Please Ask For: Steve Haley

Commissioning

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Euclid Street

Swindon, SN1 2JH

Tel: 01793 463068

Please ask for: Steve Haley

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Our Ref: 2013-14 High Needs Funding

Date: 12th February 2013

Dear Headteacher

High Needs Place Plus Funding 2013/14

Following the September 2012 consultations to review the number of high needs places required across the Borough and the subsequent moderation exercises to review bandings, indicative 2013/14 funding allocations for each High Needs setting have been calculated. The proposed top up values issued in the September consultation papers remain unchanged and were approved at the 15th January 2013 Schools Forum, subject to confirmation that Special Schools and SRP’s are in agreement with their final planned places and resulting indicative funding. (The tables showing all top up values are attached below). The purpose of this letter is to advise you of the value of funding the LA has included in its high needs budget, earmarked for your school, and to explain the basis of how your indicative 2013/14 funding has been calculated.

The move to the DfE’s “Place Plus” model represents a significant change to existing funding arrangements, particularly for SRP’s, and it is important to note that there is an inherent, unavoidable degree of uncertainty in your 2013/14 funding which is explained below;

Place Funding

·  All planned places must be funded at £10,000 per year and this will be paid in monthly instalments by SBC based on the agreed April 2013 place numbers. Where additional places have been agreed from September 2013 place funding will increase at that time.

·  Where the LA commissions additional places which are over and above the agreed April 2013 / September 2013 planned places the new regulations stipulate that the LA may provide part year place funding at £833 per month (£10,000 / 12) in addition to the relevant top up fee. Subject to affordability the LA intends to fully fund additional places unless, by mutual agreement with the setting, this is not necessary. In practice the Special School or SRP will need to demonstrate that the additional costs of taking on an additional pupil cannot be covered by the appropriate top up fee. Schools are asked to bear in mind that the LA needs to manage the overall cost of meeting all SEN needs from a finite pot of DSG funding and that requests for additional funding must be challenged as any overspends in 2013/14 would need to be recovered by reducing top up fees in 2014/15.

Plus Funding i.e. Top Up Fees

·  The LA has, in accordance with DfE requirements attempted to set top up fees which maintain stability as far as possible but also to ensure additional funds are provided for planned expansion at a time when the overall level of DSG is not increasing in line with increasing SEN demands.

·  The attached tables show the proposed 2013/14 top up fees for pupils attending Swindon Special Schools and SRPs.

·  For Special Schools the move to place plus has been relatively straightforward as local formula changes implemented to produce banded 2012/13 funding allocations proved to be a fortunate step towards meeting the DfE requirements of place plus.

·  For SRP’s the move from an historic cost based approach to place plus has required more fundamental changes and the 2013/14 SRP top up rates were set to ensure that pupils with similar needs in similar settings are consistently funded and that funding is responsive to pupil changes. The LA acknowledges that, whilst fully complying with DfE requirements, the 2013/14 SRP Top up rates are overly complex and will need to be rationalised for 2014/15. There are wide discrepancies in the level of funding across different types of SRP and between Special schools and SRP’s which need to be reviewed in full consultation with Headteachers.

·  SBC will provide the majority of top up funding to Swindon settings in monthly instalments (as most pupils will be from Swindon) but individual schools will need to invoice and recover funds from other LAs as the DfE have ended the long standing inter LA recoupment process.

·  A regional agreement has been reached whereby LAs will, during 2013/14, pay the top up fee determined by the host LA but in an increasingly competitive environment this may change from 2014/15.

·  High Needs top up funding will only be paid for pupils placed at each setting. For existing pupils top up values are based on the recent moderation exercise and are fixed unless pupils are re-banded due to changing needs. For new pupils which the LA anticipates will enter Special Schools and SRP’s during the year, bandings and top up values have had to be estimated by the SEN team.

