Children, Families & Learning Cabinet Member – Minutes – 5 March 2018

62 (62) SCHOOLS FUNDING FORMULA 2018-19 – The Director: Governance and Partnerships submitted a report updating the Cabinet Member on the 2018-19 funding allocations for the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) and therefore the amount available to individual school budgets, and seeking approval to change the local funding formula in order to move towards the National Funding Formula to be implemented in 2020/21.

The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) published an operational guide annually outlining the arrangements to help councils and their school’s forums plan the local implementation, calculation and allocation of school funding formulas for the forthcoming financial year.

On 21 December 2017 the EFSA published the 2018-19 DSG allocations.  This was based on October 2017 School Census data.  The allocation for North Lincolnshire was £129.459m.

The report set out the final proposals for the North Lincolnshire schools funding formula 2018-19.  The overall allocation of DSG included funding for academies.  This was retained by the Department for Education who allocated directly to academies via the ESFA.

The school’s forum reviewed the funding formula on 10 January 2018 and endorsed the approach to school funding for 2018/19 and 2019/20.

Resolved – (a) That the formula factor values, outlined in Option 1 at paragraph 3.1 of the report, be approved, and (b) that the factors under Option 1 at Appendix 1 be used to calculate the individual schools budget shares for mainstream schools within North Lincolnshire 2018-19 and 2019-20.

63 (63) EARLY YEARS DEDICATED SCHOOLS GRANT FUNDING 2018/19 – The Director: Learning, Skills and Culture submitted a report seeking consideration of the proposed unit values for the 2018-19 funding formula for providers of Early Education to two, three and four year olds.

It was a statutory duty of the council to provide up to a maximum of 15 hours funded early education for 38 weeks of the year for all three and four year olds in North Lincolnshire and an extended 15 hours for children of working parents that met an eligibility criteria.

The Education and Skills Funding Agency published operational guidance annually, outlining the arrangements to help councils and their school’s forums plan the local implementation of the early years’ national funding formula for the forthcoming financial year.

Councils determined their own local formula that met the requirements of statutory guidance in consultation with the school’s forum.  Early years’ providers received funding based only on actual take up of places.

Resolved – That the early years’ national funding formula factors and values, as set out in paragraph 3.1 of the report, be approved.

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