1

School Budget 2015/16

Ian Hamilton - School Budgets and PVI Manager

Chris Scott – Accountant, Schools & PVI

2

Overview 2015-16

• Flat cash DSG settlement for 5th year

• No funding for Inflationary pressures but have found some headroom in the Dedicated Schools Grant

• MFG still at -1.5%

• Significant changes to funding high needs in mainstream schools

• Access to rising roll has been restricted to comply with school funding regulations

3

Beyond 2015-16

• Nothing is known beyond this financial year whatsoever

• See what happens after the election• 3 year planning based on current MFG

arrangements

4

Formula Changes 2015-16

Formula factors

Factor 1 – Basic Entitlement (AWPU)

Changing due to

Distribution of headroom

Factor 6 – Low cost high incidence SEN funding (Prior Attainment)

Changing due to

Transfer to high needs block

Significant increase to primary count

5

Factor 1 – Basic Entitlement (AWPU)

• Headroom in the budget calculation has been created primarily by a reduction in MFG expenditure and an increase in the primary pupil count

• School funding forum prioritised use of headroom– PFI affordability gap– Any shortfall in the high needs funding settlement– Distribute remainder equitably to all providers

• Distribution to mainstream schools is by an increase in the AWPU rates– Primary £2,739.66 +£12.55– KS3 £3,802.57 +£14.31– KS4 £4,172.82 +£15.71

6

Factor 6 – Low Cost High Incidence SEN

• Factor 6 rates have been reduced to raise £10m to fund a change in the high needs threshold– Primary rate reduction £230.78– Secondary rate reduction £242.41

• Schools will receive a 5/12 protection during the summer term against this reduction to aid transition

• This was subject to consultation late last year

7

Factor 6 – Low Cost High Incidence SEN

As judgements replace scores one year group at a time, the percentage of primary pupils qualifying for Factor 6 continues to increase

A judgement of ‘Failing to achieve a good level of development’ or a score of less than 78 qualifies, the judgement is a lower bar than the score of 78

A reduction in the rate of £72.59 has been made in order to maintain the same level of funding overall as no new funding is available for this factor

2013-14 paid to 16% of pupils

2014-15 paid to 20% of pupils

2015-16 paid to 23% of pupils

8

Minimum Funding Guarantee (MFG)

• The calculation of the MFG is the same as last year

• However, we have included a ‘technical adjustment’ to the baseline of each school

– This reduces the previous years budget by the reduction in Factor 6 due to the change in the high needs threshold for the purposes of the calculation

– The reason for this is to make sure that the reduction happens and the £10m is available for high needs and not diverted into a new pressure on the MFG

9

De-delegation

The following budgets will continue to be de-delegated at the same rate per pupil as 2014-15:

– Schools in financial difficulty (DFFG)– Schools in financial difficulty (Targeted Intervention)– Supply cover – Schools Personnel Services– Free School Meal eligibility– County wide SiMS licence– Trade Union duties

10

Copyright Licenses

• Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA);• Education Recording Agency (ERA);• Filmbank Distributors Ltd. (for the PVSL);• Motion Picture Licensing Company (MPLC);• Newspaper Licensing Authority (NLA);• Schools Printed Music Licence (SPML);• Christian Copyright Licensing International (CCLI) (new); • Mechanical Copyright Protection Society (MCPS) (new);• Performing Rights Society (PRS) (new).• Phonographic Performance Limited (PPL) (new).

This continues the recent DFE policy to purchase increasing numbers of licenses centrally

A cost of £400k has been top sliced from the Kent DSG

11

Growth Policy

• Two strands– Reorganisation Funding– Rising Roll Funding– Relates to increase in pupils in September who are

not included in the budget allocation

• Reorganisation – must be basic need (increase to PAN agreed with

KCC)– No change in 2015/16– Emails sent to relevant schools by 6th March

12

Rising Roll Funding

• This can no longer be provided to all schools, only basic need schools

• It will now be provided to schools who have agreed with KCC to increase their PAN from the end of the reorganisation funding period until the new PAN applies to all year groups usually 4 years in a primary school

