Special Schools Budget Note 2021/22

Special Schools Budget Note 2021/22
These notes set out the basis on which your budget has been estimated for 2021/22.

Basic Entitlement
Places
The funding rate for each agreed place is set nationally by the DfE at £10,000 per
agreed place. Maintained schools will receive their place funding direct from the local
authority. Those maintained schools operating their own local bank account
arrangements (typically known as cheque book schools) will receive their place
funding in 13 instalments as per the present payment procedure. Academies and
free schools will receive their funding direct from the Education and Skills Funding
Agency (ESFA). Place funding for financial year 2021/22 is based on 5/12 of
commissioned places from September 2020 (including current additional places),
and 7/12 of commissioned places from September 2021.

Top- Ups
The process for assigning a funding band to each pupil has been agreed through the
Gloucestershire Association of Special School Headteachers (GASSH). The top-up
for each pupil on roll will be calculated on a daily basis and set out on a monthly
statement.

Minimum Funding Guarantee Budget
The Minimum Funding Guarantee (MFG) has been applied to ensure that no school
loses more than 0% per pupil.

For 2021/22 the calculation is based on the average pupil numbers for 20/21,
compared to the predicted 21/22 top up using February 2021 numbers as an
estimate.

Capping Gains
In line with Primary and Secondary schools, there is no capping in 2021/22.

Diseconomies of Scale
The Diseconomies of Scale (DoS) methodology has not been altered for 2021/22;
however the commissioned numbers used in the calculation have been updated to
reflect the September 2021 commissioned numbers.

Payment of Monthly Top- Ups
These top-ups will be based on actual occupancy of the agreed places and will be
calculated on a daily rate. Therefore if a band B pupil only stays at a school for 4
days during April, the school will receive ((£7,273/365)*4) = £79.70. Each school will
receive a monthly monitoring sheet via email showing the breakdown of the
payment.

Rates for 2021/22
2021/22 Standard Top-Up                               2021/22 Top-Up Rates for
         Rates                                             BESD Schools

Band A                   £1,939                      Band A                    £1,939
Band B                   £7,273                      Band B                    £7,273
Band C                  £12,121                      Band C                   £12,121
Band D                  £12,928                      Band D                   £12,928
Band E                  £22,625                      Band E                   £22,625
Residential                 N/A                      Residential              £39,057

Where a school admits above the agreed number of funded places then the
additional allocation will normally be the top-up only, in line with DfE expectations.
Top ups for Early Years pupil will be at 50% of the appropriate banding rate.
Diseconomies of scale rate for Early Years pupil will also be at 50% of the
appropriate rate.

There is no enhanced rate for Behavioural Emotional Social Difficulties (BESD)
Schools in 2021/22. (In 2020/21 this was also the case).

The Post 16 the top-up calculation is the same as for pre-16.

Top ups will be for Gloucestershire children only. For Looked After Children (LAC)
from other Local Authorities (LA) and for children from Wales the actual top-up
recouped from the other LA will be passed on.

New Banding Model
Our aspiration remains to move the mainstream and special school funding model to
a more sophisticated banded model. We will provide updates in relation to the
development and timescale of any revised funding model. For more information
please visit the Joint Additional and High Needs Transitional Programme website:
JHNTP

Pupil Premium
The government has announced that pupil premium and service
premium rates will remain unchanged for the financial year 2021 to
2022.

From April 2021, pupil premium allocations for mainstream and
special schools will be calculated based on the number of eligible
pupils recorded by schools in their census in October 2020.
Further details can be found at this link:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/pupil-premium/pupil-
premium
The Pupil Premium is additional funding allocated to schools depending on the
number of pupils eligible for Free School Meals (FSMs). The aim of this policy is to
improve the outcomes of these pupils. It is recognised nationally that children who
come from economically deprived backgrounds do less well academically than their
peers. The premium also includes funding to support Children in Care and also
children of service families.

Schools are held to account for the use of the funding and are required to detail how
the funding is used with a statement posted on their website. Governors are
expected to monitor the use of the additional funding and ensure that it is well
targeted.

The pupil premium rates for 2021/22 financial year are the same as 2020/21

         £1,345 for each eligible primary-aged pupil

         £955 for each eligible secondary-aged pupil

         £2,345 to support looked-after children

         £2,345 to children adopted from care under the Adoption and Children Act
          2002 and children who have left care under a Special Guardianship or
          Residence Order

         £310 for each eligible service child

The DfE has provided the number of pupils by school previously eligible for FSM, as
per past census data. This information is available on the key to success website:
https://www.keytosuccess.education.gov.uk.

