1. EPHA Spring Term Looking Forward

2. 16/17 Looking Back

3. 16/17 Looking Back

4. 16/17 Looking Back

5. 16/17 Academic Year - Ofsted
79 primary inspections so far this term – 76% good or better
Grade 1
Grade 2
Grade 3
Grade 4 1 3 25 6 26 5
No grade 4
New Good Schools 31
New Outstanding schools 4
Schools dropped from good 8

6. 17/18 Financial Year - Budget
Schools Block £m
Early Years Block
High Needs Block
Total
Revised 2016/17 Baseline
803.2
59.0
126.4
988.6
ESG Retained Duties
3.1
Post 16 Place Funding
1.2
Increase in pupil numbers
13.2
Increase in High Needs Block
2.8
Increase in Early Years Block
18.0
Provisional Allocation
819.5
77.0
130.4
1,026.9
Realignment of Blocks
(1.6)
1.6
Final Allocation
817.9
132.0
The Schools Block has increased by £16.3 million, of which £13.2 million is due to an increase in pupil numbers, which have overall increased by 3,049 pupils from 185,486 pupils to 188,535 pupils. Primary has increased by 2,460 pupils and secondary has increased by 589 pupils.
7.5 The additional £3.1m increase is due to the transfer of the retained element of the former Education Services grant at £15 per pupil. The Authority requests to retain the funding to carry out our statutory duties. The DfE expects School Forums to approve that local authorities retain the funding.

7. 17/18 Financial Year – Budget Growth Fund
2016/17 £m
2017/18
Increase / (Decrease)
Planned growth
2.3
3.7
1.4
Short Term Viability
0.5
0.1
(0.4)
Bulge Classes
0.2
DfE Summer Term Reimbursement
(0.3)
0.3
Furniture & Equipment
1.0
1.5
Key Stage 1 Class Size
1.1
(0.6)
Total Growth Fund
4.7
6.0
1.3

8. 17/18 Financial Year 2016/17 2017/18 Change Primary 2,706.81 2,721.35
2016/17
2017/18
Change
Primary
2,706.81
2,721.35
14.54
KS3
3,868.00
3,893.00
25.00
KS4
4,711.17
4,741.62
30.45
Primary
Secondary
2016/17
116 23
2017/18 89 9
Difference
(27)
(14)

9. 17/18 Financial Year - Apprenticeship Levy
Contribution from all employers with a pay bill in excess of £3m
6th April 2017, charged at 0.5%. Allowance of £15K
All maintained and VC schools ECC is the employer
All VA, foundation schools, free schools and academies, the governing body is the employer
LA is responsible for collecting the levy
If a school becomes an academy part way through the tax year the governing body will be responsible and get the full allowance of £15K
Levy will be collected through PAYE, the relevant schools will be charged through the monthly payroll
The Levy is paid in to an apprenticeship service account for each employer. The government funds an additional 10%. Funds expire in 24 months if the account is not accessed. The account is used to pay for training and assessments of apprenticeships

10. 17/18 Financial Year – Governor Services
New Subscription Service
Telephone and helpline
Welcome pack for new governors
Support for new chairs
Model policies and good practice toolkits etc.
Support with governor recruitment
On-line resources
Further support on a traded basis

11. 17/18 Financial Year – Governor Services
To be commissioned by Standards and Excellence
Governor peer review – evaluation of pilot and roll out across SLIS partnerships
Termly governor electronic newsletter (replacing LA governor mailing, e-bulletin, Gateways & termly chairs newsletter)
Termly clerks’ briefings – non-agency clerks
Maintaining a central database of governors
To be reviewed: - Director’s briefings/governor conferences
- Reviews of Governance (traded)
- Recruitment of LA governors

12. 17/18 Academic Year – Role of LA
School Place Planning
Home to School Transport and Admissions
Vulnerable Children
SEND
Safeguarding
Attendance and CME
Maintained Schools
Facilitating a School-led Improvement System

13. 17/18 Academic Year – Role of LA
Restructure of the Standards and Excellence Service
Principles
A single team
Increased capacity for School-led Clusters
Individual support for schools RAG’d red and amber
Prioritise outcomes for vulnerable children
Safeguarding support retained
20% traded
LA initiated MAT

14. 17/18 Academic Year - Banding Descriptors
What are banding descriptors for?
Banding descriptors support a fair and equitable distribution of resources for statutory plans for SEN
To allocate element 3 top up pupil led funding to each Education Health and Care plans (EHCP)
Banding descriptors are not new
They needed to change because of
changes to the National Curriculum
the Children’s and Families Act 2014
Every child an Essex place in an Essex school – need to increase the top value for an Essex special school place

15. A matrix has been developed
Schools have been consulted and all feedback obtained as part of the pilot phase and consultation phase has been considered and has informed updates to the matrix
Local Authority panels will look at the descriptors of need as part of an EHC needs assessment and the matrix will indicate the suggested band required to meet the child’s needs
There are 10 Bands each representing a financial value
Banding descriptors were shared at the SENCO briefings
Schools will be able to give their views at draft EHCP stage about where they think the needs of the child are on the matrix
LA panels is final decider but just as now if schools disagree they contact SAS to discuss and parents ultimately have SEND Tribunal but we would aim to work together to get it right before

16. 10 Bands Band 0 £0 Band 1 £1,800 Band 2 £2,700 Band 3 £4,800 Band 4
£7,500
Band 5
£10,000
Band 6
£15,000
Band 7
£20,000
Band 8
£25,000
Band 9
£30,000
Band 10
£40,000
Differences
before the top value was £20K now £40K
Before there were many more variable sums allocated to statements and EHCPs so as some children and young people move to the new system they may get slightly more or slightly less - over all for the cohort there should not be a difference but impossible to align 10 values exactly.
Overall spend needs to remain the same (come back in to budget)
These values sit on top of element 1 (AWPU) and element 2 (notional delegated SEN budget which must be £6K for every statutory plan)
SEN shortfall calculation if school can not meet the £6k per statutory plan from the notional delegated budget, Essex automatically works this out and covers the shortfall and adds £105 per pupil on roll at the school too)

17. Timescales for implementation
Implementation is imminent with September 2017 being the latest date when all new plans will use the new bands.
For pupils who already have an EHCP the LA will use information provided by schools as part of the pupil’s annual review/transfer review to identify the band ready for the next phase of education.
This will occur at every key stage change for all EHCPs from September 2017 or sooner if a Transfer Review is planned.
To avoid duplication of effort we aim to use the new bands as soon as possible. Final amendments being made to the matrix as we speak. This will mean that we will not have to do a transfer review now then re-band in a year. September 2017 is the latest we will start and we need to have moved everyone to the new system within 3 years as agreed with Schools Forum

18. 16/17 and 17/18 Continued Priorities
Outcomes for vulnerable groups
Sustaining percentage of good / outstanding schools
SEND capital investment programme
SEND reform
Review of Alternative Provision
Recruitment and Retention task group
School –led Improvement Systems
Supporting coasting and underperforming schools