Agenda item

This report updates Schools Forum on the national funding position following the latest July 2023 ESFA technical updates and guidance on schools funding for 2024/25. It provides forum with estimates of the possible impacts on resources up to and beyond 2023/24. It then sets out a draft consultation document for comment by the Forum, seeking the views of schools and other interested parties about any changes to the school funding arrangements for 2024/25.

The report recaps that the schools national funding formula (NFF) was introduced in April 2018 with transitional arrangements whereby local authorities maintain a local funding formula for the distribution of schools and high needs block grants, until 2019/20. It then explains how the updated Education Schools Funding Agency (ESFA) July Guidance for 2023 2024-25 on NFF has now extended this arrangement to 2024/25 and continued its “mirroring” requirement to reduce the difference between individual local formulas and the NFF factors annually by 10%. This now makes 2025/26 the earliest year for the completed national funding formula proposals.

The report also indicates the current budget pressures and the position regarding any possible draw down or addition to Designated Schools Grant (DSG) reserves following the uplifted DSG allocations for 2024/25 announced in July 2023.

The draft consultation section of the report outlines the current and any proposed changes or ESFA statutory requirements to the local Camden funding formula (primary and secondary schools) used for the distribution of the schools DSG block. The recommendation is that there be no changes to the current formula beyond uplifting the local formula factors in line with the general DSG inflation increase for 2024/25 (currently 2.64%) subject to the new ESFA statutory “mirroring” requirements. These ESFA requirements are mainly maximum and minimum factor value requirements introduced to reduce any difference between individual local formula and NFF factors by 10% per year. This approach continues forums earlier aim to wherever possible continue with its current agreed local formula with minimal changes. This is to enable schools to concentrate on dealing with the real terms funding reductions to school budgets (caused by ongoing high levels of inflation and a significant period of below inflation increases to per pupil funding in past years) without introducing new redistributive effects from changes to the local formula at this stage.

The report also explains the timetable leading up to a decision on the funding formula by the authority, which is required prior to the end of October in order to comply with a requirement to inform the government of any changes by 30th November.

Consideration was given to the report of the Head of Education Commissioning and School Organisation.

The Team Leader Schools and Designated Schools Grant (DSG) presented the report which updatedthe Forum on the on the national funding position following the latest July 2023 Education Schools Funding Agency (ESFA) technical updates and guidance on schools funding for 2024/25; estimates of the possible impacts on resources up to and beyond 2023/24; the draft consultation document seeking the views of schools and other interested parties about any changes to the school funding arrangements for 2024/25; and the current budget pressures and the position regarding any possible draw down or addition to DSG reserves following the uplifted DSG allocations for 2024/25 announced in July 2023.

The Chair thanked officers for the report and invited questions and comments from the Forum. The following was discussed:

-       In relation to sections 5.1-5.5, teacher pay increase, it was confirmed that the uplift was expected to be embedded into funding following the initial two years.

-       In relation to the ESFA requirement of local authorities to move their local funding formular 10% closer to the NFF per year, a member asked how close Camden’s formula was currently to the NFF. In response, it was confirmed that there were c.20 local authorities who were reasonably far from the NFF, but Camden was not significantly far and getting closer.

-       In relation to the differences between the NFF and the local funding formular, it was confirmed that Camden’s primary focus was toward deprivation factors, rather than low attainment, which was higher in Camden than nationally and therefore a priority.

-       In relation to the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS), it was confirmed that officers were not aware of any updates on the horizon that would affect Schools Forum considerations.

-       Forum members stated that Appendix 1, the draft consultation document seeking the views of schools and other interested parties about any changes to the school funding arrangements for 2024/25, should be tabled at the Headteachers Consultative Forum to encourage more responses.

RESOLVED –

THAT Schools Forum

a)    note the developments regarding the planned implementation of the national funding formula, as set out in sections 1 to 4;

b)    note the current pressures on schools’ budgets and the support being provided by the Council in sections 5 to 8. The timetable for consultation on the local funding formula is outlined in section 9; and

c)    comment on the draft 2024/25 budget consultation document prior to circulation to schools and other relevant parties, as described in sections 9 and set out in Appendix 1.