Finance Work Group – 20.1.15
Minutes of the Finance Work Group Meeting held on
Tuesday, 20 January 2015 in the Lecture Room, Sans Souci
Present:
David Lewis (Chair)
Julie McCarthy
Mike Ison
Rosemary Cotton
Andrew Wilkins
Debbie Jenkins
Della Carpenter
Tracey Lake
Janet Marsh
Steve Fenton
Linda Sheridan
Jackie Tongue
Simon Dilkes (Observer)
Lois Brough (part)
Peter Ellmer (part)
Matt Doughty (part)
James Pears (part)
Betty Lynch (part)
Deb Wilson (part)
TU Representative
Coppice Juniors
Grace Academy
Langley Academy
Governor, Hazel Oak
Hazel Oak
Knowle Primary Academy
Langley Primary
Governor, Sharmans Cross
Business & Performance Manager, SMBC
Financial Operations, SMBC
Financial Operations, SMBC
Smith’s Wood Primary Academy
School Admissions, SMBC
HR, SMBC
The Key
The Key
LSCB
Yorkswood (LSCB)
Minutes taken by Alison McWilliam, Senior Forum Administrator
Item
Action
1
Apologies for Absence
Apologies were received from Jane Hutchinson, Andrew Williams, Lynn Clark, Chris
Key, Charlotte Shadbolt, Lynda Mackay, Antoinette Fisher, Derek Sheldon and Ian
Murray.
DL welcomed Simon Dilkes, Business Manager at Smith’s Wood Primary Academy
to the meeting as an observer.
2
Minutes of Previous Meeting (18.12.14)
The minutes were accepted as a true and accurate record of the meeting.
3
Matters Arising (18.12.14)
Page 4 & 6 – Gap in H&S Funding – Members were in favour of using savings
(potentially the £9k from Sports Development) within Combined Services to fund the
gap. As this had not been concluded at the November Executive meeting, DL/SF will
have it formalised at the 28 January Executive meeting.
Page 4 – Universal Infant FSM – AMc to ascertain from CB how Solihull’s increase in
primary school meals compares to national figures.
Page 5 – Fair Funding – Forum wrote to the DfE and has received a response
stating that, although the Government is still committed to Fair Funding, no action will
be taken until after the election. DS also wrote to Caroline Spelman MP and Lorely
Burt MP and CS has agreed to attend the 5 February Forum meeting. Solihull is now
the 9th lowest funded LA in the country.
Page 6 – Basic Need Capital Supplement £206k – SF will produce a note of the
scope of this fund for circulation to interested parties.
High Needs Places – RC confirmed that the reduction in places at Langley Academy
had been resolved.
4
The Key for School Leaders and Governors – Matt Doughty, James Pears
To be read in conjunction with the Powerpoint presentation attached to the minutes.
Page 1 of 4
DL/SF
AMc
SF
Att.
Finance Work Group – 20.1.15
MD and JP presented a detailed outline of the service and confirmed that the annual
subscription, due in April 2015, would be frozen at £82k. The following comments
were made:
 Governor Services relies heavily on the service and routinely promotes it through
training and other opportunities.
 FWG governors reported that they use it occasionally and use other sources
including the DfE, Ofsted and NGA websites. However, it was felt that less
experienced governors were likely to rely on it more.
 Head teachers and finance officers are fully aware of the service and find it very
helpful.
 The LA feels the service is invaluable, provides a safety net and offers the
infrastructure that supports Solihull’s collaborative approach; without it there
would be significant gap.
 The NGA is quite limited and the Bristol Information Service only circulates
periodic digests of articles, whereas the Key offers a comprehensive service
where detailed research has already been undertaken.
 It was agreed that FWG would recommend to Forum that the grant continues,
with the proviso that it receives greater publicity.
5
6
Out-turn Monitoring Statement – Jackie Tongue
To be read in conjunction with ‘Summary Financial Performance Period 9 - Nondelegated DSG 2014/15’.
The following comments were made:
 The Non-delegated DSG is currently underspent by £528k, due in part to the
setting of more realistic budgets this year.
 Top-up funding for Post-16 is showing an underspend of £250k due partly to
young people moving into less expensive placements.
 The £235k underspend on EY and Childcare relates to 2 year-old places. Of the
900 places funded, only 519 have been filled so far; however it is expected that
this number will increase as we approach year-end.
 Despite Independent School Fees being £209k over budget, the overall HN line
is underspent by £285k. ISF continues to be the most volatile area of the NHB.
Increased spend reflects the fact that Solihull’s own provision is saturated and,
despite good intentions, the only places now are out-of-borough. Noting that
£500k could represent the HN top-up for just 10 children, the solution is to
increase the range of provision in Solihull. In the meantime, the budget strategy
has paid off and the budget has stabilised in the short-term, however careful
monitoring is required.
 Previous discussions around providing more in-borough HN places in schools
and additional ARCs have not been pursued. The audit of provision and need
being undertaken by the SAB SEND group and SEND WG, alongside some work
on the Auckland Education Centre, will determine what additional provision is
needed, at which point a representation can be made to Forum and the Capital
WG. Members agreed that this continues to be a major issue and DL agreed to
alert Forum to the group’s concerns.
 SF felt that, whilst the figures shown were acceptable at this point in the year, he
is still not confident about the long-term trend.
School Budgets Verbal Update – Steve Fenton
The final settlement was confirmed on 17 December, which included the £1.5m
additional funding, however the HNB and EY elements are only estimates. The
£1.5m will be delegated to schools as £55pp secondary and £37pp primary and it is
expected that this funding will be embedded for future years.
Funding for demographic pupil growth, FSM, IDACI etc. has moved in-line for
2015/16. School and academy budgets will be top-sliced to fund a number of new
licences, list attached, which are to be mandatory centrally funded.
Special needs units will be funded in a different way (pupils will no longer be
deducted from the October pupil count for units outside £10k) and SF will prepare a
Page 2 of 4
DL
Att.
SF
Finance Work Group – 20.1.15
briefing note for the affected schools, which will receive a small increase in funding.
Although HNB funding is not yet confirmed, SF was confident that the full effect of
Northern House and the additional places at Hazel Oak would be funded.
SF reported that generally school budgets look reasonable, with only the HN and EY
areas uncertain due to anticipated changes throughout the year. The APT tool will
be published on extranet by 23 January, with discussions taking place at primary and
secondary bursars’ meetings.
7
LSCB Annual Report 2013/14 – Betty Lynch, Deb Wilson
To be read in conjunction with LSCB Annual Report 2013/14 and Update on LSCB
Developments report.
Lorraine Lord chairs the Education & EY Safeguarding Board, the schools’ sub-group
of the LSCB. The £14,250 funding forms part of a pooled budget which provides
multi-agency safeguarding training to school staff, social workers, probation officers,
police officers, etc. Courses are regularly reviewed (including consultation with
schools) to ensure they meet the needs of delegates and provide best value for
money. Core priorities for 2015/16 are around preventing child neglect, domestic
violence and substance abuse. The group is working closely with SAB.
FWG will recommend to Forum that the work continues to be supported financially.
8
Admissions – Lois Brough
To be read in conjunction with School Admissions Service report and data sheet and
the SLA for Academies.
Additional comments were made as follows:
 The annual charge to the DSG is £220k or £7pp. This represents excellent value
for money when compared to the national average of £9pp.
 All Solihull academies and trust schools buy the service on an SLA which
provides Solihull with a helpful unity.
 The service is subject to constant review to ensure information is clear and the
documentation has now been reduced to an A5 booklet.
 Early checking helps to root out fraudulent applications, ensures the right children
fill places and reduces more complex problems later on.
 100% of applications are now either on-line or by telephone.
 Efficiency of service relies on good relationships with head teachers and school
colleagues which, in some cases, means going over class size 30 and welcoming
children mid-year.
 The national shortage of school places, particularly at reception, years 1 and 2, is
challenging, with spare capacity often taken by children from neighbouring
authorities.
 The number of applications from out-of-borough is very high, particularly at
secondary level.
 The number of appeals varies, with very few secondary appeals in 2013, but an
increasing number at reception over the past few years.
 The number of children coming in and going out tends to be relatively even,
however often they are not within the same school or year group.
The grant will continue.
9
Facilities Time Update – David Lewis, Peter Ellmer
Since the last meeting a number of meetings have taken place with both local and
regional union representatives, DL, SF and PE. The LA produced a draft SLA which
provided some background to the ACAS and DfE documents, set out the legal
position, detailed what facilities’ time is about and what falls within funded FT and a
draft Accountability Form in order to provide a periodic summary of work undertaken
as the basis for determining value for money. Although the unions did not want to
pursue a SLA, the content provided has helped them to understand what the FWG
and Forum wants from them and they have agreed to produce initial reports by 31
March 2015.
Page 3 of 4
Fwd Plan
Finance Work Group – 20.1.15
10
Any Other Business
Funding for Converting Statements to EHCPs – Debbie Jones
Under new SEND legislation, it is the LA’s duty to convert all statements to EHCPs
between the period September 2014 and March 2018 and the LA has received
funding to facilitate this. Birmingham has agreed to pay £100 per statement to
schools that undertake the administrative task on their behalf. Solihull special head
teachers have asked the LA how they will be supported in this process as they have
no capacity to absorb the work. They have been advised that the process has not
yet commenced and the funding has been allocated elsewhere. Special heads and
SAB are unhappy about this and agreed to write to Forum with their concerns.
SF responded that the LA will receive £180k for the task, representing only about a
half of what is required. To date the LA has not recruited anyone to the task, schools
are right to be worried about the LA meeting its statutory duties; the LA is worried as
well.
Special heads are happy for the LA to undertake the work, however if the schools
are to take it on, currently there is no capacity built-in to convert the plans to the
timetable in place. They will therefore require additional funding to purchase extra
admin time, which should come from the £180k allocated to the LA for the task.
JMc raised concern that if special schools were to do the conversions instead of the
LA, this would reduce the required moderation which could lead to problems with
equity.
SF asked that the discussion be continued outside the meeting and taken back to
SEND WG and SAB. It may be possible for some of the SEND underspend to be
earmarked for this process.
DL thanked Della Carpenter, who is standing down from the group, for her support
and wished her well for the future.
11
Date of Next Meeting
9.30am Wednesday, 4 March 2015 – CR3, Sans Souci
Page 4 of 4
SF, DJ
AMc