Budget Briefing Session for Governing Bodies

LDC 25 February 2013 7pmCastledyke 4 March 2013 7pm

Aims and Objectives

Opportunity to ask questions!

• Increased awareness and understanding of the recent National School Funding Reforms

• A better understanding of the financial implications of the changes proposed in the Children and Families Bill – SEND

• Increased confidence in the use of Pupil Premium• Reminder on effective financial management and

governance

National School Funding Reforms - Background

• DFE Consultation Spring 2012• DFE published ‘School funding reform –

Arrangements for 2013-14’ and ‘Operational guidance for Local Authorities – 2013-14 revenue funding arrangements’ June 2012

• LA and Schools Forum working group to develop the local response

• LA consultation with schools Autumn 2012

National Funding Reforms

• Dedicated Schools Grant to be made up of 3 allocations– Schools Block– Early Years– High Needs Block

• Based on historic baseline data with adjustments

• No inflationary increase to allocations

Schools Block

• Individual mainstream schools budget (maintained and academies)

• Regulations prescribed in statute• Locally determined formula – choice of 13

factors plus Minimum Funding Guarantee• Must have Basic Pupil and Deprivation factors• Unit values set locally (lump sum national

maximum £200k)• Data sets provided by EFA

Schools Block

• Central budgets defined – more delegated to schools

• De-delegation decisions by maintained school reps at Schools Forum

• Academies – no longer receive LACSEG• Minimum Funding Guarantee formula

updated (98.5% of 12-13 per pupil baseline)

Schools Budgets• Calculated based on October 2012 Census• Factors within North Lincolnshire Schools Formula– Basic Pupil KS2, KS3, KS4– Deprivation based on IDACI scores– Low cost High Incident based on pupils not achieving EYFS

78 points and not achieving L4 KS2 Eng and Math– EAL based on EAL pupils in education system 3 years– Lump Sum– Split site (where a highway separates the sites)– Rates - based on actual NNDR bill (net of mandatory rate

relief)– Exceptional Circumstance – BSF schools management fee

Early Years

• Funds provision for 2, 3 and 4 year olds in maintained schools and private, voluntary & independent settings.

• Based on single formula in accordance with Statutory Guidance.

• Based on ‘take-up’, adjusted termly.• Some central functions that support the early years

sufficiency and provision including market development and sustainability strategies.

High Needs Block• Funding for those children and young people

requiring specialist education provision which is over and above an expected level of provision.

• Defined as those who require provision costing more than about £10,000 per year in total.

• Move towards Single Education Health and Social Care Plans (replace statements of special education need).

• High needs budget includes funding for special schools (maintained and independent), SEN Support Services, Alternative Education and ‘Top-up’ funding for Individually Assigned Resources

Additional Funding

• Pupil Premium – Ever 6 FSM £900• Sixth Form Funding – as per EFA funding

formula via LA if maintained school• Early Years Funding – as per EYSFF• Statement ‘Top-Up’• Amalgamated Schools transition, Federating

schools lump sum• Academies – Education Services Grant £150

per pupil 2013-14

Children and Families Bill – Special Educational Needs and Disability

clauses

Replacing Special Educational Needs (SEN) Statements and Learning Difficulty Assessments (for 16-25 year olds) with a single, simpler 0-25 assessment process and Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plan from April 2014

SEND changes cont The SEN Code of Practice 2001 categories of School

Action and School Action Plus are to be replaced with a new single school-based ‘Lower Needs’ SEN category

Local areas will be required to publish a ‘Local Offer’

Giving parents or young people the right to a personal budget for their support

Giving parents / carers AND young people the right of appeal to First Tier Tribunal

Notional SEN• mainstream settings will be expected to contribute

the first £6,000 of additional educational support for high needs pupils and students.

