Agenda item

Schools Budget

The details of the Schools Budget will be included in the report under item 5.

Minutes:

The Director of Children's Services presented a report which recommended the approval of the Schools Budget for the year 2009/10.  He explained that it was the second year of a national three-year funding period for schools (2008-2011). In 2008/09 decisions had been taken about levels of funding based on the government’s stated priorities.  The budget had been presented to the Wirral Schools Forum on 21 January 2009:  The Forum had supported the overall budget and proposed variations, including a revised arrangement for dealing with excess school balances and the transferring of insurance costs to individual school budgets.

 

The Cabinet Member for Children's Services and Lifelong Learning moved a recommendation, duly seconded, and explained the detail behind each of the recommendations, in particular the fact that they would help to maintain and improve further the high levels of attainment among Wirral pupils.

 

Resolved -

 

(1)  Cabinet welcomes the increase in funding from Government through Dedicated Schools Grant of £4.4m for 2009/10 and £5.9m for 2010/11. This amounts to over £10m more for Wirral schools over the next two years.

 

(2)  Cabinet recommends to Council that the Schools Budget for 2009/10 be set at the level of the adjusted Dedicated Schools Grant which is £188,136,200.  This equates to an increase of 3.9% per pupil.

 

(3)  Cabinet notes that for 2010/11, the adjusted Dedicated Schools Grant will be £194,121,000, which equates to an increase of 4.4% per pupil.

 

(4)  It is acknowledged that these increases are above the current CPI rate of inflation and that they compare favourably with the average national increases per pupil in 2009/10 of 3.7% and 2010/11 of 4.3%.

 

(5)  Cabinet recognises that this budget will help the Council to achieve one of the strategic objectives in the Corporate Plan, which is to raise the aspirations of young people.  This funding will also contribute towards the four themes in the Children and Young People’s Plan:

 

  • Reducing health inequalities for children and young people
  • Intervening and supporting children earlier and in their communities
  • Reducing the gap in outcomes for children
  • Improving value for money in services

 

(6)  Cabinet notes that the increase in funding per pupil of 3.9% in 2009/10 includes the following spending assessment by the Government: Minimum Funding Guarantee (2.1%) and Government priorities (0.8%).

 

(7)  Cabinet notes that the Government has set the Minimum Funding Guarantee at 2.1% for the period 2008-2011. This is 1% below the assessment of average cost pressures and assumes an efficiency gain in schools, as part of national public sector efficiency requirements.

 

(8)  The projected budget of 2009-2011 includes the following items (for detail see Appendix 1 of the Director’s report):

 

Inflation

Provision is included for teachers and other pay at 2% and income at 3%. Provision has also been included for price inflation at 2%.

 

Headroom

Headroom is the difference between the DSG and the budget required to continue funding schools at their current level, after allowing for inflation, unavoidable cost pressures and the Minimum Funding Guarantee.  Cabinet notes the decision taken in 2008/09 about Headroom in 2009/10. This is allocated as follows:

 

Deprivation funding to “narrow the gap”  £1,933,000

Secondary Education Inclusion Bases    £75,000

Increase in Statement value       £170,000

 

Other Specific Grants

Specific grants have been included in the budget and are detailed in the table below:

 

 

Amount

2008/09

Estimate 2009/10

Estimate 2010/11

 

£

£

£

LSC 6th Form and SEN

20,341,400

20,767,100

21,201,600

School Development Grant:

 - Devolved

 - Central

 

15,129,900

  1,165,100

 

15,142,500

  1,189,500

 

15,200,700

  1,218,500

Schools Standards Grant

 10,516,300

 10,568,600

 10,681,200

Learnwise – LSC/ESF

  491,000

  1,470,000

  827,000

School Lunch Grant

  554,700

  553,300

  553,300

Ethnic Minority Achievement

  159,600

  188,200

  199,800

Extended School Sustainability

  470,700

  849,500

  1,196,900

Targeted Primary and Secondary Strategy

 

  2,176,200

 

   1,911,100

 

TBA

Making Good Progress*

-

  791,600

TBA

Surestart, Early Years and Childcare

 

  9,101,000

 

  9,562,000

 

 10,385,000

Free entitlement for 3- and 4-year-olds

 

-

 

  404,300

 

  1,651,900

Playing for Success

  80,000

  80,000

  80,000

 

* Making Good Progress is a new programme aimed at improving the rate at which pupils’ progress year on year and includes funding for one-to-one tuition for children who have fallen behind expectations.

 

Area Based Grant

The following Area based Grants are also included in the Schools Budget:

 

 

Amount

2008/09

Estimate 2009/10

Estimate 2010/11

 

£

£

£

Secondary behaviour and Attendance

 

  68,300

 

  68,300

 

   68,300

School Development Grant

776,600

444,700

444,700

Choice Advisors

  52,100

  52,100

  52,100

Flexible 14-19 Partnerships

100,000

  98,600

  96,900

Total

997,000

663,700

662,000

 

Early Years

The number of children in Early Years settings has increased and Cabinet agrees to allocate growth of £134,000 to meet this requirement.

 

Special Educational Needs (SEN)

Cabinet notes the continuing pressures on SEN budgets and that this is mainly due to costs charged by other local authorities for SEN placements outside Wirral.  Cabinet recommends that Council sets spending targets that will limit the increase required in 2009/10 to £250,000. This will be met from a reduction in the SEN Plan budget (£150,000), a reduction in Schools Contingency (£100,000) and reduced pressure on independent special school budgets, following changes to school places to be implemented at Claremount School in September 2009 and 2010.

 

Insurance

Cabinet agrees to carry forward, if available, into 2010/11 a schools contingency underspending of up to £200,000 to meet part of the increase in school insurance costs as set out in paragraph 4.9 of the report presented to the Schools Forum on 21 January.

 

(9)  Increase in places at the Observatory School

 

The Observatory school provides places for secondary age pupils with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD). Cabinet agrees to increase places from 40 to 50 with effect from September 2009, as part of the successful strategy to reduce the number of placements in out-of-borough schools.

 

(10)  This Schools Budget reflects the advice and recommendations of the Schools Forum, from its meeting on 21 January 2009.

 

(11)  Cabinet notes the full details of the budget breakdown and recommendations contained within the report and appendices of the Director of Children’s Services, which have been presented to this meeting.

 

(12)  Cabinet therefore endorses the Schools Budget for 2009/10 as set out above and recommends it to the Council for approval.

Supporting documents: