Agenda item

David Gearing

The meeting was taken through a briefing paper which set out the main changes to Dedicated Schools Grant funding for 2021-22.

Schools Funding Block

There will be an average 3% increase in National Funding Formula (NFF) factors next funding year. In addition to that both the Teachers’ Pay Grant (TPG) and the Teachers’ Pension Employer Contribution Grant (TPECG) will cease and the funds will transfer into the NFF (from 1/4/21 for maintained schools and 1/9/21 for academies). This will affect several factors - £180 will be added to both the Primary age-weighted pupil unit (AWPU) and the minimum funding amount per primary pupil; £265 will be added to both the KS3 and KS4 AWPU values and the minimum funding amount per secondary pupil; these values will also be added to 2020-21 funding baselines to ensure that schools receive their proper share of the former grant monies.

The IDACI (Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index) NFF factor will operate differently from 2021-22. The ESFA will use the 2019 IDACI statistics for the first time. To avoid a potential repeat of the financial turbulence that happened the last time the IDACI data set was updated, the seven IDACI bands will work from a ranking system rather than pure IDACI scores. In this way, nationally at least, the numbers of children within each band should remain comparable between the new and outgoing sets of statistics.

In other news, the ESFA is to consult on proposals to make changes to the NFF to provide further support to small and remote schools from funding year 2022-23. And plans are afoot to move to a ‘hard’ national funding formula from 2022-23 with all schools funded by the NFF. (No real implications for Kirklees schools as the LA has already largely adopted the NFF factor values. The only question mark should be over whether there will still be locally-determined premises factor funding under the new system).

High Needs Funding Block

Kirklees received a £6.1m increase to its High Needs allocation in 2020-21 and the ESFA has now illustrated a further £5.6m increase for 2021-22. [Kirklees’ High Needs account overspent by £12.9m in 2019-20]. The Government is loading more funding into NFF High Needs budget allocations. Kirklees’ increase for 21-22 represents the maximum 12% gain per head of population and Kirklees’ eventual High Needs NFF outcome is now illustrated to be £55.24m, therefore another increase of £6.56m is waiting beyond 2021-22. This new funding context is helpful but the delay in the entitled amount of funding reaching the local authority is a significant underlying factor in our deficit problem.

It was asked where the local authority has got to with plans to increase the number of local specialist places to reduce the incidence of expensive external placements. Jane Friswell has now started work and will be leading a review process looking into the sufficiency of local specialist places, focussing particularly upon specialist provisions, alternative provision places and arrangements for excluded pupils. As part of the SEND masterplan there are planned increases to the number of local places for both Autism and SEMH (Social Emotional & Mental Health) difficulties but there is quite a long lead-in time to having those new places available. Some interim local arrangements are being looked at to avoid the higher costs of the external market.

The 2021-22 High Needs settlement will also include an additional £660 per specialist pupil in respect of transferred TPG and TPECG grant monies. It is expected that local authorities will pass these additional funds through to local providers in their 21-22 budget share allocations.     

Covid-19 Catch-up Premium

Schools will receive additional funding during academic year 2021/22 to be spent on helping pupils catch up on education missed during the lockdown period. £80 per mainstream pupil (Reception to Year 11) will be allocated and £240 per planned place in special schools. 7/12ths will be allocated this financial year and 5/12ths in the summer term next year. Schools should plan to spend this funding now in advance of its receipt.

National Tutoring Programme

£350m has been set aside nationally to set up a tutoring programme to support the catch-up. The programme commences in the second half of this school term – a portal will be opened for schools to register and an approved list of tuition partners will be provided. Schools serving the most disadvantaged areas will be supported to employ in-house academic mentors to provide small group tuition to pupils needing it.

Risk Protection Arrangement (RPA)

If maintained schools join the RPA (DfE-organised ‘insurance’ against a range of risks) then the ESFA will deduct the cost of their membership from the DSG Schools Block. There is therefore a need to agree via the Forum a new de-delegation factor for RPA membership to pass on the cost to the schools concerned.

• ESFA Schools Funding Timetable 2021-22

The ESFA schools funding timetable for 2021-22 was included with the agenda papers as its contents will govern when the Forum needs to consider various issues over the course of this school term. The timetable is not significantly different to last year.