The Chairman informed the Forum that the election of a Lower School Head Teacher representative had ocurred and Anne Kentish, Kensworth Lower School had been elected.  She had sent her apologies for this meeting but would be at the September meeting.

In addition, Cllr Tony Brown was welcomed to the Forum as an observer.

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting 24 January 2011 and to receive an update on any matters arising from these.

RESOLVED

that the minutes of the meeting of the Central Bedfordshire Schools Forum held on 7 March 2011 be confirmed and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.  Subject to the inclusion of the missing sentence  and correction to recommendation 2. from minute CBSF/10/123 as follows:-

The Forum considered the General Contingency to be set at £500,000 plus a further £1,000,000 in anticipation of the cost of redundancies in schools during 2011/12 and the SEN be £275,670 for the 2011/12 financial year.

2.                  that the 2011/12 General Contingency be set at £1,500,000 and SEN Contingency be set at £275,670 be agreed.

To update and make recommendation on DSG and Pupil Premium.

Approximately 09.10 – 09.30

The Forum considered a report which provided an update and made recommendations on Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) and Pupil Premium.

The estimated DSG for 2011/12 is £172.564m.  This is based on 37,046 (fte number of pupils at 01/11) multiplied by £4,658 (Guaranteed Unit of Funding (GUF).  The figure was based on 7 schools (2 primaries and 5 secondary) converting to Academy status.  The LACSEG unit per pupil fee for 2011/12 is £37.33 for Primary  and £76.09 for Secondary schools which amounts to a total recoupment of £264k.

The Forum noted that should a further 22 schools convert to Academy status during 2011/12 and additional £440k LACSEG payment would be required.

The Forum agreed at the 7 March 2011 meeting that Headroom would be used up to £1m for funding LACSEG once this is exceeded it would be brought to the Forum for their consideration.  The current estimated Headroom is £1.091k which had taken into account the initial LACSEG recoupment of £264k.

The Forum were asked to agree the allocation of £104k which had been included in the DSG but was specifically for new specialist status schools from September 2010.  There were 5 middles and 2 specials entitled to the funds.  The Forum agreed to the allocation.

Lastly the Forum noted that two consultations by the Secretary of State on 13 April 2011 and ending on 25 May 2011 for the following:-

·        A consultation on school funding reform: Rationale and principles; and

·        Academies Pre-16 Funding: Options for the 2012/13 Academic Year

A precise of the consultations and questions had been circulated with the agenda.  It was noted that Forum Members had previous to the meeting been given the opportunity to provide comments before the 11 May response deadline.

RESOLVED

1.                  that the update on the estimated DSG funding and deployment be noted.

2.                  that the estimated Headroom be noted.

3.                  that the proposed use of Headroom to fund new specialist schools as of September 2010 be agreed.

To provide an update on the School Forum Budget for 2011/12 and to propose a work session for the impending National Consultation.

Approximately 09.30 – 09.50

The Forum considered a report which provided an update on the School Forum Budget for 2011/12 and to propose a work session for the impending National Consultation.

The Forum at the meeting held on 7 March 2011 agreed that a budget of £3,000 be available to meeting the costs associated with the operation of the Forum e.g. venue hire, expenses and clerking costs, of which £2,000 be set aside and delegated to the Chairman of the Schools Forum to fund the commissioning  of consultancy and administration support.  At the same meeting the Schools Forum agreed to remain a member of the F40 Group, representing the lowest funded Local Authorities.

The School Forum had an under spend from 2010/11 of £3,650 which was carried forward to 2011/12.

The Forum agreed with the commissioning of consultancy for feedback on the National School Funding Consultation and a review of training requirements to be carried out during the new financial year.

RESOLVED

1. that the School Forum position statement as at 27 May 2011 be noted.

2. that the School Forum budget be utilised for the provision of training and feedback to the National School Funding Consultation be agreed.

Situation Update

Approximately 09.50 – 10.00

The Forum received a report which provided an update on the Extended Early Years offers in Schools.  The Head of Child Poverty and Early Intervention advised the Forum that the Flexible Free Extended Entitlement (FFEE) had since September 2010 become part of the universal offer for all three and four year olds. 

It was noted that of the 96 Lower Schools only two were not fulfilling the 15 hours FFEE.  It had been challenging for some schools to extend sessions from 2 ½ hours to 3 hours per day both in the morning and the afternoon.  The Council is working with the remaining schools to discuss funding implications and teaching time and other impacts on the delivery of 15 hours through both morning and afternoon sessions.

