Agenda and minutes

Mr Phil Beswick, Director for Education Services welcomed everybody to the meeting and advised that he would chair the meeting until Agenda Item 6.

No apologies for absence were received.

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 3 July 2014.

The Minutes (copies of which had been circulated) of the meeting held on 3 July 2014 were approved as a correct record.

To discuss any matters arising.

There were no matters arising.

To consider a report of the Corporate Director for Corporate and Support Services

The report provides members of the Forum with an executive summary report of the business matters included on the main agenda.

The Forum is recommended to note the executive summary and offer any views, comments and feedback to be considered for future Executive summary reports.

Officer Contact: Peter Hughes on 0161 474 3947 or email peter.hughes@stockport.gov.uk

A representative of the Corporate Director for Corporate and Support Services submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) providing members of the Forum with an executive summary report of the business matters on the agenda.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

To consider a report of the Corporate Director for Corporate and Support Services

The report provides members of the Forum with details of the election process for role of Chairperson and Vice Chairperson; and to officially elect a new Chairperson and Vice Chairperson.

The Forum is recommended to note the report and vote on the nominations put forward for the positions of Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson of the Schools Forum.

Officer Contact: Peter Hughes on 0161 474 3947 or email peter.hughes@stockport.gov.uk

A representative of the Corporate Director for Corporate and Support Services submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) which provided members of the Forum with details of the election process for the role of Chairperson and Vice Chairperson and for a new Chairperson and Vice Chairperson to be officially elected.

The Local Authority had received the following nominations:

Chair:             Paul Carter

Vice-Chair:    Ian Roberts

RESOLVED –  (1) That the report be noted.

(2)  That Paul Carter be elected Chair of the Forum for the 2014/2015 academic year.

(3)  That Iain Roberts be appointed Vice-Chair of the Forum for the 2014/2015 academic year.

To consider a report of the Corporate Director for Corporate and Support Services

The report provides members of the Forum with the Terms of Reference document as agreed at the last meeting held in July 2014; and provides members of the Forum with the updated membership list and terms of office for the new academic year commencing September 2014.

The Forum is recommended to note the report; and Primary head teacher representatives are requested to discuss the vacant post at the next available PHC meeting and inform the Local Authority of the identity of the new member.

Officer Contact: Peter Hughes on 0161 474 3947 or email peter.hughes@stockport.gov.uk

A representative of the Corporate Director for Corporate and Support Services submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) which provided members of the Schools Forum with the final Terms of Reference (TOR) document as agreed at the last meeting held in July 2014.  The report also provided members with the updated membership list and terms of office for the new academic year commencing in September 2014.

RESOLVED –  (1) That the report be noted.

(2) That the vacant post be discussed by the primary head teachers

(3) That the Local Authority be subsequently informed of the identity of the new member and the Governor Services Team conclude the election process to identify the new Governor VA representative.

To consider a report of the Corporate Director for Corporate and Support Services

The report provides members of the Forum with the details of the 2015/16 Schools Funding information as per Department for Education announcement in July 2014. The report also provides members of the Forum with details of the proposed extension of Pupil Premium grant funding to the Early Years sector for three and four year olds from April 2015 and details of the proposals to introduce 2 year old funding based on actual participation from April 2015.

The Forum is recommended to note the report and discuss and key matters accordingly.

Officer Contact: Peter Hughes on 0161 474 3947 or email peter.hughes@stockport.gov.uk

A representative of the Corporate Director for Corporate and Support Services submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) which provided members of the Forum with the details of the 2015/16 Schools Funding information as per the Department for Education announcement in July 2014.  The report also provided members of the Forum with details of the proposed extension of Pupil Premium Grant funding to the Early Years sector for three and four year olds from April 2015 and details of the proposals to introduce 2 year funding based on actual participation from April 2015.

The Department for Education released details of the 2015/16 funding announcements in the ‘Fairer Schools Funding’ document following previous consultation undertaken in the spring of 2014.  The key areas included:

·         Final details on the distribution of the additional £390m nationally was to be added to the schools block funding.

·         A commitment was made to further review the funding formula used to determine allocations of the early years block and high needs block to local authorities.

·         All previous non-recoupment academies were to be included in the initial dedicated schools grant (DSG) allocation to local authorities.

·         Pupil Referral Units (PRU’s) baseline place funding (Elements 1 and 2) was to be increased to £10,000 per place in line with other specialist settings from September 2015.

·         A new simplified recoupment system was to be applied for the purposes of determining Local Authority contributions to the carbon reduction commitment (CRC) programme for schools.

·         From April 2015 all two year old funding would be based on actual participation to provide consistency with funding provided for three and four year olds.

The following comments were made/issues raised:

·         Members of the Forum felt that delivery of some Government policies, such as the carbon reduction commitment, had a huge impact on individual schools.

·         The extra administration involved in delivering Department for Education policies had also added additional financial pressure to schools that were already struggling.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted and further updates be provided to members in due course.

