To approve as a correct record the minutes of the last meeting held on 18 September 2023.

The minutes of the meeting held on 18 September 2023 were submitted for consideration as a correct record. The Chair noted that the date on the minutes was incorrect as it stated 17 July 2023 and not 18 September 2023.

Decision

To agree the minutes of the meeting held on 18 September 2023 as a correct record, subject to the amendment above.

The report of the Directorate Finance Lead – Children’s and Schools is now enclosed.

The Forum considered a report of the Directorate Finance Lead – Children’s and Schools that provided a progress update on Manchester’s SEND improvement measures recovery plan, covering the following: -

• Potential funding gap 2023/24 and 2024/25 (section 2).

• Continuing SEND improved outcomes and recovery (section 3).

• DSG financial implications and school block transfer (section 4).

The Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) is a ringfenced grant, that has four separate funding blocks, of which one is the high needs block (HNB), funding specialist education provision for children and young people up to 25 years old with Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

DSG cumulative position 2022/23 is a £1.417m overspend, and this was primarily due to the growth in the Education, Health, and Care Plans (EHCP), Post-16, independent special placements (ISP), and use of other local authority (OLA) in the HNB. Current forecasts for 2023/24 are £3.902m overspend in year, increasing to £8.545m in year overspend 2024/25, before SEND improvement recovery actions.

The HNB is the most financially volatile block of the DSG, which has been recognised nationally as part of the DfE “SEND and Alternative Provision

Improvement Plan”.

Within section 3 of the report, it was highlighted that, replacing the previous 6 outcomes of SEND improvement was 4 workstreams, summarised below:

A member queried if it was realistic that the new secondary school would be open in September 2024. The Director of Education noted that this had been delayed and they  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

The report of the Directorate Finance Lead – Children’s and Schools is now enclosed.

The Forum considered a report of the Directorate Finance Lead – Children’s and Schools that provided a summary and impact of the Department of Education (DfE) October 2023 funding announcements:

• National Funding Formula (NFF) 2024/25 update due to technical error.
• Teacher pension contribution increase and expected funding form April 2024.

Initial allocations for the 2024/25 of the schools National Funding Formula for primary and secondary schools were published in July 2023, however pupil numbers had been under-forecast by the Department for Education (DfE)

In October 2023, DfE advised councils of a technical error that had been made in their July 2023 National Funding Formula (NFF) 2024/25 announcements. This recalculation means that where before mainstream school funding was promised an uplift of 2.4% across most NFF factor values, this uplift will now be reduced to 1.4% to accommodate the wider pupil cohort. The report included implications on the 2024/25 primary and secondary school funding due to be received by the Council.

The outcome of the valuation of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme, confirmed an increase to the employer contribution rate by 5% from 1 April 2024. The DfE had stated there would be additional funding to cover the increase in the employer contribution for financial year 2024/25.

The Council was due to receive the 2024/25 settlement in December 2023.  Schools are likely to receive smaller budget increases than they may have anticipated following initial DfE announcements in July.

A member queried if Early Years being rolled into the funding rate was beneficial for all sectors, even those who did not employ teachers in nursery. The Principal Finance Manager – Adults, Children and PSR noted this would depend, but more detail was provided in the next item. They stated that there would be some eligibility criteria to qualify.

Decision

To note the report.

The report of the Directorate Finance Lead – Children’s and Schools is now enclosed.

The Forum considered a report of the Directorate Finance Lead – Children’s and Schools that stated that in 2023/24 Manchester introduced an early year’s quality supplement for 3-and 4-year-olds, as a result of the Department for Education (DfE) rolling the teachers’ pay grant (TPG), and teachers’ pensions employer contribution grant (TPECG) into Council’s overall funding allocation for 3- and 4-year-old entitlement. Previously the TPG and TPECG were paid as a separate grant direct to school-based nurseries, to support settings with teachers’ pay awards and pension costs.    

In January 2023, the Council had opened a funding consultation with early years settings to gather views on the need for a quality supplement, a metric to be used to measure it, and consideration if a further review was needed for budget setting beyond 2023/24. The consultation outcome, reported to Schools Forum in March 2023, gave a strong opinion agreeing with the supplement for 2023/24 but for a review of the quality supplement going forward from 2024/25. A working group was set up to carry out the review, this report provided an update on the review and proposal regarding early years quality supplement.

All Schools Forum members were asked to vote on:

• The inclusion of early years quality supplement in 3-and 4-year-old local funding formula (rate based on the rolling in of the TPG and TPECG into the 3-and 4-year-old core funding).
• The eligibility criteria for the quality supplement, is where the early year's provision must be led by a qualified teacher working directly with children and the setting incurs additional costs due to teachers pay and conditions.

Decision

Schools Forum members approved:

• The inclusion of early years quality supplement in 3-and 4-year-old local funding formula (rate based on the rolling in of the TPG and TPECG into the 3-and 4-year-old core funding).
• The eligibility criteria for the quality supplement, is where the early year's provision must be led by a qualified teacher working directly with children and the setting incurs additional costs due to teachers pay and conditions.

The report of the Directorate Finance Lead – Education and Schools is now enclosed.

The Forum considered a report of the Directorate Finance Lead – Education and Schools that sought permissions from maintained School Forum representatives on the 2024/25 de-delegation, for the deduction of Education Services Grant (ESG) duties and trade union facilities.

De-delegation is an option that enables some services to maintained schools to be provided centrally, and the funding to do so is retained by the Council. If de-delegation stops, then the centrally retained funding would be delegated in the main school budget and the local authority would either stop providing or would charge for the service.

A member queried if there was a comparison of what the actual cost was with what was recouped from schools in terms of Trade Union Facility Arrangements. It was noted that it was a similar cost to what was recouped.

A member noted that there was now more Academy schools paying into the Trade Union Facility Arrangements that did not previously.

Maintained schools’ representatives, by sector of Primary and Secondary, were asked to approve de-delegation for the following:

• Trade Union Duties: £203k which at current pupil levels equates to £5.98 per school aged pupil (section 2).
• Education Services Grant (ESG) General Duties: £0.5m which at current pupil levels equates to £14.75 per school aged pupil (section 3).

Decision

Maintained schools’ representatives, by sector of Primary and Secondary, approved de-delegation for the following:

• Trade Union Duties: £203k which at current pupil levels equates to £5.98 per school aged pupil (section 2).
• Education Services Grant (ESG) General Duties: £0.5m which at current pupil levels equates to £14.75 per school aged pupil (section 3).