HIGH NEEDS FUNDING GUIDANCE

2014/15

CONTENTS

  1. PURPOSE
  2. EARLYYEARS
  3. Mainstream Schools INCLUDING Academies
  4. TRANSITIONALTop up Funding ARRANGEMENTS for HIGH NEEDS LEARNERS WITH A statement OF SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEED (SEN)
  5. FUNDING OF PUPILS WITH EDUCATION HEALTH & CARE PLANS
  6. TOP-UP FUNDING – HIGH NEEDS PANEL
  7. Top up FUNDING WHERE HIGH NEEDSELEMENT 2 EXPENDED
  8. high needs earmarked reserves
  9. IMPLEMENTATION DATES
  10. post 16/colleges
  11. ALTERNATIVE PROVISION (AP)
  12. SEN UNITSAND RESOURCED PROVISION
  13. SPECIAL SCHOOLS AND ACADEMIES
  14. VISUALLY IMPAIRED PUPILS
  15. HEARING IMPAIRED PUPILS
  16. PERMANENT EXCLUSIONS CLAWBACK
  17. pupils who are the responsibility of other LOCAL AUTHORITIES
  18. CONTACTDETAILS - HIGH NEEDS BUSINESS SUPPORt TEAM

  1. PURPOSE

1.1This document outlines Northamptonshire’s High Needs funding arrangements under the Department for Education (DFE) School Funding Arrangements for 2014/15.

2Early Years (EY)

2.1 Early Years settings are funded from the EY block within the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG). A percentage of the settings’ funding is deemed to be its notional SEN.

2.2EY settings will be required to contribute towards the cost of any child with high needs, out of their notional SEN. This has been defined as £500, per pupil per financial yearfor a high needschildin a PVIsetting and £240 per pupil per financial year for a childminder, until 50% of the notional SEN has been exhausted.

2.3 Once 50% of the settings notional SEN has been exhausted, any subsequent successful applicationsfor high needs top up funding will be funded in full i.e. without a contribution from the setting.

2.4For EY children without a finalised Statement of Special Educational Need or an Education Health & Care Plan, top up funding can be applied for via the high needs fundingpanelonce the child has commenced the placementand meets the following criteria:

  • Those in receipt of Early Years Single Funded Formula (EYSFF)
  • And whose needs cannot be met through the support identified in the Early Years descriptors (link below)

EARLY YEARS DESCRIPTORS (MIND MAPS)

2.5Exceptionally for children with the highest level of need, where the level of support would exceed the settings contribution within 6 weeks of the commencement of the placement, settings will be able to apply to the High Needs Funding Panel before the child starts.

2.6To improve consistency of funding decisions by the High Needs Panel, with effect from April 2014 funding for EY settings will be paid at a rate of £9 per hour (inclusive of oncosts), to provide all aspects of the identified program of support. A maximum of 570 hours per annum will be funded, in line with free entitlement to funded childcare.

2.7Where EY children have a finalised Statement of Special Educational Need or Education Health & Care Plan (EHC Plan), funding will be based on the support identified in the Statement or EHC Plan and paid at a rate of £9 per hour (inclusive of on costs), to provide all aspects of the identified program of support. A maximum of 570 hours per annum will be funded, in line with free entitlement to funded childcare. As these children will usually have the highest level of need there will be no requirement to apply to High Needs Panel. However, settings (in particular PVI settings) will need to contact the High Needs Business Support team (High Needs BST) (contact details below) to make them aware of any new placement to their setting of a child with a finalised Statement or EHC Plan with a program of support that will require additional funding to enable the setting to meet need.

2.8For children with a finalised statement,funding as outlined in 2.7 above, will continue until current statements have been reviewed in line with the transition time table and statements (where applicable) are transferred to Education, Health & Care Plans (EHC Plans). Any existing top up funding arrangement would then be reviewed in line with the EHC Plan.

