Agenda item

The Chair of Overview and Scrutiny has agreed that the call-in procedure shall not apply to this decision as the action being taken is urgent and time critical, and delay in implementation caused by the call-in procedure would seriously prejudice the Council’s or the public’s interests as the Council is legally required to submit the Authority Proforma Tool to the Department for Education (DfE) by 20 January 2023.  This is in accordance with Part 4, Section H, Paragraph 18(a) and (b) of the Council’s Constitution.

The final Schools Block Allocation will be confirmed by the Education and Skills Funding Agency in late December. The service is legally required to consult with the Schools’ Forum which will take place at the Schools’ Forum meeting on 12 January 2023. Any comments made by the Schools’ Forum will be tabled and considered by the Cabinet Member.

The Cabinet Member for Children, Schools and Families considered the report which sought approval for changes to the Council’s local schools funding formula for the 2023-24 financial year in line with the Schools National Funding Formula set out by the Department for Education (DfE).

The Schools Forum met on 12 January 2023 to consider the proposals, and the amended recommendations were published as an addendum on 18 January 2023.

The Cabinet Member noted that the funding allocation was due to be submitted to the Education and Skills Funding Agency (EFSA) on 20 January 2023, and so, in accordance with Part 4, Section H, Paragraph 18(a) and (b) of the Council’s Constitution, the Chair of Overview and Scrutiny had approved that the call-in period be waived.

RESOLVED that

Following approval by the Schools Forum on 12^th January 2023, the Cabinet Member is asked to agree the changes to the local schools funding formula for the 2023-24 financial year.

1.    To adopt Model 2 as outlined in the consultation with schools to set the Minimum Funding Guarantee between 0% and 0.5%; and

2.    To note the transfer of 0.50% from the Schools Block allocation to the High Needs Block as agreed in the October 2022 Schools Forum. At the October decision this was estimated at £1.051m and with the proposed DSG allocation since announced this equates to £1.098m;

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

4.    To agree the Minimum Funding Guarantee (MFG) is set between 0.2% and 0.34% dependent on the block transfers agreed and any necessary consent from the DfE;

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 Schools 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 £165k for Trade Union Representation (for maintained schools only).

Reasons for decision

The Council is legally required to set the local schools funding formula and must submit this to the ESFA by 20^th January 2023. These changes require approval by the Council in line with its local scheme of delegation to complete the Authority Proforma Tool, as required by the ESFA. Such approval can be given on behalf of the Council by the Lead Member.

Options Considered

All schools in Haringey were consulted on the proposed changes for 2023-24 to the Council’s Schools Funding Formula via e-survey. The consultation started on 23^rd November 2022, with a deadline of 9^th December 2022 for responses from Head Teachers and Chairs of Governors.

Table A shows options available and total responses received for all options.

Table A Consultation Results:

Following a decision by Schools Forum in October 2022, the model options for the 2023-24 DSG funding formula consultation with all schools was delegated to the Schools Block Working Group (SBWG).  The allowable range for setting the MFG for 2023-24 is between 0% to 0.5%. At the time of review by the SBWG, it was requested that the council make a disapplication to set a higher MFG in the range from 0.5% to 2% should the available funding announced in the Autumn statement enable the council to set a higher MFG. The additional funding for schools was school was announced as a separate grant called Maintained Schools Additional Grant. Therefore, with the final DSG settlement figures the MFG can only be set between 0.2% and 0.34%.

Now the final settlement has been announced at £219.467m and the NFF funding requirements applied to the APT the adoption of model 2 is the only option available. A further indicative £7.124m Maintained Schools Additional Grant has been announced in December 2022 and the DfE will announce school level allocations in the Spring 2023.

The maximum local block transfer is set at 0.5%. The October 2022 school’s forum agreed a block transfer of 0.5% to HNB. The adoption of the £122K Education Welfare Services and £60K split site will be contingent on DfE approval for block transfers above 0.5%.

Following the consultation results and confirmations of the published allocations of the APT on 16th December 2022, see Appendix 1 of the report for individual school allocations for 2023-24 to be considered by the Schools’ forum on 12^th January 2023.