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Welcome to the 9th edition of the Schools Forum Newsletter........
In this issue, we are including key points from the Schools Forum meeting held on 19 March 2015 particularly; 2015/16 Schools Budget, LA Schools Formula APT Return, Schools Budget Landscape/Review and DfE SEN Consultation. A full copy of the minutes will be made available via the Council web-site in due course, see section 9 below.
Schools Forum Meeting 19 March 2015 – Key Points
1. Matters Arising from 22 January 2015 Meeting minutes
Item 6 – Resolution (ii) – Jon Roper Headteacher All Saints CE School is the new Schools Forum representative for primary schools
Item 9 – section a) – Amendment required as below:
The Corporate Director for Services to People would recommend to the Council Executive that the Primary schools local funding formula to be updated as follows:
Item 9 – Resolution (vii) – Peter Hughes informed Schools Forum members that three primary phase schools had received LA financial support from the central reserve relating to infant class size initiative, they were Greave, Great Moor Infants and St Mary's RC.
2. 2015/16 FINAL SCHOOLS BUDGET
Report presented as tabled
Discussions: Peter Hughes presented paper which provided the detail of the final construction of the 2015/16 Schools Budget further to previous reports presented and discussions with
/ decisions made with Schools Forum.
Decisions: N/A
Actions:
1. Schools Forum members to note the report.
3. 2015/16 DFE APT RETURN
Report presented as tabled
Discussions: The report provided detail of the final schools funding formula approved by the Council Executive to be implemented from April 2015 and provided to the DfE via the statutory APT return.
Decisions:
1. N/A
Actions:
1. Schools Forum members to note the report.
4. SCHOOLS BUDGET LANDSCAPE / REVIEW
Report presented as tabled
Discussions: The report provided outline information of the LA plan to review all aspects of the Schools Budget financed predominantly by the DSG due to the short-medium term sustainability issue of deploying £0.824m of DSG reserves to set a balanced budget in 2015/16. The review group led by Phil Beswick and supported by other LA officers from Finance, SEN/Inclusion, etc. requires representatives from Schools Forum for each school phase to engage in the process and volunteers were sought to attend the review group meetings.
Decisions: The following members agreed to be representatives on the review group:
Governors – Ian Roberts
Nursery – Cathy Larkin
Primary – Helen Hilton
Secondary – Ian Irwin
Special – John Law
Academies – Colin Short
PRUs – Janice Cahill
Resourced Provision – Sue Challinor
Post 16 – Danny Pearson
Actions: Phil Beswick / Peter Hughes to arrange first meeting date at earliest opportunity and inform all above members before Easter break.
5. DfE SEN CONSULTATION & (CALL FOR EVIDENCE)
Report presented as tabled
Discussions: The report provided information relating to the meeting held between Schools Forum and the LA 0-25 Implementation Board members to discuss the above consultation document. The issues and discussions undertaken were collected and collated into a joint LA/Schools Forum response and following ratification by the Corporate Director for Services to People was duly submitted to the DfE ahead of the deadline date.
Information provided for all Schools Forum members in Appendix 1 attached to the report.
Decisions:
1. N/A
Actions:
1. Schools Forum members to note the report.
6. Schools Forum – Schedule of Meetings and Training
Report presented as tabled
Discussions: N/A
Decisions / Actions approved: N/A
7. Any Other Business:
N/A
8. Where do I find Schools Forum Information?
The Schools Forum meetings are held, administered and clerked in accordance with any other council meetings and the minutes are recorded and presented on the councils web-site alongside all Schools Forum business matters (i.e. reports), please find link below:
http://democracy.stockport.gov.uk/ieListMeetings.aspx?CommitteeId=159
9. Schools Forum Contacts:
Schools Forum Clerk: democratic.servicesatstockport.gov.uk
Schools Forum Chair:
Paul Carter – Governor at St James School paulmilescarteratgmail.com
Schools Forum Service Director:
Phil Beswick, Services to People Directorate phil.beswickatstockport.gov.uk
Schools Forum Finance Officer:
Peter Hughes, CSS Manager, Finance Peter.hughesatstockport.gov.uk