Agenda item

Equalities Impact Assessment - to follow

Cabinet Approved:

1.         Schools Block (detail in Appendix A.3)

a.         the Schools Block budget be set at £272.492m for 2020/21, as per Table 1 above, after £1.3m of the overall Schools Block DSG has been transferred to the High Needs Block subject to Schools Forum agreement;

b.         the basis for distributing the funding to mainstream schools be the basis as preferred by Schools Forum, from the options set out in the Schools Block report to Schools Forum (Appendix A.3)

c.         the Growth Fund for established schools expanding in September 2020 be set at £2.0m ( a component of the total Schools Block budget);

2.         Central School Services Block (detail in Appendix A.2)

a.         Subject to Schools Forum agreement, the Central School Services Block budget is set at £2.386m for 2020/2021, after £0.333m is transferred to the High Needs Block.

3.         High Needs Block (detail in Appendix A2)

a.         The High Needs Block budget be set at £62.376m  for 2020/2021 as per Appendix A2, after receiving transfers of £1.702m from other blocks;

b.         Members noted that this level of budget is estimated to lead to a cumulative deficit in the High Needs Block in the region of £3.3m by the end of March 2021.

4.         Early Years Block (detail in Appendix A2)

a.         the Early Years Block budget be set at £36.936m for 2020/2021), noting that spend and DSG income will vary up or down, according to participation levels in each of the three terms;

b.         Funding for Early Years should be distributed in line with the arrangements explained in report to Schools Forum (Appendix A2)

Cabinet Noted:

5.         Overall position

a.         Members noted that school balances are expected to be in the region of £4.9m at the end of 2019/2020, with 12 of 70 maintained schools in deficit, and the DSG position is currently expected to overspend by £1.4m for 2019/2020