Report of the Strategic Director (Children’s and Education Services)

This report provides a summary of the confirmed DSG allocation from the 2024/25 settlement announced on the 19^th December 2024 and the budget allocation across individual school budgets and Council’s retained schools budgets which was consulted and reported to Schools Forum on the 15^th January 2024. 

The Committee considered a report of the Strategic Director (Children and Education Services) which provided a summary of the confirmed DSG allocation from the 2024/25 settlement announced on 19 December 2024 and the budget allocation across individual school budgets and Council’s retained schools budgets which was consulted and reported to Schools Forum on 15 January 2024. 

Key points and themes in the report included:

·       Grant overview;

·       Distribution across educational establishments and Council issues; and

·       DSG medium term financial planning.

The Chair highlighted the pressure on the High Needs Block and reported that money was being recovered from some schools which had built up a large balance.  She expressed concern about how some academy trusts managed their budgets.  She informed Members that the provision of school buses was being reviewed.

In response to a question from the Chair, the Head of Finance (Children, Education and Schools) explained how the DSG from the Department for Education (DfE) was allocated, with most of it being distributed to schools, who were responsible for their own budgets, and a smaller amount being retained by the Council for the High Needs Block, which was distributed to schools during the year in relation to support for children with SEND.  She reported that, following agreement from the Schools Forum, the approach to monitoring and recovering money from schools with surplus balances was being tightened up, with that money being used to address pressures in the High Needs Block.

The Director of Education reported that Early Years settings were also funded through the DSG and that this amount had increased due to the expanded entitlement to free childcare which was being introduced.  The Chair expressed concern that the Early Years Block allocation from the DfE, as set out in table 5 of the report, was insufficient and that the sector would struggle to provide sufficiency of places when the entitlement was expanded.  The Lead for Statutory Area (Early Years Access and Sufficiency) outlined some of the work the Council was doing to help the Early Years sector prepare for these changes.  The Chair reported that sufficiency of places would be considered in a future Early Years report and she encouraged Members to monitor issues with this in their ward.

In relation to the High Needs Block, a Member informed the Committee about a recent visit that Members of the Ofsted Subgroup had undertaken to a new special school in the north of the city, where children were receiving the care and support they needed, and she highlighted the importance of ensuring that children with SEND were provided with the right support and environment, in specialist or mainstream provision, to enable them to achieve their potential.  The Executive Member for Early Years, Children and Young People suggested that the Committee receive a report on work taking place to provide better options for children with SEND, noting that for some children this would be in mainstream schools and that some children with more complex needs would require special school places.  The Chair agreed to receive a report on this.

The Chair expressed concern that the Government was not covering the costs of the problems with Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) which some schools were facing.  She also expressed concern about the condition of many primary school buildings, stating that investment was needed in new school buildings but that the Coalition Government had cancelled the Building Schools for the Future programme in 2010, with the Council managing to obtain sign-off on The Grange shortly before the programme was cancelled.

In response to the Chair’s comments, the Director of Education reported that there had been one school in Manchester with RAAC but that there were other concerns about the condition of school buildings in the city. She drew Members’ attention to a section in the previous report (Children and Education Services Budget 2024/25) regarding funding which had been allocated to complete condition surveys of local authority-maintained schools, advising that these would assist with bids for any relevant funding which became available and would also inform how the capital maintenance grant was allocated.

Decisions

1.             To note the report.

2.             To consider sufficiency of Early Years places in a future report.

3.             To receive a report on work taking place to provide improved options, in both mainstream and special schools, for children with SEND.