Agenda item
Questions asked by members under Standing Order 7(3) and 7(5).
Minutes:
The following questions were received under Standing Order 7(3) and 7(5) and were put to the Chairman of the Children and Families Overview and Scrutiny Committee:
Questions asked by Mr. M. Hunt CC:
“Earlier this Summer the Director of Corporate resources said that without new interventions the High Needs block deficit is forecast to continue to increase over the MTFS period and is not financially sustainable, despite the improved position in 2023/24. This creates a significant and unresolved financial risk to the Council. What new Interventions are we likely to see and what impact are they expected to have on the end of year outturn?
Would the Chairman provide a table of annual savings budgeted for annual savings achieved and the end of year accumulated deficit from 2022/23 and relevant projections to 2027/28?
The TSIL Programme is focussing significantly on ensuring that all data within the SEND system is robust and this has focused in part on data on individual pupils. Could the Chairman state how this has been conducted and whether parents or guardians have relevant access to the data”.
Reply by the Chairman:
As part of the continuous improvement phase of TSIL, future
cost reduction
opportunities of up to £12.7m have been identified. Areas identified include improved commissioning and effective management of Independent Special School places, ensuring appropriate contributions from partners, effective EHCP reviews and transitions to adulthood. As savings under development, it is not expected that they will deliver any financial impact on the 2024/25 outturn but can be expected to impact on future years.
The current financial position on the Dedicated Schools
Grant forecast at the end of the first quarter of 2024 is shown in the table
below. The position is currently under review now that pupil destinations for
the 2024/25 academic year are known.
|
|
2024/25 |
2025/26 |
2026/27 |
2027/28 |
|
|
£,000 |
£,000 |
£,000 |
£,000 |
|
Grant
Income |
-109,176 |
-112,430 |
-115,781 |
-119,233 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Placement
Costs |
117,490 |
129,398 |
142,392 |
156,622 |
|
Other
HNB Cost |
11,665 |
12,265 |
12,265 |
12,265 |
|
Commissioning
Cost - New Places |
162 |
37 |
0 |
0 |
|
Total Expenditure |
129,317 |
141,700 |
154,657 |
168,887 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Funding Gap Pre Savings |
20,141 |
29,270 |
38,876 |
49,655 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
TSIL Programme Defined Opportunities |
-3,788 |
-10,976 |
-19,195 |
-27,666 |
|
Increase
in Local Specialist Places |
-2,265 |
-5,472 |
-9,000 |
-12,579 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total Savings |
-6,053 |
-16,448 |
-28,195 |
-40,245 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Annual Revenue Funding Gap |
14,088 |
12,822 |
10,681 |
9,410 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cumulative High Needs Deficit Brought Forward |
41,187 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Cumulative High Needs Funding Gap |
55,275 |
68,097 |
78,779 |
88,188 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Surplus
(-ve) / Deficit Other DSG Blocks |
-9,663 |
-9,660 |
-9,160 |
-6,560 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Dedicated Schools Grant Surplus (-ve) /
Deficit |
45,612 |
58,437 |
69,619 |
81,628 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
High Needs Spend as % of High Needs DSG |
119% |
127% |
134% |
143% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Surplus / Deficit as % of Total DSG |
7% |
8% |
10% |
11% |
TSIL savings as reflected in the 2024/25 MTFS are shown
below:
|
|
2024/25 |
2025/26 |
2026/26 |
2027/28 |
|
|
£,000 |
£,000 |
£,000 |
£,000 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reduction
in the number of EHCP Needs Assessment Requests |
-228 |
-660 |
-1,231 |
-1,778 |
|
Reduction
in Assessment Conversion Rate |
-352 |
-861 |
-1,430 |
-1,918 |
|
Reduced
Mainstream EHCP Cost |
-345 |
-948 |
-1,634 |
-2,315 |
|
Reduction
in the number of Early Years Specialist Starts |
-587 |
-1,206 |
-1,839 |
-2,478 |
|
Reduction
in the number of Non-Early Years Specialist Starts |
-1,333 |
-3,840 |
-6,721 |
-9,779 |
|
Reduction
in Non-Early Years Specialist Cost |
-943 |
-3,460 |
-7,101 |
-9,399 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total - Potential Cost Reduction Savings |
-3,788 |
-10,976 |
-19,956 |
-27,666 |
Data has been central to the work of the TSIL programme, ensuring improvements are evidence based using a range of data to identify, test and implement improvements within local authority SEND services. The impact of improvement activity is regularly monitored through performance data. The local authority is working with the SEND Hub to establish data sharing requirements with parents, carers and guardians.
Supporting documents:
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