2 nd December 2014 Agenda item 7a High Needs Funding Pressures/Overview Development of the RAS Alison Shipley Bob Seaman Schools Forum

Funding Pressures Project group set up to look at financial pressures regarding High Needs Funding. Project to be lead by SEN, Finance and LSE commissioners Project plan and initial findings to Forum in January.

Work undertaken so far Updated high needs monitoring & starting to estimate needs Identified AP pressure for from increasing numbers of permanent exclusions. See proposals to avoid budget overspend. Exceptional cases submission made to EFA to try to get additional high needs funding to reflect growth and pressures

Work undertaken so far Special school data collection Oct and November 2014 – to project impact & £1.5m into base from fairer funding for areas funded in from carry forwards - £0.7m special schools, £0.8m EFA post 16 recoupment Other areas funded from c-fwds in but still to resolve funding in include - £0.1m hospital and outreach post 16 work and £0.2m VI provision (VI - part year impact 15-16)

High Needs Finance Overview Figures in £m Comments Underlying High needs block underspend 0.4Monitoring excluding EFA £1.2m recoupment adjustment High needs contingency1.3Retained but one off funding Contribution from Fairer Funding 0.3£0.3 contribution to pressures/block (in addition to £1.5m) DSG grant – exceptional cases ?Awaiting announcement December 14 Impact of increasing pressures ?Further work being undertaken - to bring initial findings to Jan 15 forum

High needs panel – early years 59 applications submitted to the 5 panel meetings June to November approved (85%), 1 deferred and 8 no’s The no’s are mainly due to poor applications. Feedback is provided on the specific areas of the application that need to be improved

High needs panel – primary and secondary 143 applications submitted to the 5 panel meetings June to November approved (64%), 4 deferred and 47 no’s The no’s are mainly because the application didn’t meet the criteria within the SEN descriptors or panel felt the needs could be met within the schools high needs element 2 funding (£6k)

What is a RAS and why do we need one?  A Resource Allocation System  Produces an indicative figure based on the needs of the child/ young person  A fairer method of distributing resource  In line with new legislation and guidance Children and Families Act 2014, Part 3(s.49) The Special Educational Needs (Personal Budgets) Regulations 2014 SEND Code of Practice 2014 Development of the RAS

How will the RAS be used?  The RAS will be a tool to more accurately match and distribute existing funds based on needs.  It will be used for: 1. School placement funding for children with an EHC plan 2. Personal Budgets for EHC Plans Development of the RAS

What does this mean for schools?  A change in the way school placement funding is allocated  A more transparent and equitable funding system  A needs led assessment  Phased Implementation in line with Transition Review from a statement to an EHC plan Development of the RAS

What have we done already?  Established a workstream including reps from Education (including schools), Social Care, Health & Finance  Developed a Needs Profile across all three agencies  Data Collection of 30 individual cases in October  Data Collection of 45 individual cases in November  Worked to develop a configuration document of standard costs  Explored I.T. options & begun process mapping Development of the RAS

When will the RAS go live?  The RAS is scheduled to be used from April 2015  Currently on track to meet this deadline  A lot of work to do in a short space of time  Risk that the IT build may take longer than anticipated Development of the RAS

Next Steps  Complete process mapping  I.T. build  Model building, testing & further amendments  Consultation  Staff training  Go Live! Development of the RAS

Any Questions?