To consider a report of the Corporate Director for Corporate and Support Services

The report provides members of the Forum with details of the Schools Financial Consultation 2014 document.

The Forum is recommended to note the report and discuss the consultation document and offer any views for the Local Authority to consider before the final document is published.

Officer Contact: Peter Hughes on 0161 474 3947 or email peter.hughes@stockport.gov.uk

A representative of the Corporate Director for Corporate and Support Services submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated), which provided members of the Forum with details of the Schools Financial Consultation 2014 document.

The 2014 consultation with schools/stakeholders would focus on a number of key areas, including:

·         Schools local funding formula (primary sector);

·         Place-plus funding model for resourced provision settings: and

·         Early years funding (information only)

The following comments were made/issues raised:

·         Members felt that it had never been made clear that there would be a move to 75% on the basic entitlement funding formula.

·         It was felt that schools in more disadvantaged areas would lose out.

·         Members accepted that difficult decisions had to be made and encouraged one another to ensure that their voices were heard during the decision making process.

·         Members expressed concerns that the decision process was a fait accompli.

·         Schools had not yet had the chance to consult with their governors.

·         There was concern that if the changes were implemented, best practice would become diluted, and it may be that the greatest impact would affect the most vulnerable children.

RESOLVED – (1) That the report be noted.

(2)  That an additional appendix be included in the consultation document that illustrated the individual school impact of change since the school funding reforms were implemented in April 2013 and the subsequent changes following consultation(s); (including the 2015/2016 proposals).

(3)  That Local Authority Officers reflect and consider views and issues raised by Forum members ahead of distributing the final consultation document.

To consider a report of the Corporate Director for Corporate and Support Services

The report provides members of the Forum with information relating to the 0-25 Special Needs Reform implemented from September 2014.

The Forum is recommended to note and discuss the report.

Officer Contact: Peter Hughes on 0161 474 3947 or email peter.hughes@stockport.gov.uk

A representative of the Corporate Director for Corporate and Support Services submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) updating members of the Schools Forum with information relating to the 0-25 Special Needs Reform which would be implemented from September 2014.

The Children and Families Bill placed new statutory responsibilities upon Local Authorities and gave them new powers.  The Local Authority would have to:

·         Work with health and social care colleagues jointly to commission services to deliver integrated support for children and young people with Special Educational Needs (SEN) aged 0-25.

·         Consult children, young people and their parents, and co-operate with a range of local providers across education, including post-16 education providers such as further education colleges and training providers, health, social care and the voluntary sector to deliver the new system.

·         Work with local partners, parents and young people to co-produce and publish a local offer of SEN services and provision to assist young people in finding employment, obtaining accommodation and participating in society.

·         Provide a co-ordinated education, health and care assessment for children and young people aged 0-25, and new Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans that would replace the two existing systems of SEN statements in schools and Learning Difficulty Assessments in further education and training.

·         Implement a personal budget policy and enable those with an EHC plan to request a direct payment element of their identified personal budget if appropriate.

·         To ensure a smooth transition from childhood to adulthood and from children’s services to adult services through effective planning and involvement of families.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.

To consider a report of the Corporate Director for Corporate and Support Services

The report provides members of the Forum with details of the current consultation document launched by the Department for Education relating to the Schools and Early Years Finance Regulations 2014.

The Forum is recommended to note the report, discuss the content and offer any feedback/further views to be included in the consultation response.

Officer Contact: Peter Hughes on 0161 474 3947 or email peter.hughes@stockport.gov.uk

A representative of the Corporate Director for Corporate and Support Services submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) which provided members of the Forum with details of the current consultation document launched by the Department for Education relating to the Schools and Early Years Finance Regulations 2014.

RESOLVED –That the report be noted.

To consider a report of the Corporate Director for Corporate and Support Services

The report provides members of the Forum with details of the schedule of meetings for the 2014/15 academic year, the opportunity to request reports for future meetings and/or make amendments to the forward planner (Appendix 1) and the opportunity to request any items for training/development sessions.

The Forum is recommended to:-

·         Note the report

·         Request any reports for future meetings;

·         Discuss and propose any amendments to the forward planner; and

·         Request any items for training/development sessions.

Officer Contact: Peter Hughes on 0161 474 3947 or email peter.hughes@stockport.gov.uk

A representative of the Corporate Director for Corporate and Support Services submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) which provided members of the Forum with details of the schedule of meetings for the 2014/15 academic year, the opportunity to request reports for future meetings and/or make amendments to the forward planner and the opportunity to request any items for training and development sessions.

RESOLVED – (1) That the report be noted.

(2) That meetings of the Forum be held at Castle Hill High School, The Fairway, Offerton.

There was no other business.

The next meeting of the Forum is scheduled to be held at 4.15pm on Thursday 4 December 2014 at Castle Hill School, Offerton, Stockport.

RESOLVED – That the next meeting of the Forum be held on Thursday 4 December 2014 at Castle Hill High School, The Fairway, Offerton with an optional question and answer session on reports to be considered to be held prior to the commencement of the meeting at 3.45pm.