Education Funding and Academies Brian Gale Director Policy

Education Funding and Academies Brian Gale Director Policy and Campaigns

Alternative title What is happening to the money that pays your salary?

Content • Wider political context – White paper on the public sector • Current funding system • Proposed funding system

Political context OPEN PUBLIC SERVICES • • • Choice Decentralisation Diversity Fairness Accountability

A sector blind approach • Outlines reform at a macro level setting out a broad vision • No information on specific sectors

Open Public Services There is a clear focus on competition and choice and the role of diverse market provision in driving up standards and in delivering better outcomes for users. (NCVO)

Role of the state A protector of standards and entitlements and as a convenor

Standards • The state defines outcomes and standards (a guarantor of standards) • We will ensure that providers of individual services who receive public money are licensed or registered by the appropriate regulator

Choice • Wherever possible, we will increase choice by giving people direct control over the services they use. And where it is not possible to give people direct control, elected representatives should also have more choice about who provides services and how.

Choice and individual services • We will establish a framework for choice in individual services including health, social care EY provision, schools and FE.

The framework will ensure: • Funding follows the individual to their provider of choice • People choosing are well informed and prompted about options available • Providers meet a basic quality requirement enforced by inspectors

Choice We are also fostering the establishment of ‘Choice Champions’ who will promote choice in public services and provide independent scrutiny and challenge to providers and commissioners.

Choice We are also fostering the establishment of ‘Choice Champions’ who will promote choice in public services and provide independent scrutiny and challenge to providers and commissioners

Decentralisation The second principle of open public services: power should be decentralised to the lowest appropriate level.

Competition / Diversity • Lack of competition seen as a problem • More competition would improve standards

Diversity • We want to embed the idea of diverse and innovative providers competing to raise standards. This includes freeing up providers in the public sector so that they can find newer and better ways of delivering the service. There is now a rich pattern of autonomous providers within the public sector

Diversity To ensure that the benefits of mutualisation are available across the wider public sector, we are giving public sector staff new Rights to Provide – empowering employees to form public service mutuals to bid or request to take over the services they deliver

Commissioning • Services commissioned from a diverse range of providers • Separation of purchaser / provider roles • Accreditation bodies • Payment by results

Existing funding arrangements • Local funding formula for schools and school SEN • National funding for FE and post 16 SEN • Differential funding for academies and maintained schools

Dedicated Schools Grant Centrally Funded Services Individual Schools Budget School School School Other Service School School Sensory Support School Other Service School Other Service

Centrally Funded Services Individual Schools Budget School School School School School Other Service School Sensory Support Other Service School Other Service

Centrally Funded Services Individual Schools Budget School Sensory Support School School Other Service School School School Other Service

Post 16 SEN Funding • YPLA gives LAs a 16 -18 SEN Block Grant for schools • FE colleges get an additional support for learning (ASL) budget for students requiring additional funding over and above £ 5, 500 • Colleges fund the first £ 5, 500

Post 16 SEN Funding • Colleges pay first £ 5, 500 from national 16 -19 funding system which until recently recognised different qualifications • Students costing over £ 19 k funded from Learners with Learning Difficulties or Disabilities placement budget

Proposed funding arrangements School Funding: Next steps towards a fairer system 2012 (but includes FE)

Key announcements • A new national funding formula • Minimum funding guarantee of – 1. 5% will continue • Simplified local formulae for distributing money to schools

• Changes to the way local areas are funded • Consistent funding arrangements for CYP with high needs from birth to 25 years

• No change to EY funding • Funding of post 16 “high needs budget” transfers from YPLA / Education Funding Agency to Local Authorities

• FE post 16 “low level” learning difficulties remain with EFA (separate consultation) • For FE move from funding qualifications to programmes of study (Wolf recommendation)

The Dedicated School Grant remains (but includes post 16 SEN)

The DSG 1. Schools block 2. High needs block 3. Early Years block

Schools Block • Funds: - Schools - Some minimal LA services • Maximum delegation • Academies & maintained schools more similar

Distributing money to schools • Maximise pupil weighting • Reduce formula factors (37 to 10) • Notional SEN budgets retained

Notional SEN allocation • Funds first £ 6, 000 of a statement • Can use proxy indicators to determine allocation but not an audit

Issue Should schools be required to pay the first £ 6, 000 of the cost of a statement for a deaf pupil?