·  The LA has taken care to set its high needs budget to realistically reflect the number of places and likely pupil bandings at each setting and this is the basis of your indicative funding. Although occupancy levels are generally high in Swindon it may be prudent for schools to assume a slightly lower level of funding when setting the school budget to recognise that there may be periods of time when occupancy levels are lower than planned places and / or that pupil bandings may be higher or lower after September 2013.

Commissioned Services

·  Where the LA has commissioned Borough wide Outreach and Support Services the value for 2013/14 is fixed and this is separated from place plus funding. A summary of all these services is attached and funding is included as a separate line on the attached funding allocation statement where applicable. This will be paid by SBC in monthly instalments.

Post 16 Place Plus Funding

·  The indicative funding for Uplands Special School includes 46.8 FTE post 16 placements (45 from April rising to 48 from September) which the LA has so far assumed would be banded and funded at the same level as pre 16 pupils. Over recent weeks the Education Funding Agency has released information regarding post 16 funding which is a major concern to the LA as the level of additional funding passing over from the EFA has been provisionally estimated as being £900,000 lower than the cost of the LAs new responsibilities.

·  This appears to be a concern across the region and the LA is in contact with the EFA to seek clarification on this. There is therefore a possibility that lower levels of post 16 funding will need to be allocated unless pre 16 budgets are proportionately reduced.

·  As a matter of urgency, the LA is working on the post 16 funding issues and will engage with all involved schools and colleges as soon as it is practical.

Academy Funding

·  Please note that the level of SRP funding for Academies will continue to be calculated by the LA and will be recouped by the EFA prior to the start of the year. Actual funding will be paid over to Academies by the EFA but should be based on the values calculated by the LA. Any issues relating to Academy funding must be raised directly with the EFA but the LA will continue to assist in resolving any queries.

Funding Statements

For 2013/14 the LA is aiming to streamline bureaucracy by incorporating annual funding allocations into the budget template which maintained schools are required to submit to the LA by 30th June 2013. Historically separate documents have been used for these purposes.

The attached spread sheets provide;

·  Funding 2012/13 and 2013/14 – this provides a high level summary of annual funding changes

·  3 Year Revenue Summary – on completion of the 3 Year Revenue plan this automatically provides a summary of opening balances, projected funding, projected spending and resulting closing balances in a format which schools may wish to present to Governors and Leadership Teams

·  3 Year Revenue Plan – this has been prepopulated with the LAs estimate of your total 2013/14 place plus (i.e. place and top up) funding and includes the template for you to complete and return electronically to the LA after your budget has been set. The LA has provisionally assumed that the level of 2013/14 high needs funding will continue throughout 2014/15 and 2015/16 but schools may wish to adjust place and / or band numbers to reflect their own estimates or plan for different levels of funding. There is scope within the spreadsheet to assume lower income levels will be received due to occupancy and/or banding fluctuations. The spreadsheet also projects opening and closing balances for as many years as funding and spending projections are completed for. (Please note this worksheet is set to print on A3 but can be changed locally if necessary)

·  3 Year Capital Plan – the LA advocates that a separate capital budget is maintained for items funded from Devolved Formula Grant as this can distort the underlying level of balances held.

The spreadsheet has been successfully trialled with one of our Special Schools and I hope will be of use to all schools and possibly Academies. For schools with SRP’s the LA advocates that a separate budget is established and monitored on SIMS using the attached template but schools may choose to amalgamate their SRP funding and spending within the wider school budget.

Maintained settings are asked to return the spreadsheet electronically to the LA at by 30th June 2013 after 2013/14 budgets have been approved by Governors.

If you have any queries about the financial aspects of this letter or the spread sheets please contact me or Sarah Higgins (465752). For specific queries about place numbers or the banding levels for individual pupils please contact Emily Heaton, Admissions and SENAT Manager (465769) or Paul Davis SEN Finance and Contracts Officer (463875).