2.9Any funding agreed at anEYSFF setting will cease at transition phase or if the child moves to another EY setting. Where a child with an agreed high needs funding arrangement moves to another EY setting, the existing funding arrangement may continue at the new setting. It is important that settings, particularly PVI settings, contact the High Needs BST immediately should a child, for whom they are receiving top up funding, leave or join their setting - see contact details via link below:

High Needs BUSINESS SUPPORT TEAM

3Mainstream Schools incLUDING Academies

3.1Under the DFE funding arrangements, mainstream schools and academies are required to meet the cost of the basic per pupil entitlement (AWPU) and up to £6,000 of additional support for pupils with high needs, from their individual schools formula budget

3.2 The Authority is required to set a notional SEN budget as part of the funding formula. The DfE state that:

“Whichever way local authorities choose to allocate funding for low cost, high incidence SEN, they will still be required to give mainstream schools a notional SEN budget from the Schools Block. This might be made up of funding from the basic per-pupil entitlement, deprivation and low cost, high incidence SEN factors. It is from this notional budget that mainstream schools will be expected to:

  • Meet the needs of pupils with low cost, high incidence SEN; and
  • Contribute, up to a certain level set by the local authority, towards the costs of provision for pupils with high needs (including those with high cost, low incidence SEN).”

3.3 The notional SEN budget as part of the Authority’s Schools Block funding formula is calculated as 8.3% of the basic per pupil funding factor (AWPU) and 12.0% of the deprivation funding. This notional SEN Budget is the basis for the support schools are expected to provide under the DFE funding arrangements and as defined by the Authority’s SEN descriptors, which can be found at the following link:

NORTHAMPTONSHIRE DESCRIPTORS FOR SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEEDS

4TRANSITIONAL Top up Funding ARRANGEMENTS for HIGH NEEDS LEARNERS WITH A statement OF SPECIAL EDUCATIONAL NEED (SEN)

4.1 Where a child currently has a Statement of SEN, the authority will pay the top up funding outlined below according to the level of need identified. This arrangement will continue until currentstatements have been reviewed in line with the transition time table and statements (where applicable) are transferred to Education, Health & Care Plans (EHC Plans).Funding of EHC Plans is outlined in item 5 below. Where transitional top up funding applies, this will continue until it can be reviewed in line with the implementation of the Resource Allocation System also outlined in item 5 below.

Primary / Secondary
Level 1 / Band D or up to 15 hours / £0 / £0
Level 2 / Band E or between 16 and 25 hours / £3,000 / £2,100
Level 3 / Band F or 26 hours and over / £6,000 / £5,250

4.2 As funding has been allocated for pupils covered by these transitional arrangements shoulda child’s needs significantly change or cannot be met within the top up funding allocated, thiswill need to be addressed via the SEN review process.

5FUNDING OF PUPILS WITH EDUCATION HEALTH & CARE PLANS

5.1Where pupils have a finalised Education Health and Care Plan, the development of a Resource Allocation System (RAS) is under consideration to provide an accurate and sustainable method of funding, based on a model that supports the integration of health, social care and educational assessment. It is anticipated that this will be implemented in 2015/16.In recognition that EHC Plans will only be issued for children with the highest level of need (in line with the eligibility criteria), there is no requirement for schools to apply to High Needs Panel for funding. Interim arrangements, where the EHC Plan identities that additional funding is required,will be based on either the High Needs Funding Levels described in 6.2 below or special school top up funding rates in 13.9/13.10 below, in line with descriptor according to assessed level of needand placement type.The allocation of funding levels will be moderated regularly to ensure consistency.Funding of pupils via interim arrangements will continue until they are reviewed in line with the implementation of the Resource Allocation System.

5.2Should a child’s needs significantly change or cannot be met within the top up funding allocated, this will need to be addressed via the EHC review process.

6TOP-UP FUNDING – HIGH NEEDSPANEL

6.1Where pupils areidentified as having high needs but do not have afinalised statement or EHC Plan, schools can apply to the High Needs Panel for top up funding where the cost of the additional support for the pupil exceeds £6,000.

6.2From April 2014 High Needs Panel top up funding amounts will be determined by the funding levels in the table below. This arrangement has been introduced to improve consistency of funding decisions by High Needs Panel so that similar funding levels are grantedto support pupils with similar levels of need.

Level 1 / £1,500 / Impact of need affects 50% to 60% school day
Level 2 / £3,000 / Impact of need affects 60% to 70% school day
Level 3 / £4,500 / Impact of need affects 70% to 80% school day
Level 4 / £6,000 / Exceptional impact of need

6.3The top up funding level awarded,along with base funding, will fund all aspects of the program of support to meet the pupils’ needs.

6.4A new SEN Descriptors document will be published in September 2014, in line with the Children & Families Act 2014.

