Contact: Thomas Whiffen, 01962 846287, thomas.whiffen@hants.gov.uk

1 Summary

1.1 This report seeks approval to changes to the school funding formula, which have been agreed by Schools Forum and, where time permitted, have been the subject of consultation with all schools. These changes will then be incorporated in school budget shares for 2006/07 and future years.

1.2 The new system of school funding with the Dedicated Schools Grant and multi year budgets required changes to the school funding formula. There are also local developments in respect of pupils from service families and funding for special educational needs in primary and secondary schools. The government initiative and funding for personalised learning required new formula factors to distribute it appropriately.

1.3 These proposals support aims 1 and 5 of the Corporate Strategy, Maximising life opportunities and Improving Services by distributing the additional funds available for schools in ways which support all schools and permit some schools with higher needs to receive a greater share of the total.

1.4 This supports the enjoyment and achievement outcome of " Every Child Matters" by distributing funds to every school in accordance with the needs of the pupils.

2 Changes due to the new school funding system

2.1 The national changes mean that a single pupil count in the January preceding each financial year becomes the basis of formula funding for all primary and secondary schools in all authorities. This approach, by introducing a lagged effect to funding changes, offers more stability for schools with falling rolls, at a time when the general national picture is of falling rolls. However, it disadvantages growing schools that have to incur additional costs as the extra pupils are taught. It is proposed that planned growing schools have their position recognised by a transitional adjustment related to their planned and agreed increase in pupil numbers. A planned growing school is defined as a school which has an agreed increase in its planned admission number (PAN), is undergoing planned growth due to capital expenditure or where the authority has been supporting a school growing back up to existing capacity.

2.2 The new requirement for multi year budgets involves giving schools budget shares for 2006/07 and provisionally for 2007/08 in March 2006. The impact of this stability through certainty of funding streams is to make it more difficult to reflect within year changes in circumstances. Indeed there has been some Government pressure to use data as at February 2006 unchanged for the whole two years even when the 2007/08 provisional budgets will be updated in March 2007 for actual January 2007 pupil numbers. After consulting all schools it was agreed that data in budget shares should only be updated annually and no changes in circumstance during a financial year, such as floor area changes, could be recognised although data errors would still be corrected.

3 Local developments

3.1 Both Schools Forum and the schools responding to the full formal consultation in autumn 2005 on formula changes support a new formula factor providing funding for pupils from service families. The funding is to recognise the impact on schools of the greater level of pupil and family mobility and the distinctive effect of service life on families and children. A lot of the work is engendered by the greater degree of individual attention needed for admissions and departures outside the standard pattern.

3.2 A new method of identifying special educational needs (SEN) in primary and secondary schools was proposed in 2005 and supported by schools through consultation. It replaced an SEN Audit, which required submissions and evidence from schools with a "propensity" method. This involved a multi layer model, which calculates pupils' propensity for SEN and then arrives at a whole school answer as a basis for funding. The approach requires significantly less administration and workload in schools to build and maintain evidence of each child's needs. The results of applying the model to 2005 data caused greater variation in funding than was expected. On 22 February 2006 Schools Forum agreed to modifications incorporating deprivation and free schools meals data.

3.3 Schools Forum also agreed to transitional mechanisms to ease the move from the current method to the new one. The change in funding is phased over two years for secondary schools and three years for primary schools.

4 Personalised Learning

4.1 One of the main reasons for the growth in school budgets is the agreed use of "earmarked" funding for both primary and secondary schools for personalised learning. This totals £4.07m in 2006/07 and £10.45m in 2007/08. It was recognised that the Government's priorities for this money: low attainment, gifted and talented pupils and disadvantage and entitlement; accorded with key concerns of both the County Council and Schools Forum.

4.2 In order to distribute this money appropriately new formula factors in respect of attainment at the end of each key stage and the foundation stage profile results need to be introduced.

5 Legal implications

5.1 None.

6 Financial implications

6.1 The report deals with the distribution between schools of the approved Schools Budget for 2006/07 and 2007/08. The financial impact will be felt at individual school level. For all but the SEN change the proposals relate to distribution for new funding or changes arising with changes in pupil numbers. The SEN proposals could involve redistribution and therefore some gainers and losers. This was recognised by Schools Forum in proposing the transitional approach.

7 Personnel implications

7.1 Any personnel issues arising are the responsibility of individual schools.

8 Impact assessment

8.1 Race and equality impact assessment has been considered in the development of this report and no adverse impact has been identified.

9 Crime prevention issues

9.1 No identifiable impact.

10 Views of the Local County Councillor

10.1 The report covers the whole county.

Recommendations

That the Children's Services Policy Review Committee should advise the Executive Member for Education to agree to the following school funding formula variations:

1. The transitional mechanism for planned growing schools as the single pupil count takes effect

2. The annual update of the data on which allocations are based

3. The recognition of pupils from service families

4. The modifications to SEN funding including the transitional mechanisms

5. The use of attainment based factors in the formula.

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background documents

The following documents discuss facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and have been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

NB: the list excludes

1. Published works

2. Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act.

None