To note the 2014/15 DSG and Growth Fund outturn, and 2015/16 DSG allocation.

The Forum received a report which provided an update on the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) and Growth Fund outturn for 2014/15 and 2015/16 DSG allocation.

From 2013/14, the DSG would be split into three notional blocks: Early Year, High Needs and Schools.

The Minimum Funding Guarantee (MFG) was set at negative 1.5% per pupil for 2015/16.

 It was noted that the Chief Finance Officer (CFO) is no longer required to complete two statements annually instead the DfE have now requested one annual outturn statement, confirming that the DSG received by the Authority was fully deployed in support of the school budgets in accordance with the conditions of the School Regulations.  In addition, it will also include a Non Maintained Special School (NMSS) statement and Fraud cases reported in school statement.

DSG Outturn 2014/15

The Schools Block is based on a per pupil unit of funding of £4,144.47 multiplied by 35,148 pupils as reported on the October 2013 census.

The Early Years Block is based on a unit of funding of £3,979.80 multiplied by 2,587 full time equivalent number of pupils as reported on the January 2014 census.  In April 2014, the block was updated for 7/12ths of the January 2014 pupil numbers to cover the period September 2013 to March 2014.

The High Needs Block is a single block of high needs pupils/students age 0 – 24.  For 2014/15 the block is split into two parts, pre-16 and post-16 (ages 16 – 24).  The Forum noted that since August 2013, the post-16 funding has combined three previous budgets: SEN block grant, specialist placements funding and the cost of high needs student in Further Education (FE).

The distribution of the 2013/14 DSG based on the 48 Academy conversions at December 2014 was £183,434 (£83,790 went to Academies ISB).  Direct payments to Academies included Early Years = £716k and High Needs = £3.481k.  Paragraph 13 of the report provided a breakdown of the centrally retained DSG of £19.3m

A technical sub group has been set up to deal with High Needs Funding. 

There is a carry forward to 2015/16 of £3.393m.  The table in paragraph 14 of the report details the underspends.  The underspend has been used in part to increase the Schools’ individual budget for 2015/16 by £1.5m (£1m from SEN Contingency and £0.5m from Early Years Contingency) and a transfer to capital for Specialist Provisions of £855k (£726k from SEN and £129k from SEN Contingency).

Growth Fund Outturn 2014/15

The Growth Fund is for significant pre-16 growth in schools.  Funds are available to both maintained schools and academies.  Where a school has elected to expand they are not eligible for the Growth Fund.

The amount for 2014/15 was set at £1m and has been overspent by £428,470.  The Forum noted that any overspend would be the first call against the 2015/16 allocation for Growth Fund.  An adjustment is due from the EFA of £248k in respect of a Growth Fund payment to Academies.  The adjustment will be included in the 2015/16 Growth Fund

DSG Budget Allocation 2015/16

The Forum noted that on 26 March 2015, the DfE announced the DSG for 2015/16 and that it would remain split into three notional blocks: school, high needs and early years.

The final DSG for 2015/16 is £192.587m.  This is based on:

·                Schools Block: £154.186m – which is based on the SBUF plus a cash transfer to bring non-recoupment academies into the LA’s overall budget calculation.  The CRC deduction of £7.51 made the revised SBUF £4,289.09, an increase of £144.62 from 2014/15.  In addition, pupil numbers had increased by 718 to 35,866, based on October 2014 census.

·                High Needs Block: £27.935m – which is based on the 2014/15 carry forward plus an increase in places for academic year 2015/16 and an additional top-up of £47m distributed based on the 2-19 aged population in each Local Authority.

·                Early Years: £10.476m – which is based on the same rate as in 2014/15 £3,979.80 for three to four year olds.  Also the early year pupil premium (eypp) £300 per year per pupil equating to £171k. Funding for disadvantaged two year olds at an hourly rate of £5.03.  The allocation would be made in June 2015 and was not available at the time of the meeting.

The above Schools Block included a cash transfer (£341k) for CBC’s University Technical College which is based on what the UTC would have received in the 2014/15 formula based on pupil numbers in the October 2014 census and uplifted by the Minimum Funding Level (MFL).

Paragraph 30 of the report provided a breakdown of the indicative DSG Revenue allocation of £192.587m for 2015/16.

Paragraph 34 provided a list of the single national licence managed by the Department for Education for all state-funded schools in England.  The Forum noted that four new licenses had been added.  It is estimated that this will cost be £242k.

Paragraph 37 provided a breakdown of the centrally retained DSG of £20.62m for 2015/16.

RESOLVED

1.     That the 2014/15 DSG Outturn be noted.

2.     That the 2014/15 Growth Fund Outturn be noted.

3.     That the update on the 2015/16 DSG allocations be noted.