1.1With the Continued High Demand from the Relatively High Number of Schools Eligible For

Hampshire County Council
Schools Forum / Item9
17October 2017
Growing School Policy Changes from 2018/19
Report of the Director of Corporate Resources- Corporate Services and Director of Children’s Services

Contact: Martin Goff, 01962 846185;

1Summary

1.1With the continued high demand from the relatively high number of schools eligible for growing schools funding which is expected to lead tobudget pressures facing the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG), Hampshire’s Growing Schools policy is scheduled to be reviewed.

1.2This paper sets out options for proposed changes to the Growing Schools policy, with explanations as to the reasoning behind these amendments. Schools Forum are asked to agree with the recommendations set out.

2Background

2.1The current Growth Fund policy forms part of the wider Hampshire Schools Funding Policy Pack.

2.2Included within the Growth Fund is the policy covering significant pre-16 growth. It is this policy that is being discussed throughout this paper. For simplicity, it will be referred to as the Growing Schools policy. The original Growing Schools policy was first agreed in December 2012, with revisions agreed in December 2014,December 2015 and December 2016.

2.3As part of the School Funding Reforms, and as per the DfE’sSchools Revenue Funding Operational Guidance, local authorities are able to centrally retain Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) to support schools that are required to provide extra places in order to meet basic need.

2.4The current policyhas to date had a focus towards the primary sector, however from 1 April 2017 a separate secondary school policy was introduced to acknowledge how pupil growth works its way through the school system. Separate policies for special schools and education centres currently exist, for example the “over-occupancy policy”.

2.5The most recent out-turn of the growing schools budget is a saving of £185,000 which is part of the overall growth fund, as shown in the table below:

Description

/

2017/18Budget

/

2017/18Forecast

£000

/

£000

Falling Rolls / 50 / 0
Temporary Classrooms / 1,200 / 1,200
Infant class sizes - Primary / 250 / 115
Growing schools / 3,200 / 3,200
New/closing school - Primary / 300 / 300
Total / 5,000 / 4,815

3Current Growing Schools Policy

3.1The current policy can be seen as part of the widerSchool Funding Policy Pack, but is summarised in the following paragraphs.

3.2The Hampshire definition of a growing school is one where there is planned increase in Published Admission Number (PAN), and which has not had the full set of admission in-take.

3.3The definition also includes those schools where the capacity has had to be temporarily increased, as a consequence of a delay in, or in the avoidance of, the opening of a new / expansion of a neighbouring school. As a result of this, the policy also takes account of ‘bulge’ year groups.

3.4The general funding principle is that an eligible school will be funded based on a top-up to a maximum of 20 pupils. This is usually 7/12ths (covering September to March) of the ‘pupil-led’ funding for the school. Funding is based on the top up requirement of 20, regardless of the actual number of pupils within the class.

3.5Pupil-led funding takes into account the potential characteristics of the new pupils, by ensuring the school receives an element of funding for deprivation, looked after children, low attainment, English as an additional language and mobility, as well as AWPU funding.

3.6If 20 pupils or more (and preferably 30) join the school and are counted in the October census, the school will receive the full year’s pupil-led factors for all pupils through the subsequent years’ budget share.

3.7The policy suggests that a minimum of 20 pupils are required to fund a class, which covers the average cost of a teacher plus on costs. Therefore, if less than 20 pupils join the school, there is a requirement to top-up to 20 pupils to ensure the school receives sufficient funding to continue to run the additional class.

3.8There are instances where a school admits pupils at the start of the academic year, at the local authority’s request, but no additional class is required. In this case, the school would receive 7/12ths of any additional pupils. The subsequent financial year will be funded via the budget share.

3.9The introduction of the secondary school policy from 1 April 2017 has meant a one-off fixed sum of £50,000 be funded to eligible secondary schools.

3.10Examples of policies currently implemented by other local authorities have been published as part of the DfE’s guidance and Criteria for allocating Growth Fund and provided in Appendix 1.An extract of the Growing School Policy Pack detailing the proposed Growing Schools element is provided in Appendix 2.