• Additional funding is within the ‘ISB budget’• Distributed based on ‘proxy’ low cost high incident

measure• Notional SEN is made up of LCHI and 5% of

deprivation• To be used to meet the needs of SEN/AEN pupils –

defined in statement

High Needs Block

Funding to mainstream schools and academies:• Statements Top-up values– Band 1 £6,800– Band 2 £1,630 (secondary) £3,190 (primary)– Band 3 £1,360– Band 4 £130– Band 5 £0

• Top up funding follows the pupil (pro-rata adjustments will be made)

Transitional Arrangements for 2013/14

• First £10 k of education and support to a Statemented child / young person will be in the main funding allocation to schools.

• Bands 4 / 5 (approx) fall under the £6,000 ‘lower level need’ threshold so will not be EHC Plans post-April 2014 (potentially). The resources to support these individuals in 2013/14 will be in the school’s / institution’s main allocation.

• The law relating to the current SEN Code of Practice is still in place until the Children and Families Bill is passed so existing Statements attract rights of appeal and cannot simply be ceased. It is likely that they will be phased out gradually through Annual Review but parents will need to be reassured that their son / daughter’s needs are being met. This is where clarity around the ‘Local Offer’ will be important.

• No specific Government guidance has been produced relating to existing Statements of SEN, particularly those below the £10,000 threshold.

• Element 2 funding has been determined by proxy measures rather than current statements. Schools will need to identify those resources required from within the overall funding available.

Pupil Premium

• Increase to £900 per Ever 6 FSM pupil• Based on January 2013 Census• Estimated allocations on DFE website

http://education.gov.uk/schools/adminandfinance/financialmanagement/schoolsrevenuefunding/a00218077/funding-settlement-2013-14

Pupil Premium – Good Practice• The Pupil Premium: How schools are spending the funding

successfully to maximise achievement – Ofsted February 2013

• Sutton Trust and Education Enwment Foundation Toolkit (updated January 2013)

• Educational Aspirations: How English Schools Can Work With Parents To Keep Them On Track – Rowntree Trust January 2013

• The Pupil Premium – Ofsted September 2012

• The Pupil Premium, Making it work for your school – Oxford University Press September 2012

Success Factors• Ring fencing• Analysis of pupil underachievement• Day to day teaching meeting needs of each learner• Use of ‘best’ teachers• Highly trained support staff• Useful pupil feedback• Designated senior leader• Knowing who is eligible• School Policy• Targeted support – attendance, behaviour, family• Robust performance management• Governor involvement• Demonstrable impact

Characteristics – lack of success• Lack of clarity - intended impact of spend• Indiscriminate spend on TA’s• No monitoring (QA, impact)• No performance management• No clear audit trail of spend• Focus on national expected levels – no going beyond• Pupil premium spend in isolation• Comparing performance of pupils to national not local• Comparing FSM pupils with FSM pupils nationally (not

all pupils)• Not focussing pastoral work• No governor involvement in decision making about

pupil premium

Good Financial Management

Schools’ role is to manage their delegated budget effectively and optimise their use of resources to raise standards and attainment for all their pupils, working within the local financial framework set by the local authority. In pursuit of this role they:

• Seek to secure good value for money at all times; • Implement the SFVS; • Ensure that the school has access to an appropriate level of financial

expertise; • Ensure that the governing body has adequate financial skills among

its members to fulfil its role of challenge and support; • Maintain effective financial management arrangements in the

school; • Maintain adequate accounting and management information

systems; • Follow procedures for purchasing or leasing goods and services that

both meet the legal requirements and achieve value for money; • Have adequate arrangements to guard against fraud and theft; and • Benchmark income and expenditure annually against that of similar

schools and investigate and take action where any category appears to be out of line.

Internal Controls

• Internal Audit provide assurance about the effectiveness of key controls and exposure to risk that any control weakness may cause.

• Usually every 3 years.• Overall assessment of assurance• Action plan

Areas for Development

• Governance• Budgetary Control• Expenditure• Budget income• School Fund

Do you know if recommended actions have been implemented?