Agenda and minutes

Carol Barker

Kathryn Bouchlaghem

Jo Bradley

Shaun Farrington

Dean Pomeroy

Chris Skeets

Alison Tones

Ann Witheford

None

Last meeting held 24 April 2014 (for confirmation)

The Forum confirmed the minutes of the meeting held on 24 April 2014 as a correct record and they were signed by the Chair.

(Verbal Update)

Alistair Conquer, Head of Education Partnerships, informed the Forum that the following appointments have been made and will come into effect from the September meeting:

School Members

Non-School Members

The Chair thanked all current members for their hard work on the Forum.

The work programme for the September and October meetings of the Forum was circulated in advance of the meeting and, although it wasn’t included on the agenda, the Chair decided that it was appropriate to consider it so that the Forum was aware of the items being submitted to future meetings.

Report of Corporate Director for Children and Adults

Ceri Walters, Finance Business Partner, Children and Adults, introduced her report detailing the Statutory Schools Reserve (SSR) and Schools Reserve balances for 2014/15 and the commitments aligned to the SSR which will enable future funding decisions presented to the Forum.

Some members of the Forum met in advance of the meeting and produced the following list of queries which the Chair suggested should be responded to in writing:

·  the report only details available balances in the reserve but the Forum requires a full breakdown of how all centrally held funds were spent during 2013/14 and where underspends/overspends occurred to build up the reserve figure during April 2013 to March 2014;

·  details of what the reserve figure was at 31 March 2013 and what spend occurred from the reserve during the year to leave an amount of £12.781 million at 31 March 2014;

·  the risks identified highlight a need to commit up to £1.128 million for de-delegated services but in agenda item 7 funds of £2.463 million have been allocated for de-delegation. Does the local authority believe over 46% of schools will convert during the current financial year? The figure seems excessive;

·  what risk assessment was undertaken to calculate the deficit balance figures for academy conversion? Again the figure seems excessive so details need to be provided on the total figure of school deficits at 31 March 2014 and a projected deficit figure for the current financial year;

·  has Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) been extended to include vulnerable adults up to the age of 25? If not, why is the local authority committing additional funding from DSG? Previous DSG was calculated for up to 16 year olds and Special Education Needs for up to 19 years old so no historic DSG should be used to fund additional local authority costs due to the change in the Children and Families Act for up to 25 year olds;

·  in table 3 £0.825 million is attributed to Nottingham City Secondary Education Partnership (NCSEP). If it has been allocated to NCSEP why hasn’t it been received? A full breakdown needs to be provided as previously £0.595 million was committed so it’s not clear what the remaining £0.230 million is for;

·  also in table 3 it appears that the Behaviour Support Team has been underwritten for a further period so it needs to be confirmed whether academies also benefit from the underwrite;

·  confirmation that the money detailed in table 3 for School Improvement was agreed for 2014/15;

·  confirmation when NCSEP will receive the secondary unspent recouped funds detailed in table 3 as NCSEP hasn’t received the funds due from March 2013.

The following comments were made during the discussion:

(a)  the funding for late admissions to schools (after the October pupil census) has been allocated directly to academies and added to the budgets for maintained school;

(b)  the figures in table 2 relating to risks are just estimates of what may be needed. They are to ensure that the reserve is adequate to meet the risks;  ...  view the full minutes text for item 57.

Report of Corporate Director for Children and Adults

Tim O’Neill, Director of Vulnerable Children and Families, introduced his report outlining the proposal for the Forum to match fund the Local Authority’s investment of £160,000 to enable a joint strategic approach and model of working to support greater focus in early help that ensures children are safe and well and are able to achieve their full potential by further strengthening and embedding the usage of Common Assessment Framework (CAF) as the main recording tool for early assessment. A revised version of the report was circulated prior to the meeting.

The following comments were made during the discussion:

(a)  the proposal is for the investment to fund 3 support workers in the 3 localities of the City. They will work within education settings to provide support on assessments and quality assurance;

(b)  there is an opportunity for schools to shape the type of support they need to ensure it is responsive and adds value;

(c)  more resources to help with vulnerable families are required rather than a role to support access to them;

(d)  the roles will help to ensure that the resources are accessed at the relevant points and at the right level;

(e)  more detail is required before the funding can be agreed.

RESOLVED

(1)  to note that it is the Local Authority’s intention to establish locality based CAF partnership resource via Early Help Development Specialist roles to support schools with CAF activity with a focus on increasing both the quantity and quality of CAF assessments and plans to enable the delivery of effective and timely interventions;

(2)  to defer the following to the September meeting to enable more detail to be provided:

(a)  the decision on whether the Forum will match fund the Local Authority’s investment of £0.160 million for the partnership resource identified above;

(b)  the establishing of a joint task and finish group to identify and deliver a strategic approach to further develop and strengthen early help in schools.

Report of Corporate Director for Children and Adults

Ceri Walters, Finance Business Partner, Children and Adults, introduced her report presenting the Dedicated Schools Grant High Needs budget allocation of £24.727 million for 2014/15, which has been prepared in line with parameters set out in the financial regulations issued by the Department for Education (DfE) and the Children and Families Act 2014.

Some members of the Forum met in advance of the meeting and produced the following list of queries which the Chair suggested should be responded to in writing:

·  the report states that a £0.500 million year on year increase has been allocated to School Action Plus so a break down of this is needed;

·  information needs to be provided on the new Alternative Provision model;

·  the Children and Families Act may increase the workload for Special Educational Needs (SEN) but unless additional DSG allocation is made available for up to 25 year olds, the Local Authority need to clarify that they will be funding this from their own budgets as DSG is for pupils up to the age of 19;

·  a breakdown of what £0.030 million for Schools Forum is used for needs to be provided;

·  whether a full review of the benefits to schools of the £2.905 million contribution per annum for Combined Services should be carried out to determine whether the funding should continue in future years;

·  why the figure for licenses has increased.

The Forum commented that there were some concerns that not all Pupil Referral Units (PRUs) have been involved in the consultation as it was focussed on behavioural issues which not all PRUs cover and, as Local Authority alternative provision is available, it should be utilised.

RESOLVED to note the value of 2014/15 High Needs block allocation of £24.727 million.