Agenda and minutes

Carol Barker      (Woodlands)

Kathryn Bouchlaghem  (Early Years)

Sally Coulton      (Ellis Guilford)

Carol Fearria    (Nottingham Emmanuel)

Judith Kemplay    (Melbury Primary)

James Strawbridge    (Glapton Primary)

David Wand      (Unison)

None

Last meeting held on 5 December 2013 for confirmation

Subject to changing SRR to SSR in minute 18, the Forum confirmed the minutes of the meeting held on 5 December 2013 as a correct record and they were signed by the Chair.

Laura Wilson, Clerk to the Forum, updated the work programme at the meeting to clarify that the Schools Forum Constitution report in February will consult members on the proposed changes, and that the final version of the Constitution will be submitted to the April meeting for approval.

Report of Project Manager, School Organisation

Jennifer Shadbolt, Project Manager, School Organisation, introduced her report updating the Forum on the spending of the Pupil Growth Contingency Fund during the Autumn Term 2013.

RESOLVED to note

(1)  the spend so far, as detailed in paragraph 1.4 of the report;

(2)  the identified future spend, as detailed in paragraph 1.5 of the report.

Report of Finance Business Partner, Children and Families

Ceri Walters, Finance Business Partner, Children and Families Finance Support Team, introduced her report updating Forum on the 2014/15 budget position and seeking approvals to progress with the 2014/15 budget development.

She provided the following additional information in response to questions and comments from the Forum:

(a)  the figures in Appendix A for 2013/14 are subject to review and the close down report will contain the exact figures;

(b)  quarterly monitoring reports will be introduced in the future to keep the Forum up to date and help enable accurate forecasting;

(c)  the Prior Attainment Factor rate will be reviewed and altered as necessary;

(d)  the budget confirmation for Pupil Referral Units will be later than the confirmation for schools because of waiting for confirmation of the High Needs funding from the Department for Education (DfE).

RESOLVED to

(1)  note:

(a)   the latest position of the 2014/15 Dedicated School Grant (DSG) budget setting process that the initial DSG budget allocation for Nottingham for 2014/15 is £228.310 million before academy recoupment which assumes:

·  an increase in learning places for two year olds extending the statutory entitlement to 40% of lower income households nationally. The DfE have estimated that Nottingham will have 2,700 qualifying for a place with funding representing and 80% take up;

·  a flat cash rate per pupil;

·  removal of the Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme.

During the next 2 months the figure will be updated by the DfE using the High Needs and Hospital Education census data recently submitted;

(b)  the latest position of the Pupil Premium (PP) settlement that the allocation will be based on January 2014 census data using an increased rate. PP is allocated based on the number of pupils who have been eligible for Free School Meals (FSM) in the last 6 years and an update will be provided when the final PP allocation has been received incorporating the impact of FSM for all Years 1 and 2;

(2)  approve the de-delegation of the Building Maintenance budgets:

(3)  approve the following Schools and Early Years Central Expenditure:

(4)  endorse the realignment of the secondary school Prior Attainment Factors, as detailed in paragraph 5.4 of the report, and note the impact this has on individual school budgets:

Report of Director of Family Community Teams

Janine Walker, Service Manager, Special Educational Needs, introduced her report setting out the requirements of the Children and Families Bill which will come into effect in September 2014 to transform the way that services for children with Special Educational Needs (SEN) will be delivered.

She provided the following additional information in response to questions and comments from the Forum:

(a)  the offer of individualised budgets is complicated and systems for calculating and allocating the indicative budgets are being investigated;

(b)  the Pupil Premium will be part of the indicative budget but it isn’t clear if it can be included in the individualised budgets;

(c)  an increase in requests for assessments is expected in the first couple of years;

(d)  there will need to be an increase in the budget to meet needs;

(e)  a Further Education Forum has been set up that will work with employers to ensure young people leave education with the skills to gain employment.

RESOLVED to

(1)  note the implications of the bill and the new legal requirements places on Local Authorities, schools, Clinical Commissioning Groups and partners from September 2014, as detailed in the report;

(2)  note the progress to date and support the proposed implementation plan and approach, as detailed in the report;

(3)  champion a partnership approach to implementing these changes, in particular through joint commissioning, delivery and funding of services;

(4)  note the intention to present a further report once the overall financial implications of implementing the requirements are clearer.