7SCHOOLS REQUIRING A HIGH NEEDS TOP UP AS THE HIGH NEEDSELEMENT 2 FUNDING WITHIN THEIR FORMULA BUDGET HAS ALREADY BEEN SPENT

Where these requests are made the following calculations are undertaken

  • Calculate total element 2 high needs funding (multiples of £6k or lower if band D etc (pro-rata where part year)) utilised by school currently for statemented and high needs pupils.
  • Compare this to notional SEN funding in current year formula budget plus high needs carry forward in schools SB1 form
  • If additional high needs child element 2 cost will mean the schools notional SEN allocation has been exceeded the high needs funding request for this child (if approved) should be funded in full (i.e. with NO £6k deduction)
  • If the request means the element 2 costs would still be below the notional SEN allocation (plus high needs carry forward) there should be NO contribution to the element 2 (£6k) part although the school may be entitled to a high needs element 3 top up element only (if approved)

8HIGH NEEDS EARMARKED RESERVES/SCHOOL CARRY FORWARDS

8.1Maintained schools can carry forward an amount of up to 20% of their notional SEN and high needs allocations. Balances allocated to this line in the SB1 form will be outside any calculations for the claw back of balances. Academies should also plan in a similar way where possible.

9DATES FOR UPDATES OF SCHOOLS HIGH NEEDS FUNDING INFORMATION

9.1 Data to be submitted to the high needs funding team or data to be extracted from the authority’s high needs records is planned to be as follows:

Area / Information collected or updated / Funding amended
Special schools / Returns from special schools October 14 and January 15 / Nov 14 and Feb 15
SEN units and Resourced Provision / October 14 information downloaded from the authority’s records, numbers identified and any adjustments to high needs top ups identified / Nov/Dec 14
Mainstream SEN – transitional arrangements – band E and F / October 14 information downloaded from the authority’s records, numbers identified and any adjustments to high needs top ups identified / Nov/Dec 14

10POST 16 FE COLLEGES / CPPS’s / ISP’s / SCHOOLS

The three elements to high needs funding for Post 16 students who are not in special schools, are Element 1 and 2 place funding and Element 3 top up funding.

10.1Element 1 represents the funding that all students at the institution attract for their basic programmes and Element 2 is the second component of place funding and provides £6,000 to help meet the additional support costs for high needs students.

Both of these elements are funded directly from the EFA based on agreed numbers commissioned by the Local Authority.

10.2Element 3 top up funding is the funding required over and above place funding to enable a student with high needs to participate in education and learning which is funded by the Local Authority from the high needs block allocation.

For FE Colleges and CPP’s this is currently an allocation negotiated and agreed annually (Costs exceeding £19,000 per student are agreed on an individual basis via application).

For ISP provision this is agreed on an individual basis via application.

10.3During the transition period there needs to be a degree of consistency with pre-16 arrangements and proposals for statemented pupils. Those students with existing SEN statements will be protected from Year 12 into Year 13 prior to transition at age 19. The arrangements outlined in this section will apply to Post 16 students.

10.4For school students that are identified as having high needs, institutions can apply for top up funding where the cost of the additional support is beyond the cost of elements 1 and 2 as set out in 11.1 above an application to the high needs panel will need to be made.

11ALTERNATIVE PROVISION (AP)

11.1Northamptonshire APs will be funded for:

a) Base funding of £8,000 per agreed planned place (as agreed between the Authority and the EFA as part of the data checking process carried by the EFA), which will come directly from the EFA for AP Academies; and

b) High needs top up funding

c) On the basis agreed with providers

11.2 Any high needs top up funding will reflect the period the pupil is educated by the AP on a

pro rata basis, including if the pupil is educated on a part time basis.

12SEN UNITS AND RESOURCED PROVISION

12.1All SEN Units and Resourced Provision will be funded from the High Needs Block and will receive £10,000 per agreed place (as agreed between the Authority and the EFA as part of the data checking process carried out by the EFA). Funding is based on 2013/14 place numbers to August 2014 and for the period from September 2014 the place numbers for the 2014/15 academic year submitted to the EFA on 23 December 2013.

12.2From September 2014 for pupils who attend aSEN Unit/Resourced Provision,a top up will be applied of the mainstream transitional band E and F top up rates.

12.3From April 15 it is anticipated that, for children attending a SEN Unit, high needs top up funding will be based on a resource allocation system (RAS) with the required preparation work starting in September 2014.

