Agenda item

Local school funding formula 2026/27 / Authority Proforma Tool (APT)

John Bartlett

The Consultation on the proposed local schools funding formula / APT Schools Block allocations for 2026/27 was circulated before the meeting.

John Bartlett updated the meeting and summarised the report.

• The 2026/2027 gross Kirklees final allocation is £571m.
• Safety Valve - High Needs Block Transfer (Disapplication Request submitted) is £3.6 million or 0.87% of schools block budget which requires Secretary of State approval.
• APT Factor Value Limits 2026/27 were summarised.
• The 2026/27 DfE APT December 2025 National Funding Formula (NFF) Rates were summarised. It was noted that rates used are highlighted in pink in the table. Rates are being moved towards the National Funding Formula over time.
• Minimum Fund Guarantee (MFG) has been set at 0% within a permissible range of -0.5% and 0.0%.
• The Growth Fund has been provisionally set at £0.9 million.
• The following grants are now part of the NFF for 2026/27

-        Mainstream school elements of School Budget Support Grant (SBSG)

-        National Insurance Contribution (NICs) Grant.

Q. How was it decided which rates should be used for each area as not all areas are at the NFF rate?

A. All rates will move towards the NFF rate over time from the current rate, we are making year on year progress towards the NFF rates.

Q. Why are we not at NFF rates for all areas?

A. We don’t have sufficient funding for this.

Q. The KS4 rates are closer to minimum than NFF rate, why is this?

A. This is due to underfunding. We do have to balance to the total Kirklees funding allocation. We do not have sufficient funding for all areas to be at the NFF rates.

Q. Is there anything we can do to increase KS4 funding to move it closer to the NFF rates?

A. If we make an increase to KS4 in the model we will have to decrease another area of funding to balance back to the total funding.

Q. Is there a rational for the funding rates proposed related to deprivation indexes?

A. Historically yes.

Q. Why are Primary rates closer to the NFF rates than Secondary rates in the model?

A. This is linked to historical funding. There is a requirement to move 10% closer to NFF rates each year.

Q. Is the rationale for rates that primary schools have more vulnerable students than secondary schools due to needs and disadvantage?

A. Overall the model must balance back to the total allocated funding for Kirklees. We do have an obligation to move all rates to the NFF rates as soon as possible. We can change the model, but we must balance back to total allocated funding.

Q. Is the movement of 10% closer to NFF rates overall or for each individual area?

A. The requirement is to be between the minimum and maximum for each area, and if not to move 10% closer to the NFF rate each year.

Q. Have specific grants been rolled into the general fund?

A. Yes, this is an approach being taken by the government. The grants are not as easy to identify when rolled up into the general fund.

Q. Why are we not at NFF rates for all areas of allocation in Kirklees?

A. There is not sufficient funding in the total Kirklees allocation to do this. We will move towards NFF rates over time.

Q. Do we need to highlight the gap between total Kirklees allocations and the allocation which would be needed to have all areas at NFF rates?

A. Yes we can do the calculation of the gap in funding to Kirklees.

Q. Have other grants and funding streams been rolled into the NFF rates?

A. Yes they have.

It was noted that when NFF rates were introduced there were gaps between Kirklees rates and NFF rates. It is the aim to move to NFF funding rates over time for all areas. Kirklees is historically underfunded.

ACTION: John Bartlett to calculate the gap between Kirklees allocations and the total cost of NFF rates for all areas. This information will be emailed to Schools Forum members.

[post meeting – the funding NFF gap is calculated to be £4.82millon in Kirklees for 2026/26]

RESOLVED: That Schools Forum confirm their support for the proposals set out for the Local Schools Funding Formula 2026/27.