This means that when added to the number of pupils eligible for FSM in October
2020 schools can estimate the pupil premium in 2021/22. The formula for
calculation is as follows:

Pupils on October 2020 who were Ever 6 FSM at autumn 2020 + October 2020
                                    FSM pupils

                                             -
                  Pupils who are both Oct 2020 FSM and EVER 6 FSM
                                             =
                              Pupil Premium pupil numbers
                                             x
                            £1,345 primary / £955 Secondary
                                             =
               Indicative Deprivation Pupil Premium allocation for 2021/22

The LA has not validated any of the pupil premium information. As the school census
is a statutory return, the guidance on free school meal eligibility therefore has legal
force. It is the individual responsibility of the school to ensure this had been adhered
to.

As the LA has no control over this funding and distributes the income we receive
from the DfE as per their allocation. Schools can access their own indicative
numbers on the DfE website (listed above) for use in planning.

Devolved Formula Capital

The devolved formula capital rates for 2021/22 financial year have not yet been
announced.

For more information please refer to the DfE capital allocations pages
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/capital-allocations

Other ESFA Grants

Teachers Pay and Pension Grant
The allocation will be exactly the same as 2020/21. This has been confirmed by the
DfE. For 2021/22 the grant is being paid additional to the Top Up and Place Funding
allocation.
Please find the link to the operational guide 2021/22; section 14 explains the grant
allocation for 2021/22:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/
attachment_data/file/961708/High_needs_funding_operational_guide_2021_to_
2022.pdf
(Text also copied below)

14. There will be an additional DSG condition of grant requiring local authorities to pass
on to special schools, special academies, pupil referral units, AP academies and
hospital schools amounts of funding per place no less than the amounts of TPG, TPECG
and supplementary fund paid in 2020 to 2021. The condition of grant will also require
that this additional high needs funding must not result in a reduction to the number of
places for which £10,000 per place is allocated to a school or to the top-up funding in
respect of individual pupils and must be disregarded in applying the protection for
special schools set out in Annex 1. We therefore expect this high needs funding to be
additional to any place funding or top-up funding and for it to be paid directly to all
maintained schools and academies, and to independent special schools, in line with the
arrangements for payment of the separate TPG, TPECG and pensions supplementary
fund allocations in 2020 to 2021. None of this funding will be recouped for payment by
the ESFA to academies. The ESFA will make the payments of this funding directly to
non-maintained special schools.

Universal Infant Free School Meals (UIFSM):
The grant for Universal Infant Free School Meals continues in academic year
2021/22. Further details will be available during summer term 2021.
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/local-authorities-pre-16-schools-funding#universal-
infant-free-school-meals-(uifsm)

Primary PE & Sports Premium Grant:
The Primary PE and Sport Premium grant continues in academic year 2021/22.
Please read important information regarding unspent PE and Sports Grant at the link
available: https://www.gov.uk/pe-and-sport-premium-for-primary-schools

Copyright Licences
Copyright Licences information for schools

Three Year Governors’ Budget Plan (maintained schools only)
With effect from 2021/22 each maintained school must submit a Governors’ Budget
Plan (GBP) to the LA showing its intentions for expenditure for the next three years
and the assumptions underpinning each year’s budget plan. The GBP template for
2021/22 onwards has therefore been redesigned to include the additional years
which schools must complete to fulfil this three year requirement. This must include
providing any additional information requests that may appear when completing the
GBP template such as reasons for large differences to the previous year. Schools
must also take full account of estimated deficits/surpluses at the previous year-end in
preparing their budget plan.
The format of the budget plan will take account of the Consistent Financial Reporting
Framework (CFR) and for year 1 this will be at a detailed CFR level. For years 2 & 3
we will not require the plan at such a detailed level as year 1, therefore, the format
will be at a summarised CFR level.
Schools that submit a Governors’ Budget Plan showing a deficit will also be required
to submit a recovery plan as part of the LA’s balance control mechanism. Where
necessary further revised plans may also be requested throughout the year where a
school is in deficit or at risk of going into deficit.

Three Year Governors Budget Plan and Recovery Plan Deadlines

Schools Financial Value Standard (SFVS) and Assurance
The SFVS helps schools to manage their finances and to provide assurance to the
local authority that they have secure financial management in place.
LA maintained schools are required to submit the SFVS annually to the authority.

More information can be found on the Schoolsnet page:
https://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/schoolsnet/school-office/schools-
finance/financial-returns/schools-financial-value-standard/#main

Useful Links
School and Academy Financial Management and Assurance:
Reporting for academies, maintained schools, and local authorities including school
procurement, risk protection arrangement (RPA), payments and compliance.
https://www.gov.uk/education/school-and-academy-financial-management-and-
assurance

Benchmarking:
Benchmarking allows you to check how your finances compare with other similar
schools or multi-academy trusts.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/schools-financial-efficiency-financial-benchmarking

Buying for Schools:
Department for Education advice on buying goods and services for your school.
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/buying-for-schools

Contact for Further Information

If you have any questions about the Budget Share for 2021/22, please contact
Strategic Finance on: schoolbudgets@gloucestershire.gov.uk