4Why the Growing Schools Policy needs to be reviewed

4.1The current policy has been in place for 4 years. The rise in the number of schools that currently meet Hampshire’s Growing School criteria, as a result of increases in the county’s population and demographics, has meant the possibility ofcontinued pressure on thebudget. Further amendments and clarity are needed towards some elements of the policy to ensure funding continues to be fair and transparent for all Hampshire schools.

4.2The number of schools receiving Growing Schools (GS) funding over the past 2 years and so far for 2017/18, broken down by the relevant district, is shown in the following table:

2015/16 / 2016/17 / 2017/18 Ongoing
District / Value of Funding (£) / No. of schools / Value of Funding (£) / No. of schools / Value of Funding (£) / No. of schools
Basingstoke / 602,985 / 5 / 621,745 / 14 / 671,395 / 13
East Hants / 34,601 / 1 / 28,071 / 2 / 102,763 / 3
Eastleigh / 515,475 / 5 / 310,047 / 10 / 367,747 / 10
Fareham / 157,813 / 2 / 146,522 / 4 / 161,964 / 4
Gosport / 115,880 / 1 / 40,221 / 1 / 39,587 / 1
Hart / 573,067 / 9 / 504,990 / 13 / 386,702 / 12
Havant / 205,083 / 1 / 386,136 / 6 / 164,048 / 3
New Forest / 218,821 / 4 / 184,732 / 6 / 124,285 / 2
Rushmoor / 524,551 / 6 / 387,248 / 11 / 406,807 / 10
Test Valley / 516,399 / 5 / 307,581 / 5 / 327,882 / 7
Winchester / 486,652 / 8 / 199,007 / 5 / 235,798 / 4
Total / 3,951,325 / 47 / 3,116,300 / 77 / 2,988,978 / 69

4.3Measures were taken by Schools Forum to ensure from the 2016/17 financial year as a result of the sizeable pressure in 2015/16 to reduce funding provided for an additional class to the equivalent of 20 pupils from 30 pupils. The number of schools currently receiving just GS funding (7/12ths class of 20) is 50, the number of schools that are receiving just the top-up is 28 and currently 9schools are receiving both GS and top-up funding. The expenditure is split 71% GS to 29% top-up.

4.4The DfE makes it clear in their guidance that the criteria for a growing school, and the subsequent funding arrangements, should be “transparent and consistent”. The policy must always meet this requirement.

4.5Due to the differing organisational set-up of eligible schools and to ensure funding provided is fair and transparent, the current policy needs further clarification to ensure funding is allocated on basic need.

4.6In addition after introducing the secondary school policy from 1 April 2017 to provide secondary schools with a one-off fixed sum of £50,000 to fund growth, it is recognised additional funding maybe required. Further additions to the policy are proposed with added criteria to ensure secondary schools are funded accordingly as additional pupils move through each year group.

5Proposed amendments to the Growing Schools Policy

5.1Given the issues mentioned, it is felt that the current Growing Schools policy is in need of some minor amendment. These proposed changes are as a result of recent meetings between Finance, Strategic Development and Admissions Officers

5.2More clarity was needed for the situation where growth is not by a form of entry; an example of that type of growth and its irregular year on year impact has been included in the policy pack.

5.3Also the revised policy confirms that when a school takes additional pupils but has no requirement for an additional class they will only receive the initial equipping cost of £60 per pupil capped at 15 pupils.

5.4A revision to the top-up policy has also been added to ensure where an additional class falls below 20 in the final school year, the school will only receive top-up funding to the equivalent of 5 months (April to August) to fund only that period until the class leaves. Currently schools are funded for a full year (April to March) in this scenario.

5.5The policy confirms that for GS in the secondary sector growth will only be at the Local Authority’s request and growth funding will apply to permanent growth only. Therefore any temporary bulge classes, including admissions above the published admission number (PAN), will need to be managed by the school. Funding for permanent growth will be reviewed on a case by case basis approved by the Strategic Development Team in conjuncture with HIAS. This is to ensure the permanent growth directly contributes to the increased costs of admitting additional pupils for example: curriculum structure, pastoral and other support staff and/or management costs.

