Agenda and minutes

The Chair referred to the notice of filming at meetings and this information was noted.

To receive any apologies for absence.

There were no apologies for absence.

The Chair will consider the admission of any late items of Urgent Business.

(Late items of Urgent Business will be considered under the agenda item

where they appear. New items of Urgent Business will be dealt with under

agenda item 7).

There were no urgent business.

There were no declarations of interest.

To consider any requests received in accordance with Part 4, Section B,

paragraph 29 of the Council’s constitution.

There were none.

The Cabinet Member for Children, Schools and Families considered a

report that sought the approval for changes to the Council’s local schools funding formula for the 2024-25 financial year in line with the Schools National Funding Formula set out by the Department for Education (DfE).

Please be advised that the Chair of Overview and Scrutiny had agreed that the call-in procedure shall not apply to this urgent decision. This is because the decision was urgent and any delay in implementation caused by the call-in procedure would seriously prejudice the Council's or the public's interests due to the fact that the Council was legally required to submit the Authority Proforma Tool to the Department for Education (DfE) by 22 January 2024.

This decision would ensure that the Council would meet its legal obligations and would allow the authority to detail its schools block funding (SBF) formulae to model and confirm how it planned to fund for the funding year. Accordingly, the Chair of Overview and Scrutiny Committee had agreed that the decision was both reasonable in all circumstances, and that it should be treated as a matter of urgency. This is in accordance with Part 4, Section H, and Paragraph 18 (a) and (b) of the Council Constitution.

RESOLVED

The Cabinet Member for Children, Schools and Families:

1.    To agree the changes to the local schools funding formula for the 2024-25 financial year.

2.    To adopt Model 1 as outlined in the consultation with schools to set 0.46% the Minimum Funding Guarantee to all schools.

3.    To note the transfer of 0.50% from the Schools Block allocation to the High Needs Block as agreed by the School’s Forum under the safety valve agreement with the DfE in October 2023. At the October 2023 decision, this was estimated at £1.140m and with the proposed DSG allocation since published this equates to £1.129m.

4.    To agree the Growth fund be set at £300k.

5.    To agree the Block transfer of £122k from the Schools Block to the Central Block for Education Welfare Services, dependent on any necessary consent from the DfE.

6.    To agree the block transfer from the school’s block to the Early Years block of £60k to fund a Nursery School on a split site, dependent on any necessary consent from the DfE.

7.    To agree the de-delegation of £210k for Trade Union Representation (for maintained schools only).

Reasons for decision

The Council was legally required to set the local schools funding formula and must submit this to the ESFA by 22^nd January 2024. These changes required approval by the Council to complete the Authority Proforma Tool, as required by the ESFA. Such approval could be given on behalf of the Council by the Lead Member.

Options Considered

All schools in Haringey were consulted on the proposed changes for 2024-25 to the Council’s Schools Funding Formula via e-survey. The consultation started on 25^th November 2023, with a deadline of 8^th December 2023 for responses from Head Teachers and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

As per item 3.