Issue - meetings

(The Chair agreed that the report could be considered at the meeting under the provisions of Section 100B(4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972 as a matter of urgency, in order for the Cabinet to consider a Government consultation launched on 7 March 2016.)

The Cabinet Member for Education and Schools introduced a report on the launch by the Department for Education (DfE) of two separate consultations, one on the schools national funding formula and the second on the high needs funding formula (for special educational needs).

The Cabinet Member advised that both sets of proposals had potentially significant implications for Barking and Dagenham children and schools, with discretionary services likely to be most affected.  Furthermore, the DfE’s proposals would suggest that local authorities and schools in London were likely to lose funding while those in other parts of the country would benefit.  The Cabinet Member stressed that the issue should not be seen as one between London and the rest of the country and it was crucial for the Government to make a commitment that no one would be worse off under any new arrangements, given that there was a need for increased investment in children’s education across the country.

The Cabinet Member for Children’s Services and Social Care criticised the DfE’s decision to apply the statutory minimum six week consultation period for such important and far-reaching proposals.  The Cabinet Member for Education and Schools offered possible reasons for the timing and length of the consultation and added that the Council was only being asked to comment on the main principles at the present time.  An assessment of the detailed impact for the Borough would only be possible once the DfE issued a second stage consultation later in the year.  The Leader also commented on the anticipated additional cuts to public service expenditure that were expected to be announced as part of the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Budget Statement 2016.

Cabinet resolved to:

(i)  Delegate authority to the Corporate Director of Children’s Services, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Education and Schools, the Leader of the Council and the Chief Executive, to respond to the consultation by the deadline of 17 April 2016; and

(ii)  Agree that details of the Council’s response to the consultation be sent to all Members of the Council.