5.6For those years that are eligible, growth funding in a secondary phase school will be paid at the fixed sum of £50,000.

6Timescales and summary

6.1Schools Forum is being asked to agree the changes which will come in to effect for financial year 2018/19. :

6.2The changes at primary level remove some initial per pupil funding when taking more pupils with no need for an additional class and top-up funding in the final school year. Also there is greater clarity describing year on year funding when growth is not by a form of entry.

6.3For those years that are eligible, growth funding in a secondary phase school will be paid at the fixed sum of £50,000.

7Recommendations

7.1It is recommended that Schools Forum confirms the amendments to the GS Policy detailed above.

Appendix 1 – Examples of Growing Schools criteria in other local authorities

Ealing primary schools

1.£60,000 per additional form of entry (pro-rata for 0.5 FE) for Reception increases agreed by the LA for the September intake (for infant and primary schools) and Year 3 (Junior Schools).

2.Where building works are required and agreed by the LA costing in excess of £2m, £15,000 a year for two financial years, the timing of the release of funding will be following the approval of statutory proposals or the increase in the school’s planned admission number where statutory proposals are not required. Funding may be released earlier at the discretion of the LA.

Ealing high schools

1.£75,000 per FE for planned expansion in places agreed by the LA.

2.Where building works are required and agreed by the LA costing in excess of £2m, £15,000 a year for two financial years, the timing of the release of funding is following the approval of statutory proposals or the increase in the school’s planned admission number where statutory proposals are not required. Funding may be released earlier at the discretion of the LA.

3.In both sectors, in exceptional cases, for example where additional furniture, learning resources or support staff costs are required which cannot be charged to capital, a case may be made to the LA for additional revenue funding up to a maximum of £15,000 one-off payment.

Solihull

1.Qualification for funding through the pupil growth scheme is based upon a set of principles as follows:-

2.Additional funding will be made available to schools and academies in circumstances where:

• the Council carries out a formal consultation and approves to increase thecapacity of a school

• a school/academy carries out a formal consultation at either the request of the Council or supported by the Council
• the Council requests a school/academy to increase their PAN to meet localised demand
• a school/academy admits a significant increase in pupils to meet demand from new housing developments at the request of the Council

3.Additional funding will be made in relation to the number of additional pupils taken or the number of agreed places purchased. Reference may be made to the number of classes required and may include consideration of the number of pupils leaving the school in that year.

4.Any allocation will be based on the teacher element of the AWPU, and will reflect the period September to March only (as additional funding will then flow through the October pupil count) for maintained schools and September to August for academy schools (as additional funding does not flow through until the start of the next academic year). Additional funding may be made available for pupil resources where the provision is a significant expansion of provision, particularly where a new key stage is being provided.

5.No allocation will be made to a school/academy where the school/academy:

• has surplus places and then takes additional children up to the PAN
• admits over PAN at their own choice
• admits extra pupils where those pupils have a reasonable alternative school place
• is directed and/or requested to admit additional pupils as a result of errors, appeals, fair access protocol, SEN, LAC etc. as these numbers will be extremely low on an individual school basis
• provides an additional infant class to meet class size legislation

Staffordshire

1.Growth funding would be provided to a primary school where:

• the County Council agree that exceeding PAN (temporarily) or increasing the PAN (permanently) is necessary to meet population growth (not simply popularity growth or one school’s desire to increase capacity)
• the County Council agree that the creation of an additional class is necessary and is directly related to exceeding PAN

2.The class is additional if it requires a change in the school’s current or historicalclass organisation or number of classes.

3.Schools that have historically operated mixed age classes or have a PAN in a multiple of 15 would be normally expected to operate some mixed-age classes. (The growth funding cannot be used only to reduce class sizes).

4.A school’s compulsory school-age range is increased the additional classes created would be funded, (e.g. when an infant school is converted into a primary school, it would be funded for each additional junior class created.

5.Funding would be provided only for the first academic year that an additional class is created.

6.Where one additional class was needed in an area but agreement cannot be reached to fund one school, the funding allocation may be split between two or more schools.

