[To receive a verbal update on the National Funding Formula.]
Minutes:
Debra Boniface, Finance Manager provided a verbal update on the National Funding Formula and what this meant for schools. It was reported that information on the National Funding Formula (NFF) had been released for 2020 – 2021 and the formula would be the same as in previous years. It was clarified that the formula was set by central government but administered by the local authority.
It was reported that minimum funding per primary school pupil was to rise from £3,500 to £3,750 in 2020-2021 and to £4,000 in 2021-2022 and that the minimum funding per secondary school pupil was to rise from £4,800 to £5,000 in 2020–2021. However, schools are advised to take this announcement with caution since, due to the high level of deprivation funding, the majority of schools in Wolverhampton already received this level of funding, with only one primary school and one secondary school gaining funding through this factor in 2019-2020.
In respect of the minimum funding guarantee (MFG), it was noted that in 2019-2020, the maximum permissible rate was 0.5% (from a range of -1.5% to +0.5%). For 2020-2021, the permissible range is from +0.5% to +1.84%.
It was noted that the operational guide for the High Needs Block had been released and, whilst the methodology of distributing funds to institutions remained unchanged at £10,000 per place plus funding for individual needs through the local matrix funding, there was to be an underlying increase of 8% in the funds made available to Local Authorities in 2020-2021. It was reported that this increase was calculated from the 2019-2020 population and was to be be capped so that no authority has an overall gain of more than 17%.
It was noted that there had been no further news on the early years block. In respect of the duplication of recorded pupils reported at the last meeting of Schools’ Forum, it was clarified that there would be some clawback of the surplus funds and this year’s funding figures had been adjusted accordingly to account for this.
In response to a query on whether there would be any supplementary funding for nursery schools, it was clarified that Councillors had been lobbying Central Government in respect of the spending review.
It was reported that there had been a meeting for a special educational needs (SEN) call for evidence attended by representatives from the Department for Education (DfE), Adrian Leach, Head of SEND at City of Wolverhampton Council, parents and carers. It was felt that the DfE had taken note of concerns and issues raised. One issue, in particular, was noted as the proposal to review notional SEN budgets for mainstream schools as the funds were not ringfenced. This recommended that the SEN budgets in mainstream schools should be fixed rather than notional, and that schools may be expected to report on the use of the SEN budget (in a similar way to Pupil Premium). There had been a reported increase in the use of the high needs block and the number of children with SEN in mainstream schools. It was also reported that the SEN Code of Practice had been undergoing a review and would be published next year.
In response to a query on whether an influx of schools who stood to lose from the implementation of the NFF, it was stated that it was not anticipated at this stage that any schools were likely to lose, as most of the NFF factors were already being used in Wolverhampton.
In response to a query on the discrepancy of the funding of business rates between nursery and mainstream schools, it was noted that this was an optional factor in the mainstream funding formula but is applied by every Authority. It was explained that the allocation of money to did not change and would not affect the amount distributed if another factor was applied. This factor is not available in the Early Years Funding Formula and it was felt by providers that it was unfair that nursery schools potentially stood to lose out as the early years block could not apply for this factor. It was noted that the only schools exempt from business rates were Special Schools and PRUs, and that academy schools were not paid rates through the funding formula but were able to claim back business rates from the Government.
Resolved:
That the update on the National Funding Formula be received.