Yours sincerely

Steve Haley

Steve Haley

Head of Finance (Education & Innovation)

Extracts from 15th January 2013 Schools Forum Report – Dedicated Schools Grant and School Funding Reform 2013-14 (All proposals were agreed)

Table 12 - Current and Proposed Special School Top Up Banding Values
Existing
Values / Banding / Proposed 2013/14 Funding
Place / Top-Up / Total
N /A / Band 1 plus = 35% uplift re 1-2-1 bespoke support packages / £10,000 / £20,183 / £30,183
£27,244 / Band 1 BESD / £10,000 / £22,021 / £32,021
£22,703 / Band 1 / £10,000 / £14,950 / £24,950
£24,518 / Band 2 BESD / £10,000 / £19,072 / £29,072
£20,432 / Band 2 / £10,000 / £13,455 / £23,455
£16,346 / Band 3 BESD / £10,000 / £10,223 / £20,223
£13,622 / Band 3 / £10,000 / £5,875 / £15,875
£12,259 / Band 4 BESD / £10,000 / £5,797 / £15,797
£10,216 / Band 4 / £10,000 / £2,467 / £12,467
Therapy top ups have been included above to transfer existing central contributions
a) Uplands @ 220 per pupil b) Brimble Hill @ £220 per pupil
Table 13 - Projected 2013/14 Special School Funding - Excluding Pupil Premium
2012/13
Funding / Setting / 2013/14 Indicative Funding
Place @ £10,000 / Top Up @ Band Values / PFI @ Actual Cost / Total Funding
£1,663,914 / St Lukes / £680,000 / £1,020,365 / £1,700,365
£1,629,931 / Brimble Hill / £658,333 / £757,203 / £96,470 / £1,512,006
£892,289 / The Chalet / £520,833 / £489,701 / £1,010,534
£2,287,121 / Crowdy’s Hill / £1,280,000 / £1,046,238 / £2,326,238
£2,485,489 / Uplands / £1,221,667 / £1,557,691 / £167,909 / £2,947,266
£892,893 / Nylands / £343,333 / £555,493 / £898,826
£9,851,637 / Totals / £4,704,167 / £5,426,691 / £264,379 / £10,395,237
Notes
1) Top Up funding is based on the estimated places and assumed banding values
2) Top up funding includes 14 pupils from other LAs who will directly pay placement top ups fees of approximately £177,900 to the providers.
3) Uplands includes Post 16 places – with effect from August 2013 the place element will be directly funded by the EFA
Table 15 - Proposed SRP Top Up Banding Values 2013/14
Prime Need / Band / Place / Top Up / Total
Cognitive and Learning - General and Specific Learning Difficulties
Settings - Redoaks, Eldene & Millbrook / A plus / £10,000 / £18,900 / £28,900
A / £10,000 / £16,493 / £26,493
B plus / £10,000 / £14,888 / £24,888
B / £10,000 / £10,073 / £20,073
C plus / £10,000 / £9,270 / £19,270
C / £10,000 / £8,468 / £18,468
D plus / £10,000 / £7,665 / £17,665
D / £10,000 / £6,863 / £16,863
Speech, language and Communication Difficulties
Settings - Even Swindon / A plus / £10,000 / £10,450 / £20,450
A / £10,000 / £9,580 / £19,580
B plus / £10,000 / £9,000 / £19,000
B / £10,000 / £8,130 / £18,130
C plus / £10,000 / £7,550 / £17,550
C / £10,000 / £7,260 / £17,260
D plus / £10,000 / £6,970 / £16,970
D / £10,000 / £6,680 / £16,680
Speech, language and Communication Difficulties
Settings – Commonweal / A plus / £10,000 / £8,650 / £18,650
A / £10,000 / £7,780 / £17,780
B plus / £10,000 / £7,200 / £17,200
B / £10,000 / £6,330 / £16,330
C plus / £10,000 / £5,750 / £15,750
C / £10,000 / £5,460 / £15,460
D plus / £10,000 / £5,170 / £15,170
D / £10,000 / £4,880 / £14,880
Speech, language and Communication Difficulties with ASD (Primary)
Settings - Ruskin Junior / A plus / £10,000 / £22,200 / £32,200
A / £10,000 / £19,500 / £29,500
B plus / £10,000 / £18,600 / £28,600