7.Assuming that the additional class is created in September, the primary school would receive funding equivalent to:

7/12ths salary cost of a 1 FTE teacher (Main Scale 6)

7/12ths salary cost of a 0.5 FTE teaching assistant (Grade 4)

£3,000 towards the cost of resources and materials

8.If the class is created between September and April, the amount would be reduced by a 1/7th for each whole month that the class is not needed.

9.Schools must comply with the infant class size legislation (and any school funded would not also receive separate infant class size funding).

Start-up funding for new schools:

1.Where a new school or academy is established in response to basic need for pupil places, funding will be made available in recognition of costs incurred before the school opens. A one-off payment of £50,000 will be made for a two form entry (or larger) primary school, or £25,000 for smaller than two-form entry schools.

2.Funding is also available to support diseconomies of scale when a school or academy opens without a full complement of year groups. Payments will be made over two years as shown below, with 50% paid in the year of opening and the remaining 50% the following year.

Academy is more than 90% full £0

Gradual build-up of pupils after Academy starts off 80-90% full £10k

Gradual build-up of pupils after Academy starts off 70-80% full £35k

Gradual build-up of pupils after Academy starts off 60-70% full £60k

Gradual build-up of pupils after Academy starts off 50-60% full £85k

Gradual build-up of pupils after Academy starts off 40-50% full £105k

Gradual build-up of pupils after Academy starts off 30-40% full £135k

Worcestershire

1.Additional funding will be made available in circumstances where:

The LA carries out a formal consultation and approves to increase the capacity of a school

The LA requests schools to increase their PAN and the school has the capacity

The LA requests schools to admit significant additional pupils as a consequence of a school closure

1.Additional funding will be made in relation to the number of additional pupils taken.

2.Funding will be given on a 7/12th basis to cover September to March each year. (The period April to August will be covered by the schools budget based on numbers from the October census).

3.Any allocation will be based upon the AWPU and will be relevant to the key stage.

4.No allocation will be made to a school that has not been the subject of a consultation where a school:

Has surplus places and then takes additional children up to the PAN

Admits over PAN at their own choice

As directed and/or requested to admit additional pupils as result of errors, appeals, fair access panel, SEN, LAC, etc. as these numbers will be extremely low on an individual school basis

5.Funding will be allocated on the increase in actual numbers on the difference in pupils leaving and joining. For example in a primary school between the numbers leaving Year 6 and numbers entering Reception for 7 years from date of increased capacity.

Appendix 2 – Extract from Growing School Policy Pack - 2018/19

Growth Fund

In December 2016, The Department for Education (DfE) updated the ‘Operational Guidance: Revenue Funding for 2017/18’, in which they stated local authorities can centrally retain Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) to support schools which are supporting growth in pre-16 pupil numbers to meet basic need, to support additional classes needed to meet the infant class size regulation and to meet the costs of new schools, including pre-opening, diseconomy and reorganisation costs.

The growth fund may not be used to support schools in financial difficulty or general growth due to popularity.

The policy is subject to the following DfE requirements:

1. Local authorities must produce criteria for allocating growth funding. The criteria should set out both the circumstances in which a payment is made and the basis for calculating the sum to be paid.
2. Local authorities will need to propose the criteria to Schools Forum and gain its agreement before growth funding is allocated. The local authority will also need to consult the Schools Forum on the total sum to be top-sliced from each phase and must regularly update the Schools Forum on the use of the funding.
3. The growth fund must be ring-fenced so that it is only used for the purposes of supporting growth in pre-16 pupil numbers to meet basic need.
4. The growth fund is for the benefit of both maintained schools and academies.
5. Any unspent growth funding remaining at the year-end should be reported to Schools Forum. Funding may be carried forward to the following funding period as with any other centrally retained budget, and can be used specifically for growth or falling rolls if the authority wishes.
6. The use of the growth fund is solely for the purposes of supporting growth in pupil numbers.
7. The growth fund is not for building schools back up to PAN

Any costs met or additional funding provided to schools in relation to the growth fund is subject to agreement in advance with the local authority.