12.4There are 4 primary units (Park, Croyland, Woodnewton and St James) dealing with pupils that are either at risk of permanent exclusion or have been permanently excluded. The funding for these will be predominantly through the place funding and any other relevant high needs funding will be as specified in the SLA.

13SPECIAL SCHOOLS AND ACADEMIES

Summary of the changes to the Special schools funding formula 2014-15

13.1Simplify the matrix by moving from 10 to 5 categories from April 2014, see table below.

13.2Remove the separate all through matrix top up rates for 2 schools (Billing Brook and Maplefields).

13.3 The place funding of early years special school pupils reducing from 1 FTE to 0.6FTE from September 2014 (reflecting the national entitlement to 15 hours free early years education) ( note - as reflected in the 2014-15 academic year place numbers submitted to the EFA)

13.4 Special schools place funding beingfixed for 2014-15 based on initial 13-14 place numbers to August 2014 and from September 2014 the numbers submitted to the EFA for 2014-15 academic year place numbers. (note adjustment for Billing Brook regarding pupils taken on from The Grange)

13.5Matrix top up payments made during the 2014-15 financial year reflecting the numbers and matrix scores of pupils in each special school with reference to points 13.6 to 13.10below.

13.6 Protection being applied in the 2014-15 financial year in accordance with the requirement that no special school sees a reduction in per pupil top up funding of more than -1.5%.

13.7Capping applied so that the 2014-15 average per pupil funding does not increase by greater than 4.5% from 2013-14.

13.8 Changes to Matrix levels will be considered once per financial year. This means that the top up funding for individual pupils included in the indicative budgets issued in March 2014 will not be increased in the 2014-15 financial year even if the school increases a matrix score.

13.9 The Special school top up rates for 2014/15 are provided in the table below:

PA1 / PA2 / PA3 / PA4 / PA5
1,520 / 2,322 / 3,935 / 9,297 / 16,886
PB1 / PB2 / PB3 / PB4 / PB5
2,708 / 3,510 / 5,123 / 10,485 / 18,074
PC1 / PC2 / PC3 / PC4 / PC5
5,084 / 5,887 / 7,500 / 12,861 / 20,450
SA1 / SA2 / SA3 / SA4 / SA5
2,492 / 3,205 / 4,784 / 10,760 / 17,858
SB1 / SB2 / SB3 / SB4 / SB5
3,680 / 4,393 / 5,972 / 11,948 / 19,046
SC1 / SC2 / SC3 / SC4 / SC5
6,064 / 6,770 / 8,349 / 14,324 / 21,430
P=Primary
S=Secondary

13.10 The post 16 place funding is changing nationally from August 2014 to £10k per place.

The matrix top up rate for post 16has been increased by £977 (see below), from August 2014, to reflect this.

TA1 / TA2 / TA3 / TA4 / TA5
3,469 / 4,182 / 5,761 / 11,737 / 18,835
TB1 / TB2 / TB3 / TB4 / TB5
4,657 / 5,370 / 6,949 / 12,925 / 20,023
TC1 / TC2 / TC3 / TC4 / TC5
7,041 / 7,747 / 9,326 / 15,301 / 22,407
T=Post 16

13.11It is anticipated that fromApril 2015 Special School Top Up will be via a resource allocation system (RAS), with the required preparation work starting in September 2014.

14. VISUALLY IMPAIRED PUPILS

14.1Where schools have visually impaired pupils with a statement finalised by 31/3/13 the available funding for each child will include:

a)The first £6,000 from the school / academy budget as this is now delegated in the schools block funding formula; and

b) The top up funding for visually impaired pupils, which will be made available to schools / academies where relevant where statements for these pupils have been finalised prior to 1st April 2013. Should, exceptionally the high needs funding become insufficient to meet need, then this will need to be addressed via the statement review process.

c) The sum of (a), (b) above less £3,000will be recharged by the visual impairment service to the school / academy to maintain the existing provision during 2014/15

14.2The charging arrangementsfor visually impaired pupils introduced during 2013/14(following feedback from schools and discussions at Schools Forum on the 15 October 2013) will be continued in 2014/15.

14.3Visually impaired pupils without a statement or EHC Plan who require additional support over that provided by the VI team will need to make an application to HN Funding Panel.