Agenda and draft minutes

There were no declarations of interest made on this occasion.

Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting held on the 21 March 2024, be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

Philip Siddell updated the forum on the response that was submitted by the County Council in relation to the withdrawal of funding following an inadequate Ofsted judgement. The original letter that had been sent, and the subsequent reply that was received, had been circulated to the Schools Forum by the Forum Clerk following the March meeting. However, it was stated that the response that had been received from the County Council was disappointing, and it was agreed that a follow up letter would be sent from the Schools Forum. Philip Siddell read out the proposed response to the County Council, and it was agreed that the letter would be shared with Forum members following the meeting.

Resolved: That the proposed response to the County Council would be shared with Forum members following the meeting.

It was confirmed that no decisions had been taken by the Chair, under delegated powers, since the last meeting.

It was confirmed that no new Notice of Concerns had been issued or withdrawn.

The Entrust Schools Finance team continued to work with all schools who had an existing Notice of Concern or Licensed Deficit agreement.

Resolved: That the Notices of Concern and Licensed Deficit Agreements to schools be noted.

The Schools Forum received a report from the Director of Children and Families regarding an update to the Staffordshire Scheme for Financing of Schools.

The Forum was informed that the Staffordshire Scheme for Financing Schools had been renamed the Staffordshire Scheme for Financing Maintained Schools, this was in line with the Government’s scheme.

As a result, changes had been made to the Staffordshire Scheme guidance.

• Section 1.1 of the Scheme referred to Issue 16 of statutory guidance instead of Issue 15.
• Section 3.5 had been expanded.
• The title of the County Treasurer had been replaced with the Director of Finance, throughout the Finance Regulations for Schools document.
• Section 43 of the Finance Regulations had been amended.

Resolved: That the revised Staffordshire Scheme for Financing Maintained Schools and Finance regulations be approved.

The Schools Forum was provided with a report that provided a view of potential options available for a replacement Schools Information Management Software solution for maintained Staffordshire Schools.

It was explained that Staffordshire County Council’s (SCC) contract for School Information Management Software (SIMS) provided by Education Software Solutions (ESS) was reaching the next 5-year contractual ‘breakpoint’ on the 31 March 2025, and Staffordshire County Council wished to terminate the contract with ESS at that point. Contract termination notice would be given to Education Software Solutions on the 30 September 2024.

SIMS software had been in use in Staffordshire Schools since 2010. At the time of contract signing nearly 400 Staffordshire Schools were maintained, and this contract provided ‘best value’ for the council and for the maintained schools. In the intervening years, the majority of schools in particular secondary/high schools had moved to the ‘Academy’ model of governance and the current number of maintained schools in Staffordshire had reduced to 118 (9 secondary/high schools, 102 primary schools, 4 special schools and 3 short stay schools/PRUs).

It was clarified that SCC would no longer be procuring SIMS on behalf of Staffordshire maintained schools once the current contract with Education Software Solutions had come to an end, and the report provided maintained schools with an options appraisal on a range of SIMS currently available on the market.

The report also requested that maintained schools inform SCC whether they would like them to request a 6 or 12 month contract extension to the current SIMS contract to allow schools sufficient time to investigate, procure and implement their chosen SIMS. It was clarified that a 6-month extension would run from 31 March 2025 to 1 October 2025, and a 12-month extension would run from 31 March 2025 to 1 April 2026. It was noted that all maintained schools would be contacted through the “Schools Bag”, to determine their preference, with a response required by 13 September 2024, so that ESS could be informed of the decision.

A number of Academy representatives provided the maintained representatives with a range of points that they felt would be worthwhile taking into consideration when undertaking the procurement process.

Alan Harding (Secondary Heads Forum) and Chris Wright (All Middle schools) agreed that an extension would be a sensible proposal. Alan Harding felt a consultation through the “School Bag” would be the best way to determine individual school opinions, and Chris Wright informed the Forum that he would discuss the situation at the Middle School Heads Forum, that was taking place on the 12July 24.

It was highlighted that a response had been received from ESS with prices relating to the Cloud Version of the SIMS – called SIMS Next Gen. It was agreed that this information would be added to the original report and circulated to the Schools Forum.

Post meeting note

The information was shared with all maintained schools through the School Bag on Monday 15 July 24, and the updated report was shared with the Schools Forum  ...  view the full minutes text for item 52.

The Schools Forum received a report from the Director of Children and Families relating to the Growth Fund - Allocation of Funding 2024/25.

Members were asked to note that that in section 9b of this agenda item, the school “Henhurst Ridge Primary Academy (East Staffordshire)” had been included in the report in error. “Chase Terrace Primary School (Cannock Chase district)” should have been included in the report.

Funding for infant class size legislation

It was highlighted to the Forum that in accordance with the infant class size criteria, £161,312 would be allocated to seven schools based on an agreed number of additional infant class teachers.

