Issue - meetings

The Cabinet Member for Educational Attainment and School Improvement presented a report on the latest position regarding the Government’s education funding reforms and the proposed allocation of funding to schools for 2019/20.

The Cabinet Member referred to the provisional allocations for 2019/20 across the four funding areas covering the main allocation to schools (Schools block), central costs for core Local Authority education services (Central block), additional costs for Special Educational Needs pupils (High Needs block) and childcare and pre-school services (Early Years block).  It was noted that the overall allocation for 2019/20 would again represent another real-term cut in education funding in the Borough and the High Needs block would continue to be significantly underfunded until such time that the Government fully implemented its proposed reforms.  The Cabinet Member explained that as schools were not able to transform in the same way that the Council had in response to the Government’s underfunding of public services, the loss of some teacher posts was a real possibility. 

The Schools’ Forum had been consulted on the proposed funding factors for 2019/20 and the specific allocation for each school was currently subject to final consultation with Headteachers and Governing Bodies.  In that respect, the Cabinet Member was seeking authority for approval of the final submission to the Education Funding Agency to be delegated to the Commissioning Director of Education following full consultation.

The Cabinet resolved to:

(i)   Note the latest position on the national Education Funding Reform and the expected implications for Barking and Dagenham as set out in section 2 of the report;

(ii)   Approve the 2019/20 strategy for the Dedicated Schools Budget as set out in section 3 of the report;

(iii)   Agree, in principle, the proposed model for allocating school funding in 2019/20, as set out in section 4 and Appendix A to the report; and

(iv)   Delegate authority to the Commissioning Director of Education, in consultation with the Schools Forum, the Cabinet Member for Educational Attainment and School Improvement and the Chief Operating Officer, to approve the final 2019/20 school funding formula submission to the Education Funding Agency.