To include a specific item on funding in Early Years, including proposals on how to distribute £129k late allocation last year.

Rachael Williams shared with the Forum a financial report detailing the current outturn position, which has reduced from £2.716m in January to £2.620m. Taking onto account the additional Higher Needs allocation of £268k that was agreed by members at January Forum, the final outturn position at the end of the year is expected to be £2.35m.

After calculations based on the Spring census data, there is a predicted underspend in the Early Years Block of £282k. However, early calculations indicate that may be a negative adjustment in the Summer, predicted to be approximately £216k. Members agreed that the underspend should be kept in contingency because of this, and voted as follows:

Vote – to hold the £282k as a contingency to cover the expected negative adjustment in Summer 2019:

For: 12

Against: 0

Abstain: 0

Given this underspend, The adjustment received from last year’s Early Years funding, initially being held to mitigate any overspend in this year’s budget, was then discussed, with members debating how best to allocate these funds. Two options were considered on how to use this funding, with a third option proposed by members at the meeting. Votes were as follows:

Option A - Allocate the funding to providers in a lump sum based on the hours claimed over the last three headcounts.

For: 1

Against: 10

Abstain: 1

As this option was rejected by members, voting then moved on to option B.

Option B – Re-allocate the funding to repay the Higher Needs block contribution to the Early Years SEN Inclusion Fund (ALFEY Funding), bringing the overall deficit position to a lower level:

For 6

Against: 6

Abstain: 0

In the event of a tie, the Chair has casting vote, therefore the motion carried. Because of this, Option C, which proposed a 50/50 split between the first two options, was not voted on.

It was felt that this was a good opportunity to alleviate some of the pressure and reduce the Higher Needs debt.

There is an overspend in the SEN Inclusion budget of £16k, however there is an underspend of £15k in the DAF (Disability Access Fund) which was felt could be used to offset this. Members voted as follows:

To use the £15k underspend in the DAF to offset the ALFEY overspend:

For: 12

Against: 0

Abstain: 0

The Higher Needs Block remains of significant concern, with an overspend of £160k projected, due in part to an increase in the number of requests for additional funding above the £6k allocated to schools. However, it was noted that the work of the HNRG (Higher Needs Recovery Group) is beginning to have some effect. The work of the Peer Challenge Group is ongoing, Secondary Heads will be meeting shortly to discuss the managing of children at risk of exclusion, with any proposals being bought to Schools Forum in the future.

Members noted the findings of this report, and thought that it would be beneficial to have an agreed set of principles in place, in the event of further new money becoming available. A discussion on this will be held at the next Forum in June.

Action – MF to add to June agenda.