It was agreed that should the number of schools offering the extended entitlement increase that the Schools Contingency fund would be used to fund the additional hours.

RESOLVED

that the situation regarding maintained schools offering the extended early years entitlement be noted.

To provide information on the findings and recommendations of the recent review of school capital.

Approximately 10.00 – 10.10

The Forum considered a report which provided information on the findings and recommendations of the recent review of school capital.  In July 2010, Sebastian James (Group Operations Director of Dixons Retail plc) began an independent Review of Education Capital, the findings of which were published on 8 April 2011.

The review made 16 recommendations, if adopted, would lead to a fundamental change in the present system for building and maintaining schools.  The first part of the results critiqued the current processes for capital allocation, Building Schools for the Future (BSF), devolved and targeted programmes, and the maintenance of ‘the school estate’.  In addition, ICT, energy use and purchasing, insurance and the planning system and impact of building regulations were considered briefly.  The second part of the results were the recommendations as follows:-

1. Capital investment and apportionment should be based on objective facts and use clear, consistently-applied criteria.  Allocation should focus on the need for high-quality school places and the condition of facilities.

2. Demand-led programmes, such as Free Schools, are most sensibly funded from the centre and a centrally retained budget should be set aside for them.

3. The Department should avoid multiple funding streams for investment that can and should be planned locally, and instead apportion the available capital as a single, flexible budget for each local area, with a mandate to include ministerial priorities in determining allocations.

4. Notional budgets should be apportioned to Local Authority areas, empowering them fully to decide how best to reconcile national and local policy priorities in their own local contexts.  A specific local process, involving all Responsible Bodies (ie those which own and manage facilities), and hosted by the Local Authority, should then prioritise how this notional budget should be used.

5. The local prioritisation decisions should be captured in a short local investment plan.  There should be light-touch central appraisal of all local plans before an allocated plan of work is developed so that themes can be identified on a national level and scale-benefits achieved.  This must also allow for representations where parties believe the process has not assigned priorities fairly.

6. Individual institutions should be allocated an amount of capital to support delivery of small capital works and ICT provision.  Wherever possible, this should be aggregated up to Responsible Bodies according to the number of individual institutions they represent, for the Responsible Body then to use for appropriate maintenance across its estate, working in partnership with the institutions.

7. The Department ensures there is access to clear guidance on legal responsibilities in relation to maintenance of buildings, and on how revenue funding can be used for facility maintenance.

8. That the Department::

·        gathers all local condition data that currently exists, and implements a central condition database to manage this information.

·        carries out independent building condition surveys on a rolling 20% sample of the estate each year to provide a credible picture of investment needs, repeating this to develop a full picture of the estate’s condition in five years and thereafter.

9. That the Department revises its school premises  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To update the Schools Forum on the Schools out-turn position for 2010/11 and approach to Surplus Balances.

Approximately 10.10 – 10.20

The Forum considered a report which provided an update on the Schools out-turn position and approach to Surplus Balances for 2010/11. 

Central Bedfordshire had 137 schools (less 2 Academies) in 2010/11. 

The 2010/11 Scheme for Financing Schools required Schools to report to the Surplus Balance Sub Group if their surplus balance had exceeded the prescribed thresholds (Upper/Middle – 5% and Nursery/Lower and Special – 8%).  The Sub Group would review how the surplus would be spent and if the use was deemed inappropriate the surplus in excess of the threshold would be recycled.  The Forum at the 7 March 2011 meeting had agreed that there should be no balance control mechanism for balances arising from 2011/12 onwards.

Prior to the declaration of committed balances (Earmarked Funds), 81 schools would have been referred to the Surplus Balance Sub Group for having exceeded the defined thresholds for 2010/11.  This amount will reduce following the schools submission of their Consistent Financial Return due to the DfE in July.

·        17 schools held an agreed licensed deficit with a value of £635,751. 

·        one school has applied for a 1% deficit budget tolerance allowance. 

·        one school exceeded their agreed licensed deficit by £90,339 which was under review.

The Forum discussed possible causes for some schools having large surpluses.  It was noted the uncertainty of the amount of money being received from Central Government over the next couple of years and the possibility that schools were being cautious in their spending to ensure funds would be there for the future.