• 7/12 of the AWPU rate will apply to year R pupils in excess of the old PAN

• Exact arrangements may vary if not a primary school

• The budget templates identify years in which your school qualifies

13

High Needs Funding

• Significant changes were consulted upon late last year

• Final decision was communicated in E-bulletin as well as at SENCO updates

• Schools should be aware of the issue

14

High Needs Funding

• In 2015/16 the threshold for high needs funding in a mainstream placement will no longer be a statement for at least 25 hours

• The new threshold will be a monetary value– Additional need above general provision must be at least

£6,000

• This change means that Kent will now be fully compliant with the school funding regulations

15

High Needs Funding

• Applications will be made with a new online system that is due to be available from April– This system will be run by SEN within KCC and they are

expecting users to be head teachers or SENCOs not finance staff

• SEN will communicate to head teachers and SENCOs full details of the system

• It is expected that the new threshold will increase expenditure significantly and this is why the £10m was removed from Factor 6 in the budget

16

Transition Arrangements

• As we transfer funding to the new arrangements three groups of pupils have been identified

– Category A are pupils with a statement of 25 hours+ that are already eligible for funding

– Category B are pupils with a statement of less than 25 hours who are not currently funded but may be with the new threshold

– Category C are new cases with or without a statement for whom an application has been made with the new process

17

Category A

• Pupils in category A will continue to be funded the same as now until the end of the old term in which their next annual review falls

• Following the annual review an application for funding under the new system should be made if the threshold is met

• If successful this new funding will be provided from the start of the term when the previous funding stops

• If no successful application is made then funding will cease

18

Category B

• Category B pupils will have a rate calculated on a pro rata basis from the category A rate

• The budget template will show the rate for the combination of need type and hours

• If a statement only includes a small number of hours then the rate may be £0

• Apart from having a unique rate, category B pupils will migrate onto the new arrangements in the same way as category A pupils

19

Category C

• Category C pupils will be all new cases

• They may or may not have been eligible under the old funding arrangements and may or may not have a statement

• It will be possible to apply for funding under the new arrangements for these pupils from April

• Each pupil will have their own unique rate

• Funding under category C could start as soon as April depending on the timing and success of an application

20

Specially Resourced Provision (units)

• There is a minor change to the calculation, adjustments to be made between actual numbers October 2014 and place numbers by means of a lump sum

• Funding templates are provided as usual as is an explanation of how the rate has been calculated

• The place numbers agreed with KCC will be used as shown in the rate calculation

21

Pupil Premium• Only change in rate is for primary Ever 6 which changes from £1,300 to

£1,320 other rates stay the same

• New early years rate of 53p an hour for qualifying pupils

• Only change to counting rules is for Post-LAC premium which now includes children who left care before December 2005 other eligibility criteria stay the same

• As previously we will fund schools using an estimate of eligible pupils which will be adjusted later for Ever6 and service premium

• Schools should plan their budget using local pupil data not our estimate

• Children in care (CiC) new rate for early years £300

22

Free School Meals for Infant Aged pupils

• The method of calculation for the period to August 2015 is now known– 87% January 2014 census not already FSM (7/12)– Average October 2014 and January 2015 census years 1 & 2– Year R only the greater of the January 2015 census or the average– This is a change to previous communications– May/June 2015 balancing payment

• The Year 1 budget template assists schools in estimating their Summer 2015 payment

• There has been no announcement on how this funding will continue into the next academic year so for planning purposes we are using the same calculation as this year

23

Year 7 Catch-up Premium Grant 2014-15

• Eligibility – Year 7 pupils who do not achieve at least level 4 in reading and/or mathematics at Key Stage 2 in 2014 – amount £500 per pupil.

• Full payment in the March advance – will be exempt from the BCM

• Strictly part of old year budget but always arrives very late

24

FLO funding

• This funding will continue and we are informed that there will be a review this year of the arrangements for financial returns and local monitoring of impact

• Queries should be directed to your area contact who can be found on KELSI

25

PE & Sport Grant

• April payment as published on KELSI last autumn• Academic year 2015-16 not confirmed yet but

believed to be the same as this year

26

Devolved Capital

This year the capital allocations have been published early and are available on KELSI

It is not expected that these allocations will be adjusted

27

Questions