WBC Bursar Briefings November 2015
Thursday 12th November, Council Chamber, Shute End
Chair: Donna Munday Minutes: Liz Goddard
Action1 / Welcome and introductions – Donna
Introduced Rob Stubbs, Head of Finance
2 / Indicative Budgets – Rob Stubbs
Introduce by presenting WBC position
Net expenditure – after fees and charges
Looking for increase from Council Tax, but govt cap increase (a referendum would need to be held in order to increase further)
Austerity savings – so far £30m (include significant reduction in management structure)
Looking for ~£8m savings pa
Nov 25th – Government spending review, will give better idea of where pressure will be
Some govt depts. already offered savings (incl funding to local govt)
Effect on Schools
DSG currently £124m – if that stays at same level , there will be a lot of issues to deal with (pay awards, NI changes etc)
SBMs, HTs etc – there will be more frequent meetings with WBC to share info and advice
3 / Donna Munday
Funding Update - See presentation
Indicatives only – not final, subject to change pending government announcement due November 25th
Dec 14th – get indicative DSG only (not EYs, HiNeeds, PPremium etc) – final not until July
Jan 20th – submission due to DfE from WBC
Jan 31st – WBC will send Final budget to schools
May 1st – FINAL budget plans from schools to WBC (ie date brought forward 4 weeks). Gives more time to offer support if there are budget problems
NB only 5 year old to 16 year old education is protected by MFG (ie not EYs, not post 16)
MFG – see slide
There were more factors we could use for funding purposes in 2012/13 but with the introduction of National Funding Formula, these were greatly reduced
MFG is transitional protection
MFG protects up to -1.5% reduction in funding (AVERAGE per pupil rate) – factors taken into account are factors listed on presentation – totalled and divided by number of pupils gives average rate per pupil. The CHANGE in this rate year on year is what is protected. It smooths out reduction, doesn’t eliminate reduction.
So, MORE PUPILS = MORE FUNDING
BUT, be aware - if school has MFG in budget and then has increase in pupil numbers, first effect will be to REDUCE MFG, before school gets increase due to higher pupil numbers.
Q – Colleton – where does MFG come from?
A – MFG is paid for out of total schools block budget. As less is distributed via MFG, more is available for distribution via formula funding.
Q – would AWPU be higher without MFG?
A – yes but need method to protect schools
Q – how long will MFG last
A – unknown. EFA decision, not local. EFA also determine the rate (currently -1.5%)
Q – please send out MFG calculations to each school
A – will do, but NB – MFG is calculated on the census pertinent to the year being compared, not latest census.
MFG Rates – see presentation slide
Shows impact of change, and how rates have levelled off between types of schools. Going forward we aim to continue to increase the funding rate, although this won’t necessarily be felt due to ever increasing costs.
Budget Timetable
WBC are issuing indicatives and finals early to help, and asking schools to send in budget plans early.
Future presentations
Will have more frequent briefings
Please advise what areas you would like help / presentations to cover
Q Westende – issues with budget pressure on staffing. How can WBC help?
A – we have School Improvement Officers who can advise re structure of schools and HR (Nicky Barlow and Ceri Stewart) can advise now to contractually manage that restructure
Q – are schools expected to fund staff restructures?
A – yes, (just like WBC have to fund own restructure)
Only exception – if school has deficit budget, LA can help with restructure costs, otherwise not.
Last year’s budget for that help was £37k, unknown what next budget will be, ie LA don’t have the funds to help
Q – Hawthorns – what is obligation on LA to provide HR advice – seems to be lacking sometimes and school just gets referred back to their provider
A – LA have obligation to advise, and offer Traded Service to cover this. If schools choose another HR provider, then WBC have to refer school to outside provider.
Rob Stubbs – need to have discussion on best way we can offer service to schools.
Q – View on academisation?
DM - What would you see as advantages of Academies? - AWPU increase and costs decrease
A – not correct. Formula to calculate funding, uses SAME rates as LA schools,
Q - topslice?
A – affects academies same as maintained. The only topslice is £600k to contribute to growth fund. This is taken before funding to schools
Free Schools /Academies / LA schools – all same formula
DFE have said no financial gain or loss of academisation, but £25k grant to set up. If academies can decrease costs, will benefit, but DO NOT get any more funding
NB, maintained schools have access to advice and support of LA. LA can agree licensed deficit, academies cannot have licensed deficit. Government can decide to withdraw funding – ie shut school
BUT- a “coasting” school can be forced into academisation (details of “coasting” are on website - complicated)
Discussion of timetable
Q – when will other funding streams be confirmed?
A – PP and Early Years based on January census, but FINAL Early Years budget issued March
Q – so be difficult to submit final budgets by May 1st
Q – Easter holidays, year end etc will make it very difficult. Will need to move governor meetings etc. Possible working in Easter holidays, cost implications etc
A – aim was to give more time for helping schools. Will have good idea by year end of spending.
Discussion ensued …
Q – is UIFSM based on Jan census?
A - based on average of Oct and Jan, except for reception where highest number is used. / -
DM
SBMs
4 / SFVS update – see presentation
Will be January 2016 training on this
Deadline 31 March 2016 for submission
2 additional questions introduced
1st new question re performance related pay
A – yes / in part / no
If in part or no – must add in section E must give details on how going to implement change
2nd new question re pref indep advice on HT pay
Q – does School Improvement Officer advice count as independent prof advice?
A – Yes
Q – can we offer to pay high performing teachers when we can afford it?
A – will check with legal department
New template is on the website
SFVS – who is responsible for completion?
A – the governors’ responsibility, as it is their self-assessment
Can be completed at any point in the year, but must be submitted by 31-March-2016
Graham Ebers (WBC section 151 officer) has to confirm that SFVS received from all LA schools / DM
5 / Selima Update – Adam Jones
· Brief introduction to his role – about improving processes
· Tammy to stay as main contact, but looking into training a team dedicated to Wokingham to improve efficiency
· GL cost codings – apologies for inconvenience
· October – worked closely with Dawn, and feel rectified what went wrong.
· Accept September was wrong time to make changes, and apologise, working hard to improve going forward
· Payroll User Group
Tammy working on leaver report – will advise on any staff with period of inactivity and ask schools to confirm if leavers
Pension analysis - discussed issues. Agreed to deal directly with pension company, do an audit of all staff ion pension schemes
Issues with pension starters and leaver forms. Selima to invest in pension admin staff to assist Tammy
Training workshop – will give FOC training on system. AJ will advise and confirm dates
NI update – cancelling of contracted out rebate from April 2016. Quick calcs on Oct figures, overall cost to WBC ~£15k. Can calculate per school if required. (SBMs would like this).
New tax year thresholds are not yet known, but can estimate based on current year.
Q – date for resolution for outstanding September queries
A – thought all issues sorted , so please forward outstanding queries
Q – how easy is it for Selima to report on staff deductions at source etc?
A – should be a standard report that Selima can send out / AJ
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