High Needs Block Is it a High Needs block or a High Needs and low incidence needs block?

High Needs Block A commissioning budget for: • Pupils out of school • 0 – 25 years with SEN and or a disability with high levels of need

HNB pays for: • Specialist SEN support services • Additional support in mainstream EY settings, schools, FE (but schools and FE pay first £ 6, 000) • Top up for resourced provision in mainstream and special school provision

HNB pays for: • SEN Transport • Personal SEN budget / direct payments Educational psychologist? ? Statutory assessment teams? ?

SEN Direct Payments Pilots to test direct payments for: - SEN provision set out in part 3 of a Statement and Learning Disability Assessment - Transport provision

Specialist provision • Currently funded by the number of purchased places whether occupied or not • Proposal to reduce place funded element to £ 10, 000 per place plus top up based on the number of actual pupils on roll

NMSS Non maintained special schools will receive directly from the government £ 10, 000 per place and LAs will pay the top up fee from the HNB

HNB issues • A LA commissioning budget not a provider budget? • How are demographic pressures funded? • Should schools partly fund support services?

HNB issues • Scope and implications of personalised budgets / direct payments? • Who pays for specialist support in FE in the future? • How is the HNB for each LA to be calculated?

HNB issues • Scope and implications of personalised budgets / direct payments • How is the HNB for each LA to be calculated

HNB issues • Relationship with the local offer (and national funding for some pre 16 and most post 16 low level learning difficulties) • Viability of specialist provision for pupils with sensory impairment

Pre-16 SEN and AP Mainstream settings Element 1: Core education funding Contribution of £ 6, 000 to additional support required by a pupil with high needs, from the notional SEN budget Element 3: Top-up funding Mainstream per-pupil funding (AWPU) Element 2: Additional support funding • Specialist settings Base funding of £ 10, 000 for SEN equivalent to the level up to which a mainstream provider would have contributed to the additional support provision of a high needs pupil. Base funding is provided on the basis of planned places. Post-16 SEN and LDD All settings Mainstream per-student funding (as calculated by the national 16 -19 funding system) Contribution of £ 6, 000 to additional support required by a student with high needs “Top-up” funding from the commissioner to meet the needs of each pupil or student placed in the institution This diagram appeared as Figure 1 (p. 43) of School funding reform: Next steps towards a fairer system. 47

FUNDING FLOW - MAINSTREAM EFA Maintaining local authority Schools Block Early Years Block High Needs Block Element 1 Element 2 Element 3 Mainstream maintained school Local authority Schools Block Element 1 Element 2 Early Years Block High Needs Block Element 3 Mainstream Academy In the example of the maintained school above, the maintaining local authority is also the commissioning local authority. The funding for elements 1 and 2 received by mainstream maintained schools and Academies would include separate allocations for pre-16 pupils and post-16 pupils. For maintained schools, these would be passported through the maintaining local authority. For Academies, this would be received direct from the EFA – there is a 48 misprint in the document and we apologise for any confusion (p. 82). Top-up funding above this level would be provided from the commissioning local authority, using their High Needs Block.

FUNDING FLOW - MAINSTREAM EFA Maintaining local authority Schools Block Early Years Block High Needs Block Element 1 Element 2 Element 3 Mainstream maintained school Local authority Schools Block Element 1 Element 2 Early Years Block High Needs Block Element 3 Mainstream Academy In the example of the maintained school above, the maintaining local authority is also the commissioning local authority. The funding for elements 1 and 2 received by mainstream maintained schools and Academies would include separate allocations for pre-16 pupils and post-16 pupils. For maintained schools, these would be passported through the maintaining local authority. For Academies, this would be received direct from the EFA – there is a 49 misprint in the document and we apologise for any confusion (p. 82). Top-up funding above this level would be provided from the commissioning local authority, using their High Needs Block.

Academy Specialist Provision and FE including ISPs EFA Commissioning local authority Schools Block Element 1 Early Years Block Element 2 High Needs Block Element 3 Special Academy / Free School / FE /FE ISP

Responses Nat. SIP’s and NDCS’s responses to the Df. E proposals: www. natsip. org. uk http: //www. ndcs. org. uk/professional_supp ort/our_responses_to_consultations/ndcs _responses_eng. html

Questions? Brian. Gale@ndcs. org. uk