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Developing Local Partnerships 2011-13 and beyond

HCC together with Schools Forum has agreed to fund the transition from Extended Schools consortia to district*or area based service delivery partnerships (DP/area). The purpose of the partnerships is to ensure that a mechanism exists to promote a local network of universal/preventative services and the devolution of resources to schools and/or groups of schools. It is envisaged that all areas of Hertfordshire will have developed models of local service delivery partnerships working by 2013 and that the models and options shown below facilitate the move to this new way of working.

Funding

For 2011 and beyond the funding for ExtendedSchools and Extended Opportunities which amounts to £6.413m has been ‘mainstreamed’. This means the grants have been added to school’s budget share for individual schools to decide how to spend them. They are not identifiable in school budget share, they are not ring-fenced for specific work. It is up to schools to prioritise with the resources available. It is however expected that schools will offer some form of extended services, particularly to their vulnerable families.

For 2011 – 13 a small amount of funding has been held back centrally to allow for the transition from the Extended Schools agenda to working in Local Partnerships and shaping local services for young people and their families. This amounts to £1.924m of which £1.740m is to fund support workers in schools.

For 2011 – 13 the Local Authority has also delegated £0.5m of its own funding to support the transition from the Extended Schools agenda to working in Local Partnerships and shaping local services for young people and their families.

Extended Services

The central funding for 2011 – 13 will enable local groups of schools to work together in partnerships and maintain some elements of the work currently delivered by Children and Young People Support Workers and Parent Support Workers.

Schools will also need to decide whether to invest any of the money now in their budgets (through the mainstreaming of grants) into developing their partnerships and services still further. Schools now have (83.6%) of this funding in their 2011/12 budget to decide on the priorities.

Sustainability

By 2013 the centrally held funding is also likely to be delegated to schools and by this point Local Partnerships should be sufficiently well-established to decide how to best to bring together individual school resources to maintain and enhance the services developed during 2011 – 13. If support workers and other services that have developed between 2011 – 13 are to continue then effective partnership working and the pooling of resources will be essential to the continued success of these services.

Start up funding for development

The available funding has been modelled on the following costs:

  • LSDP Development Officer (£552,000). See appendix for model job description.

Full Time H9/M1 / £46,000 + 20% / 10 posts
  • Admin Support (£132,000)

Term time only, 25 hours p/w, H2 / £11,000 + 20% / 10 posts

This funding is based on the allocation of a fixed sum of £10,000 per district, with the bulk of the funding split 50/50 between pupil numbers and FSM.-

Funding will be allocated to districts or significant subgroups within a district.

The funding will be paid to a lead school(s) for a district or more local group as determined locally through an SLA with the LA.

It will be up to the schools in each DP or area to decide how to best use these resources based on the requirements and outcomes shown:

  • To deliver a range of services eg family support, sports partnerships, special provision for children with SEND (DSPL), to remove barriers to learning through the development of effective partnership(s)at a district or local level.
  • Provide for the deployment and day to day management of a team of School Family Workers (SFWs)
  • Facilitate the development of a social enterprise or similar entity to ensure the sustainability of any partnership working that is developed
  • To seek sources of revenue and grant funding.
  • To develop links with the voluntary sector
  • To support the development of community services
  • To develop links with other statutory bodies eg. Children’s Centres, Police, Health, District and Borough Councils
  • To monitor outcomes and effectiveness of Integrated Targeted Services (ITS) in meeting local needs as set out in the ITS service specification
  • To prepare and support schools in the actual commissioning of targeted services in the future.

To achieve this there are a number of options that can be chosen based on where schools in a district are at present with their approach to partnership working.

Option 1

Schools in a district/borough have set up or set up their own ‘Management Board’* and through a lead school are given the full amount funding to directly deliver the above.

Option 2

Schools in a district/borough have set up or set up a ‘Management Board’*with a lead school and agree to deploy the staffing to deliver the above but commission the LA to employ the staff.

Option 3

In a District where the majority of schools elect to collaborate at an arealevel rather than a district level,each areasets up a management board, and agrees to deliver the above outcomes/requirements on either an option 1 or option 2 basis.

Option 4

If the majority of schools in a DP/areaare not ready to form a partnership from September 2011, the Strategy Manager (local partnerships and extended services) would work with schools in the area, deploying the allocated resources appropriate to their local circumstances with the aim of exploring whether or not it is possible to establish such a partnership in the transitional period.

Funding for School Family Workers (SFWs)

  • School Family Worker(£1,740,000)

Term Time + 3 weeks, 30 hours p/w, H6 / £19,200 + 20% / 75.4 posts
Term Time + 3 weeks 37 hours p/w, H6 / £26,292 + 20% / 55 posts
Full time, H5/H6 / £29,184 + 20% / 49.6 posts

The funding will be allocated to each District or area (sub district) as determined locally, using a formula that reflects pupil numbers and those in receipt of FSMs. It will be up to the schools in each District Council/LSDP area to decide how to best use these resources to employ a team of SFWs to deliver the requirements shown in the job description.

To achieve this there are a number of options that can be chosen based on where a District/area is at present with its approach to partnership working.

Option 1

Schools in a district/area have set up or set up their own ‘Management Board’ and are given the full amount of funding to employ manage and deliver the SFW Service.

Option 2

Schools in a DP/area have set up or set up a ‘Management Board’ and agrees to deploy the staffing to deliver the SFW service but asks the LA to employ and manage the staff.

Option 3

If schools in a DP/ area are not ready to work in partnership, the Strategy Manager (LPs/extended services) as the budget holder will commission ITS to provide the service for the two year transitional period on behalf of those schools.

* A district is a district or borough council area. Hertfordshire has 10 districts/boroughs

** A ‘Management Board’ is a small group of headteachers who agree to work together with the support of their colleagues to develop and deliver local services.