Agenda item

1010

Gillian McKee, Finance Business Partner, to present school balances as at end of March 2014.

Gillian McKee, Finance Business Partner, attended to present information on school balances as at end of March 2014 commenting that the Council was clear that money provided is money for the current cohort of children. Balances had not moved significantly and schools would be invited to discuss where necessary. It was possible to claw money back but that discussion was needed before any action was considered. Referring to the significant financial reforms in the last two years and that a new funding formula was expected she added that last year discussions had been held with the Schools Forum about how to use the DSG unspent balance. Gillian McKee highlighted paragraph 21 onward of the report noting that work in the past looking at whether there were links between unspent school balances and attainment had found no link. The significant number of academy conversions made it difficult to draw statistically significant conclusions.

During questions the following points were made:

(1)            Councillor Howson referred to information he had following a question at Cabinet that showed that 32 of the primary schools had a revenue balance over 8% for 4 years or more and that 52% of schools had this balance for 3 years. He did not support its conversion into capital receipt except in exceptional circumstances. He questioned the data concerning the link between attainment and reserves and suggested that the link being measured was wrong. Instead we should be asking whether every child was able to make progress and if not why money was sitting in reserves. Gilliam McKee felt that this would be difficult but undertook to speak with Councillor Howson outside the meeting to discover what could be done to change the focus. She further agreed that the information be provided to all members of the Committee.

(2)            There was support for the points raised by Councillor Howson with support for the principle of today’s funding for today’s children. Councillor Waine referred to the reasons for surplus balances as set out in paragraph 12 and noted that these had remained the same for many years. He queried the robustness of the figures given the notional figure for academy schools and whether the formula met the needs of all the County’s schools, particularly the needs of challenging schools. He highlighted the difficulties of Bicester Community College. Gillian McKee provided information on the significant funding reforms in recent years and noted there had been a review of SEN funding.

(3)            It was noted that schools buying into the reading scheme have out performed on reading.

(4)            Responding to a question on academy balances Gillian McKee confirmed that when schools converted voluntarily they had the right to retain balances. When forced to convert any deficit remained with the local authority. Members expressed concern at the amount of money going out of oversight by the local authority.

(5)            Members were pleased to see that there would be a challenge to schools and queried how many would be involved and whether the claw back could be used to support schools. Gilliam McKee replied that the challenge would be during the Autumn and the outcome of those discussions would determine whether action was appropriate. Claw back had happened in the past but did not happen last year. Responding to further questions Gillian McKee indicated that in the past they had clawed back the interest eligible to schools and that this had been used to support the funding review and other projects. She outlined the rules for spending reserves and noted that generally spending on capital projects was not allowed. It was suggested that there was a suspicion that schools were stockpiling funds for capital projects and that it would be helpful if there was a proper allocation process for capital funding.

(6)            Referring to the discussions in the Autumn, Gillian McKee noted that  members had been involved in the past and she would discuss with the Director and cabinet member about what was sensible to ensure a robust challenge.

(7)            There was discussion of the particular difficulties for the Oxfordshire Hospital School where the fluctuation in numbers could cause problems. It was expected that the balance there would be spent.

(8)            In response to a question the Committee was advised that there was work ongoing around allocation to nursery schools but a number of factors were in play.

(9)            A member questioned what help schools with a minus balance received and was advised that the School Support Section would work closely with those schools.

In conclusion the Chairman stated that there was a clear feeling from the Committee that the money in reserves should be spent for the education of today’s children. Based on the discussion he proposed and it was AGREED:

(a)            to encourage Cabinet to support a robust approach to the discussions with schools with an eye to claw back with the outcome of the discussions to be reported to this Committee; and

(b)            to invite the new Commissioner for Schools to a future meeting to ask about academies in Oxfordshire.