SCHOOL
FUNDING REFORM CONSULTATION EVENTS 2018-19
Schools Funding - the continuation,
or otherwise, of the current local formula
Dear Colleague
As you will be aware 2018-19 may well be the sixth year of the
current funding arrangements for schools. In March 2017 the DfE consulted on
phase 2 of introducing a National Funding Formula and whilst in recent reports
to MPs Mr Nick Gibb has said “we are moving to the national funding formula in
2018-19, and we will be responding to the consultation, that had more than
25,000 responses and closed on 22 March, very shortly." At the time of
writing, the timescale for any changes is still unknown.
Devon has never been funded at the level it deserves and remains
well below the National average for funding per pupil. We are likely to
continue to face many challenges ahead and we know that school budgets will
vary across schools and over time. Therefore the LA, in conjunction with
Headteacher and Governor representatives will consult with all schools,
academies and free schools on the proposed local formula in the early autumn
term.
High Needs
As with the National Funding Formula, government consulted on
phase 2 of a High Needs National Funding Formula consultation in March 2017 and
similarly the timescale for this implementation is unknown.
In the current climate, Devon - with School representatives, are
continually working to reduce the budget pressure within this area, and
management actions are in place for the funding periods 2017-18 and 2018-19.
Further information about this work will also be provided to schools at the
consultation events.
Early Years
The DfE have now put in place a National Funding Formula which
has allowed an increase in the hourly rate from £3.70 to £3.98 from April 2017.
This will apply to the 15 hour entitlement and the extended 30 hour entitlement
from September 2017.
The DfE have advised that the funding is fixed until 2020 and
therefore any further changes to funding will have to be found locally within
the formula.
Following consultation with Early Years providers, and a
unanimous agreement to support the recommendation at Schools Forum, the
proposals have been endorsed by Cabinet and an increase in the hourly rate by
10p will be achieved by September 2018. This increase will be delivered in the
following phases:
i) SEND Support Funding
To be implemented from September 2017 a universal hourly rate of 4p to meet the
needs of all children with low level or emerging needs.
ii) Lump Sum Funding
To remove the Lump Sum Funding from April 2018 and to use the savings to
provide a 4p hourly rate increase.
iii) Deprivation Funding
Reduce targeted deprivation funding by 17% from September 2018 and give a 2p
increase in the hourly rate for a universal deprivation supplement.
Next Steps
Once we are notified by the DfE of their plans we shall continue
to work closely with colleagues and school representatives to produce the
funding formula recommendations for the 2018-19 financial year.
The consultation will run from 7 – 21 September 2017.
In order to facilitate this, consultation and information events
are being held across Devon early in the autumn term. We encourage you to share
your views with us by coming along to these events, and responding to the
consultation. We have allocated 3 places per school (Headteacher, Governor and
School Business Manager suggested but not mandatory) and an O N L I N E B O O K I N G F O R M will
need to be submitted for each person separately.
D A T E S & V E N U
E S
N O R T H | 15 September 2017
at the Barnstaple Hotel 2.00pm to 4.30pm
S O U T H | 18 September 2017
at Buckfast Abbey Conference Centre 2.00pm to
4.30pm
E X E T E R | 19 September 2017
at Sandy Park Conference Centre |
2.00pm to 4.30pm & 6.00pm to 7.30pm
Yours sincerely
Dawn Stabb
Head of Education & Learning
Followed by Headteacher Autumn
Network event with Dawn Stabb to include update on DCC Apprenticeship
fund
Immediately after the School Funding Consultation events Dawn Stabb,
Head of Education and Learning and colleagues from HROne will be available
to provide information on how LA Maintained schools are able to access the DCC
Apprenticeship fund. There will also be the opportunity for informal
discussions with representatives from locality partnerships.
For catering purposes, please indicate on your booking form
whether you wish to stay on for this session.
To: Members of f40
From: Doug Allan, Secretary to F40 | doug@dtw.co.uk
At a meeting in Parliament today, f40 presented its updated
proposals to a group of MPs from f40 constituencies. The meeting went well and
it was agreed that the full details of f40’s formula development work should be
circulated.
Read more information on the
f40’s proposals on the website H E R E
On that page you will find several documents including a
Narrative paper that explains the way in which f40 has developed its formula, a
shorter Briefing paper that was produced and circulated to f40 MPs last week, a
copy of the PowerPoint presentation used at today’s meeting and, most
importantly, a spreadsheet in which the f40 formula is applied to all schools
in England, to all local education authorities and to all constituencies.
For those of you who may wish to share the spreadsheet with
local schools can use the following link to the spreadsheet itself –
http://www.f40.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/f40-fair-funding-formula-proposal_July-2017.xlsx
(Please note that the document behind this link is 37mb as it
has information about all 23,000 schools in England).
We should point out that the details of f40’s own proposals
were presented to the Department for Education as part of the consultation
process relating to the Fair Funding Consultation. Although there has been
considerable discussion about our formula, it is unclear whether the department
has taken on board any of the proposals.
We anticipate an announcement on that consultation in advance of
the summer recess which commences on Tuesday 18 July. It is hoped that a fairer
deal than that announced as part of the consultation is made available and that
f40’s efforts to achieve a real fair funding formula come to fruition.
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