, SEND Improvement Programme Manager.

To confirm the minutes and update the actions of the meeting of the Schools’ Forum held on 30^th November 2023

SUMMARY OF ACTIONS FROM THE PREVIOUS MEETING

The minutes of the meeting held on the 30^th November 2023 were approved as an accurate record.

Action 1

Andrew to send Jane wording regarding the Finance Working Group for an email to be sent to all schools on behalf of the Chair requesting volunteers to be members of the Finance Working Group.

Action completed.

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Following a proposal by the Strategic Director of Children and Families and with the agreement of the Chair, Agenda Item 7 was taken as the first item.

Pat Bullen joined the meeting at 4.05 p.m.

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To receive a presentation from Dawn Godfrey, Strategic Director of Children and Families, RCC and Pat Bullen, Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland (LLR) Change Programme Partnership - Strategic Lead, School Development Support Agency.

[ITEM FOR INFORMATION]

(10 MINUTES)

A detailed presentation was received from Dawn Godfrey, Strategic Director of Children and Families, RCC and Pat Bullen, Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland (LLR) Change Programme Partnership - Strategic Lead, School Development Support Agency.  During the discussion, the following points were noted:

A national change programme - not just for Rutland. 

Rutland, along with Leicester City Council and Leicestershire County Council, was the lead authority for the £5.9m change programme for the East Midlands.

Rutland, on behalf of LLR, would be leading on two main areas of testing:

1.    Establishing a new Change Programme Steering Group with stakeholders

2.    Effective multi-agency panels

The Parent/Carer Forum from each of the three areas had given positive feedback regarding the new EHC template.

The draft Local Area Inclusion Plan (LAIP) had been submitted on time but still required further work.

The Partnership for Inclusion of Neurodiversity in Schools (PINS) was not part of the change programme but was aligned to it through NHS England and funded by the Department for Education (DfE). 

Involvement by schools would be on a voluntary basis and schools should have received a letter inviting them to take part.

The national standards testing would be the first part of the change programme that schools would be involved in.

The change programme was expected to run until August 2025 and regular updates would be provided to the Schools’ Forum.

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Pat Bullen left the Schools’ Forum at 4.25 p.m.

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To receive a report from Andrew Merry, Head of Finance, RCC.

[ITEM FOR INFORMATION]

(15 MINUTES)

A report was received from Andrew Merry, Head of Finance.  During the discussion, the following points were noted:

Dedicated Schools Grant

Deficit of just over £1.0m was being projected for 2023/24.  Equated to a £900k deficit in the High Needs Block and a £100k deficit in the Early Years Block.

Demand for an Education Health and Care Plan (EHCP) continued to increase.  18 new EHCP’s were approved in January 2024.  Equated to 5% of the total EHCP requests received each year.  29 EHCP’s were currently waiting to be assessed.

Massive potential deficit of £15.8m projected for 2029/30.

Need to work together to achieve the goals of the recovery plan.

Early Years Funding

New Early Years Funding rate of £9.45 to be introduced for children under the age of 2 years.

Finance Sub-Group

Rob Gooding was not a member of the Schools’ Forum so Steve Cox volunteered to be a member of the Finance Sub-Group so that it had three representatives from the Schools’ Forum.

The Head of Finance confirmed that he would update the membership table and arrange a meeting of the Finance Sub-Group.

ACTION: Andrew Merry

Members agreed that an update from the Finance Sub-Group would be a standing item on future agendas.

RESOLVED

That the Schools’ Forum:

1.    NOTED the financial update.

2.    NOTED the proposed rates for Early Years for 2024/25.

3.    AGREED the Membership of the Finance Sub-Group following the agreed amendments.

4.    AGREED that the Head of Finance would arrange a meeting of the Finance Sub-Group.

To receive a report from Kulwinder Bola, SEND Improvement Programme Manager, RCC.

[ITEM FOR INFORMATION]

(10 MINUTES)

A report was received from Kulwinder Bola, SEND Improvement Programme Manager.  During the discussion, the following points were noted:

The overarching aim of the programme was to reduce the deficit in the High Needs Block funding and keep it down.

Some Local Authorities, where their deficits were a lot higher than Rutland’s, had stepped out of the Delivering Better Value programme and were now using the Safety Valve Programme.

Rutland had a lot of good partnership working in place but early identification and early intervention were the key work aims that must be continued by all partners.

The Strategic Director of Children and Families confirmed that a detailed report would be presented as a standing agenda item at future meetings.

The Early Help Co-ordinator informed attendees that schools will be asked  to help assist with a parental survey about their views of the inclusion and SEND services in Rutland.

The Strategic Director of Children and Families stated she would contact the Head of SEND, Inclusion and Learning for an update to be included in the minutes regarding the expressions of interest (EOI) for investment for both Nurture Next and Alternative Provision – details attached. 

RESOLVED

That the Schools’ Forum:

NOTED the report.

To receive an update from Lucy Lewin, representative of the Private, Voluntary and Independent (PVI) Early Years.

[ITEM FOR INFORMATION]

(5 MINUTES)

An update was received from Lucy Lewin, representative of the Private, Voluntary and Independent (PVI) Early Years.  During the discussion, the following points were noted:

Concerns regarding expanded entitlements were ongoing but positive discussions had been held regarding funding rates.

The minimum wage increase was due in April 2024 which has added extra pressure to the service.

There were challenges around the detail in the expanded entitlement but communication with the DfE was ongoing to clarify the details.

Issues regarding staff recruitment and the retainment of staff continued to challenge the whole service.

To receive an update on pupil place planning from Gill Curtis, Head of SEND, Inclusion and Learning, RCC.

[ITEM FOR INFORMATION]

(5 MINUTES)

A report was received from Gill Curtis, Head of SEND, Inclusion and Learning, RCC.  Following a proposal by the Strategic Director of Children and Families and with the agreement of the Chair, Agenda Item 6 – Pupil Place Planning and Agenda Item 8 – Annual SCAP Return were taken together.

To receive a briefing from David Wylie, Business Intelligence Technical Development Lead, RCC.

[ITEM FOR INFORMATION]

(10 MINUTES)

A verbal briefing and a presentation were received from David Wylie, Business Intelligence Technical Development Lead, RCC. 

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The Strategic Director of Children and Families left the meeting at 4.57 p.m.

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No questions were received but it was agreed that a copy of the presentation on the School Capacity Survey 2023 would be distributed with the minutes (copy attached).

To review and approve the Schools’ Forum Work Plan for 2023-2024

[ITEM FOR INFORMATION]

(5 MINUTES)

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Ben Solly, Carl Smith and Helga Spry-Shute left the meeting at 5.01 p.m.

The Vice-Chair, Steve Cox chaired the remainder of the meeting.

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The work plan was reviewed and no amendments were made. 

Members were requested to send any proposals for agenda items to the Clerk via Democratic Services (democraticservices@rutland.gov.uk).

(5 MINUTES FOR FINAL AGENDA ITEMS)

There was no urgent business.

Thursday, 9 May 2024, 4.00 – 5.30 p.m.

The School and Early Years Finance (England) Regulations 2021 amended The Schools Forums (England) (Coronavirus) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 to make permanent provisions to enable schools’ forum meetings to be held remotely. This includes (but is not limited to) telephone conferencing, video conferencing, live webcast and live interactive streaming. Where a schools’ forum decides to hold a public meeting by remote means only, the forum should provide support or make alternative arrangements so that any interested parties who do not have telephone or online access can attend virtual meetings.

Thursday, 9^th May 2024 at 4.00 p.m.