The Director of Children’s Services informed the Forum that the Executive Member for Children’s Services would be speaking to School Governors and updating Ward Members about the current balances.  The Executive Member for Children’s Services understood the holding of budgets due to uncertainty but would be reminding schools that they need to ensure that the are does not appear to affluent and thus not considered to be in need of help.

A letter will be sent to schools holding excess balances for 2010/11 stating that the balance exceeds the defined thresholds and should be spent on today’s students.  Due to the removal of the claw back mechanism for 2011/12 no claw back will apply to 2010/11 excess balances.

Schools are categoriased into Red, Amber and Green (RAG) ratings of risk.  The review is carried out twice a year in June following the financial year end and the receipt of the current budget plan, and January, following the Schools completion of the year end forecasts outturn.  Updates occurred as circumstances changed.

The Forum also noted school budgets were due by 31 May 2011 and at the date of the meeting only 75% had been received.  Applications for License Deficits are currently being reviewed.

RESOLVED

that the update on the School’s out-turn position for 2010/11 and the approach to Surplus Balances be noted.

To provide an update on the likely programme for the next year and request Sub Group membership.

Approximately 10.20 – 10.30

The Forum considered a report which provided an update on the likely work programme for the next year and a request for Sub Group membership.  The programme indicated the standard reports and when they would be considered throughout the municipal year.

The Forum were asked to consider membership for a technical sub group to consider changes arising from the National Consultation on School Funding.  Members of the Sub Group would review proposals arising from the consultation and bring back final options for consideration by the Forum. 

It was noted that since the last technical sub group had met the membership of the Forum had changed.  It was agreed that once officers had determined the commitment being asked of the Forum Members an email would be circulated asking for volunteers.

Members questioned the possibility of the entire Forum considering the proposals.  The Director for Children’s Services informed the Forum that Chairs of Governors, public schools and the Forum would be asked to speak on the proposals.  The Forum would convene additional meetings as needed.

RESOLVED

that the programme and request for membership to a Technical Funding Sub-Group be noted.

To provide an update on the Schools Specific Contingency Budget for 2011/12.

Approximately 10.30 – 10.40

The Forum received and considered a report which provided an update on the Schools Specific Contingency Budget for 2011/12.  The Forum had approved the 2011/12 budget at the meeting held on 7 March 2011:-

·        £500,000 General Contingency plus a further £1,000,000 in anticipation of the cost of redundancies in schools during 2011/12.

·        £275,670 SEN Contingency

The total budget agreed for 2011/12 was £1,775,670.

The Senior Finance Officer confirmed as at 31 March 2011 the carry forward from the 2010/11 School Contingency was £1,061,547 which was split as follows:-

·        £845,708 General Contingency

·        £215,839 SEN Contingency

The Forum were reminded that the additional £1m had been agreed to cover the impact of redundancies at Schools.  It was noted no figure was currently available from Human Resources but the Forum was reminded that in 2010/11 £600,000 had been spent on redundancies.

A question was raised regarding the payment to Bedford Borough in 2010/11 for the disaggregation of the Special Schools DSG.  The Director of Children Services confirmed that the payment by Central Bedfordshire Council in 2009/10 would be the only payment for the transition to Unitary.

RESOLVED

that the School Specific Contingency position statement as at 27 May 2011 be noted.

The following are proposed meeting dates for 2011 – 2012:-

Monday 19 September 2011 at 18.00

Monday 31 October 2011 at 18.00

Monday 23 January 2012 at 18.00

Monday 5 March 2012 at 09.00

Monday 25 June 2012 at 18.00

The Forum noted the arrangements for the following meetings of the Central Bedfordshire Schools Forum:-

·        Monday 19 September 2011 at 18.00 – Room 14, Priory House, Shefford

·        Monday 31 October 2011 at 09.00 – Cttee Room 1, Watling House, Dunstable

·        Monday 23 January 2012 at 18.00 – Council Chamber, Priory House, Shefford

·        Monday 5 March 2012 at 18.00 – Council Chamber, Priory House, Shefford

·        Monday 25 June 2012 at 09.00 – Cttee Room 2, Watling House, Dunstable

Note: It was not possible to receive refreshments for the evening meetings in Watling House which meant that only morning meetings could be arranged for Watling House.  Apologies for any inconvenience this may cause.