Funding for exceptional basic need growth

In accordance with the basic need growth criteria, £147,300 would be allocated to three schools that worked with the Local Authority to meet exceptional population growth locally by creating an additional class (in primary schools) or exceeding PAN by at least 5% (by middle and secondary schools). The schools involved were noted as; Codsall Community High School (South Staffordshire district), Chase Terrace Primary School (Cannock Chase district) and Sir Graham Balfour Academy (Stafford district),

Funding for the cost of new schools

The Forum also heard that, in accordance with the new schools’ criteria, a total of £453,750 would be allocated for post-opening costs for nine new free schools with an opening date between 2019 and 2024; and pre-opening costs for two new free school planned to open in September 2025.

Proposed increase in funding per school for exceptional basic need growth

Schools Forum was asked to approve an increase in funding per school for exceptional basic need growth funding and to apply it from 2024/25. The proposed increase would assist the Local Authority when seeking agreement from a school to admit a limited number of additional pupils to meet local basic need, based on the notional cost of creating an additional Reception class. It was noted that, whilst salary costs were increased each year in line with the estimated pay award for school staff for the following year, the £3,000 towards the cost of resources and materials had not increased since the implementation of the policy in 2013. Information was provided to demonstrate the need for the increase, and it was explained that, if approved for 2024/25, there would be a net increase in total growth fund expenditure of £23,100, with £1,963,638 being returned to the Dedicated Schools Grant.

Resolved: That the allocations of Growth Fund for:

a. funding for infant class size legislation at seven primary schools, be noted.

b. funding for exceptional basic need growth at one primary school, one high school and one secondary school, be noted.

c. pre-opening funding costs for two new schools opening in September 2025, and post-opening costs for nine schools opened between September 2019 and 2024, be noted.

d. That the increase in funding for exceptional basic need growth, from 2024/25 onwards be approved.

The Schools Forum received the Schools Budget 2023/24: Final Outturn Report of the Director of Finance. The following points were discussed:

•     The outturn position for 2023/24 was a £16.2m variance (5.3%) overspend on planned expenditure across all services.

•     The Individual Schools Budget was underspent by £2.0m (-1.3%), mainly because of a £1.8m underspend on the growth fund.

•     The High Needs budget had overspent by £20.2m (21.9%).

•     The Early Years budget had underspent by £0.2m (-0.4%); this would offset the prior year clawback of early years Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) funding of £0.4m.

•     As a result of the ongoing overspend in the HNB over the last few years the DSG reserve at the end of 2023/24 was £30.8m in deficit.

•     As of 31 March 2024, maintained schools held reserves of £18.2m; a decrease of £1.9m from the position on 31 March 2023. This was largely due to schools converting to academies.

In response to a question from Philip Siddell asking whether there was an underspend on the deprivation funding for Early Years and, if so, what it was, and what had happened to it, it was confirmed that the deprivation funding was overspent by circa £70k.

In response to a question from Steve Swatton asking how many maintained schools there were at end of March 24, and if reserves of £18.2m took into account the Licensed Deficits noted earlier in the meeting, it was confirmed that there were 122 maintained schools at the end of March 24, and the reserve of £18.2m was the net figure taking into account all Licensed Deficits.

Resolved: That the 2023/24 Schools Budget financial outturn be noted.

The Schools Forum received a report from the Director of Children and Families relating to the High Needs Block (HNB).

The Forum was informed that the forecast overspend for the 2024/25 HNB was £28.5m. This was despite an increase in Government funding of circa 4%, and the 0.5% transfer from the Schools Block, which had in turn increased the High Needs Budget by 6.8% to £135.6m. It was highlighted that this budget increase was insufficient to keep up pace with the rising demand and costs, and the funding gap had increased significantly through 2024.

In July 2023, it was reported that EHCPs were increasing by typically 400-500 per annum. At this meeting SCC reported circa 8000 EHCPs, an increase of 500 since January 2024, when the figure was 7490 – this equated to an increase of 46% in four years. This was impacting all areas, but most notably the Independent Sector, where numbers had increased to 689, with a forecast increase to circa 750 by the end of 2024 – this equated to an increase of 80% in four years.

Placement costs within the Special Independent Sector had increased significantly, with the average cost reported as £67k per annum. An increase on the £59k reported at the same point in 2023.

The paper also outlined the decrease of DSG reserves, which were reported to be in deficit by £30.8m. Given the forecast overspend of £28.5m in 2024/25, this would deepen further, and it was expected to be over £55m in deficit at the end of the current year. Left unaddressed the accumulated deficit was reported to likely be between £150m and £225m by the end of 2027/28.

It was highlighted that this was a national concern, and the Government had put in place a Statutory Override requiring that the accumulated DSG deficit should remain ringfenced separate to the Council’s other reserves. However, it was reported that this override was due to end in 2025/26, and at that point it was likely the DSG deficit would be circa £100m.

The Council had put in place, and was maintaining, a ‘deficit management plan’ to mitigate, as far as possible, the current overspend. Whilst actions were being taken to deliver proposed changes, which includes an annual request for the 0.5% transfer from the Schools Block, it was noted that this process would take time, although current views were that this had had little impact.

