The Budget

39 Y6 children leaving, only 19 coming into Reception – with each child funded at slightly more than £2,800 each, that’s a loss close to £57,000.

The carry forward that all schools have historically taken forward into each new year will be virtually gone here by the end of 2017/18.

Costs have increased but are not met by additional funding (energy, 1% pay rise, local government pension deficit scheme, Apprentice Levy, National Insurance, minimum wage), and less is provided by Somerset County Council. To maintain current staffing would cost £27,500 more in the financial Year 2017/18 than last year.

Impact on annual budget by 2019 Obviously it’s not just us, schools nationally and locally face an 8% real term cut per pupil between 2014/15 and 2019/20.   Impact on annual budget by 2019 Real term cut per pupil All Saints VC Infants - £26,008 - £243 Cotford St.Luke - £103,453 - £360 Crowcombe & Stogumber - £29,741 - £36,121 - £619 - £769 Dulverton Junior - £33,208 - £420 Kingsmead - £173,475 - £211 Lydeard St Lawrence - £22,740 - £261 Milverton - £52,168 - £260 Oake and Bradford - £59,732 - £543 Wiveliscombe - £56,743 - £234 TOTAL - £594,910

Figures from the National Audit Office show that schools in England will have £3 billion less funding in 2020 in real terms. “Mainstream schools have to make £3.0 billion in efficiency savings by 2019-20 against a background of growing pupil numbers and a real-terms reduction in funding per pupil. The Department is looking to schools to finance high standards by making savings and operating more efficiently but has not yet completed its work to help schools secure crucial procurement and workforce savings. Based on our experience in other parts of government, this approach involves significant risks that need to be actively managed. Schools could make the ‘desirable’ efficiencies that the Department judges feasible or could make spending choices that put educational outcomes at risk. The Department, therefore, needs effective oversight arrangements that give early warning of problems, and it needs to be ready to intervene quickly where problems do arise.” Amyas Morse, head of the National Audit Office, 14-12-2016

Given that we cannot set a deficit budget and have to look ahead at our budget forecast for 2018/19, there were only two reasonable options:

- reduce from 9 to 7 classes and maintain current level of teaching support (for this year at least).

- reduce from 9 to 8 classes AND cut our teaching support by around 40%;

The budget forecast for 2018/19 is even more challenging with a projected deficit between £20,000 and £30,000 even with the steps taken this year… Beyond 2018/19? We’re looking at a real terms cut of 8%: £57,000 less than we had in real terms in 2014/15. This problem is projected to get worse …

Questions?

Ideas…