School Funding 2015/16 Consultation May/June 2014 Stewart King Lead commissioner for education and skills

Aiming to cover ……… The national position on school funding Update on the work of the f40 group The Schools Forum’s recommendations on allocating the additional funding for 2015/16 Information on the level of balances Anything else you want to raise

Implications for individual schools More money in 2015/16 But major cost increases – NI, Superannuation Key issue for individual schools is position on Minimum Funding Guarantee and capping Difficult to predict impact at school level

School Funding – the national picture Distribution between LAs based on historic spend Additional funding heavily skewed to areas of high deprivation Gloucestershire is low funded (131 st out of 150 LAs) Government consulted on introducing a national funding formula from 2015/16 Still the intention but deferred Instead allocated £350m based on Schools Block spending – by defining Minimum Funding Levels for seven formula factors Safe assumption that Minimum Funding Guarantee will continue

The funding gap – some illustrations The ‘gap’ between the highest and lowest funded LAs has grown: The impact at school level is huge: 1997/98 £ 2012/13 £ Highest3,5558,052 Lowest2,0734,429 Difference1,4823,623 PupilsFree school meals % Funding per pupil £ Pupil Teacher ratio Gloucester Academy %£5, School in Southwark %£7,

f40 40 lowest funded LAs MP leads for the three main parties Lobbying through last year: Meetings with ministers, MPs etc f40 proposal for a national funding formula Now developing a full funding formula f40 is an organisation that government does take notice of

Additional Funding in 2015/16 £350m, based on schools block only. Glos share = £9.6m Methodology allocates little or no increase to some LAs with v low overall funding Based on establishing a minimum funding level for 7 factors: Age weighted pupil unit Deprivation Looked After Children Prior attainment English as an Additional Language Lump sum Sparsity

Dedicated Schools Grant 2014/15 Dedicated Schools Grant £392m Dedicated Schools Grant £392m Schools Block £316m Primary schools Secondary schools Early Years Block £25m Private, voluntary and independent Registered childminders Children’s centres High Needs Block £51m High needs in mainstream schools and colleges Special schools Specialist colleges Alternative Provision Early years SEN Specialist placements

School funding in Gloucestershire Low overall funding reflected in all sectors – mainstream, special, early years Needs-led formula developed for mainstream schools over many years Modified to fit DfE reforms from 2013/14 and slow to implement because of MFG etc But distribution between schools, before MFG and capping, broadly reflects relative need of Gloucestershire schools and academies Formula applied to academies, EFA recoups from LA replicates the formula adds on ESG etc and allocates to academies on academic year basis

Maintained school balances at 31 st March 2014 – change from 31 st March st March 2013 £m 31 st March 2014 £m Change £m Change % Primary – revenue % Primary – capital % Secondary - revenue % Secondary – capital % Special – revenue % Special – capital %

Maintained school balances – primary schools Number on rollNumber of Schools Revenue balances at 31 st March 2014 (£) % ,9678% ,438,5188% ,343,8967% ,568,42010% ,590,79413% ,077,25511% ,9298% ,02310% ,786,3619% 21313,532,16210%

How do MFLs compare with Glos. formula? Formula factorDfE Minimum Funding Level £ Gloucestershire formula £ Age weighted pupil unit: Primary Secondary KS3 Secondary KS4 2,845 3,951 4,529 2,880 3,632 4,357 Deprivation****** Looked After Children1,0090 Prior attainment****** EAL: Primary Secondary 505 1, Lump sum: Primary Secondary 117, ,188 67, ,000 Sparsity53,9880

Proposals for 2015/16 - Schools Forum recommendations Allocate the additional funding (£9.6m) across all three DSG block – schools, early years and high needs Set cap percentage at point where cap £ = MFG £ No new formula factor for sparsity No new formula factor for LAC No other formula changes Cautions: Possible that DfE may require changes esp data Data update to October 2014 will make a difference Critical element still pupil numbers

Sparsity DfE criteria – next nearest school on average = : Primary – more than 2 miles and 150 pupils or fewer Secondary – more than 3 miles and 600 pupils or fewer Gloucestershire schools meeting the criteria = 32 primary and 3 secondary The case for allocating for sparsity: It features in the MFL and would have featured in the national funding formula There is an allowance for sparsity in the £9.6m Our lump sum for primary schools is below average The case against: Costs little different from other small schools? Other schools equally necessary to meet the need for places in the area? Issue is funding for small primary schools generally rather than sparsity specifically Are the issues different for primary and secondary schools??

Consultation questions Do you agree that the additional funding for 2015/16, forecast at £9.6m for Gloucestershire, be shared across the Schools, Early Years and High Needs blocks? Do you agree that we should not introduce a new formula factor for sparsity? Do you agree that we should not introduce a new formula factor for Looked After Children? Is there anything else that you want the Council and Schools Forum to take into account in determining the budget for 2015/16?