Following the decision to suspend the Education banding Tool (EBT) from the 1st of August 2023, SCC continued to undertake further work to give assurance that the dataset was robust enough to undertake budget modelling to support a future decision on the reinstatement of the EBT. Further communication and consultation with all schools was planned for the autumn term 2024. It was therefore envisaged that any reintroduction of the EBT would not be before April 2025 at the earliest.

In response to a question from Kevin Allbutt asking if SCC’s EHCP numbers were comparable to statistical neighbours, or whether  ...  view the full minutes text for item 55.

The Schools Forum received a report from the Director of Children and Families providing an update to the Accelerated Progress Plan and Strategy for Special Provision.

The report provided updates that related to the Accelerated Progress Plan (APP), with specific reference made to the three main workstreams within the plan; Enhanced Assess, Plan, Do, Review Pathway (EAPDR), Special School developments and the Staffordshire Enhanced District Inclusion teams (SEDIS) Model.

In response to a specific request from the Chair of Schools Forum, information relating to the APP, particularly focussing on the different funding streams that were being used to fund the initiatives was also clarified. This included information relating to the SEND High Needs Provision Capital Allocations (HNPCA) and how it supported funding streams.

Resolved: That the update relating to the Accelerated Progress Plan and Strategy for Special Provision be noted.

The Schools Forum received a report from the Director of Children and Families providing an update to the wraparound childcare programme which was being delivered by local authorities.

£289 million had been invested in expansion to ensure that all parents of primary school children who needed it were able to access wraparound childcare in their local area from 8am – 6pm. Parents would see an expansion in the availability of wraparound care from September 2024, with every parent who needed it able to access term-time wraparound childcare by September 2026.

Staffordshire County Council had a strategy in place to deliver the programme and had received an allocation of £5.3 million to deliver the Wraparound Childcare Programme across the county. This consisted of:

•     Capital funding (£1.6 million) – to support projects that would increase the physical capacity of early years provision. This capital fund was also intended to support the expansion of funded childcare for children aged 9 months and above, which was being rolled out at the same time.

•     Programme funding (£3.7 million) – to support costs in the short term to increase wraparound childcare provision.

Philip Siddell offered the opportunity for County Council officers to meet with representatives of Humpty Dumpty nursery, so experiences and knowledge could be shared to support the delivery of this item.

Sadie Jones raised a concern about the “Next Step” action to “Develop SEND training for providers in partnership with the SEND Commissioning Team”, explaining that this was not a simple proposal for SEND wraparound provision, and additional consideration would need to be given to make sure that this training is measured and appropriate.

Resolved: That the update on the wraparound childcare programme be noted.

Members were reminded that at the March 24 meeting the incumbent Chair, Richard Redgate, announced that he would be retiring as the Chair of the Schools Forum following the meeting being held in July 24.

The Schools Forum constitution stated that the Chair and Vice-Chair must be members of the Schools Forum, and that their appointment should be for a two-year period. It was agreed that, as the Chair’s resignation had come in the middle of his two-year tenure, the new Chair would be appointed for a 12-month period with another election taking place at the July 25 meeting.

At the meeting held in March 24 the offer had been made to all members that anyone interested in taking on the position of Chair could speak with the current Chair, or Officers to get a better understanding of the level of work involved with the role. It was highlighted that a number of members had expressed an interest in the position, but some were unsure as to whether they would be able to fit the role into their already busy day jobs. As a result of this it was agreed that for the next four Schools Forum meetings a temporary Chair would be appointed to the position for each meeting, allowing all interested parties the opportunity to take on the position for one cycle of meetings, before deciding if they would like to put themselves forward for the position on a permanent basis.

In response to a question from Kevin Allbutt asking which Chair would take on responsibility for any decisions taken by the Chair under delegated powers, it was explained that the Chair who had been appointed into position for one meeting would continue that role until a successor was appointed at the next meeting. As such, they would remain in place to make any decisions under the delegated powers.

Forum members were then asked to indicate if they wished to be considered for the position. Two members, Sadie Jones (PVI (Early Years) representative) and Alan Harding (Secondary Heads Forum Representative), indicted their interest. As a result, it was agreed that both members would be given the opportunity to take on the role of Chair at two future Schools Forum meetings taking place between November 2024 and July 2025. It was also agreed that meetings would be arranged with both members to discuss the requirements of the role in more detail.

The Assistant Director for Education Strategy and Improvement took the opportunity to highlight a number of resignations to the Schools Forum as a result of a number of members retiring from their positions within their respective schools. The Forum gave their thanks and recognition to the hard work of those members and wished well with their future endeavours.

Resolved: That Sadie Jones (PVI (Early Years) representative) and Alan Harding (Secondary Heads Forum Representative), each undertake the role of Chair at two future Schools Forum meetings taking place between November 2024 and July 2025.

The Schools Forum Work Programme was noted, and the dates and locations of the next meetings were confirmed as:

•     Thursday 14 November 2024, 2:00pm – in person meeting to be held at the County Buildings, Stafford.

•     Thursday 23 January 2025, 2:00pm – via Teams.

•     Thursday 20 March 2025, 2:00pm – via Teams.

•     Thursday 10 July 2025, 2:00pm – in person meeting to be held at the County Buildings, Stafford.