Hampshire Schools Forum
Date / 25 January 2011Time / 9.30-12:30
Location / Westley Court, SparsholtCollege
Present: / Rob Thompson – Chair (SPHC), Phil Coverdale (HGA Spec), Sylvia Vine (HGA Sec), Peter Higgs (HGA NS & NC), Trudie Cawthra (PHC), Louise Fitzpatrick (PHC), Jilly Myers (PHC), Ian Waine (PHC), Val Morgan (PHC), Steve Shepherd (PHC), Sue Wilkes (EY), Jane Dyke (EY), Cara Parker (EY), Phil Johnson (SPHC), Matt Quinn (Diocesan), Phil Munday (SHC), David White (TLP), John Gawthorpe (TLP), Cllr Roy Perry, Cllr Peter Edgar, Roy Lee (HGA), James Duckham (HGA Sec), John Mason (HGA Sec), Robin Gray (HGA Sec), Richard Carlyle (SHC), Margaret Cooper (HGA Pri), Julie Taylor (Academy), Julie Turvey (SHC), Grahame Sammons (SHC), Chris Willsher(SHC), Ria Allan (SHC), Gren Earney (SHC), Amanda Rowley (SHC), Martina Humber (HGA Pri), Mike Salt (HGA Sec), Janet Roberts (Diocesan), Hedley Underwood (PHC)
Also present: / Sarah Pook, Felicity Roe, Thomas Whiffen,Gordon Shinn, Rebecca Baker,Andrew Minall, Chris Robinson,Katie Cunningham and for item four, Steve Hall from Property Business and Regulatory Services
Apologies: / Andrew Turk (HGA Pri), Tim Jackson (14-19 partnerships), John Coughlan, John Clarke, Steve Crocker,Carole Scott
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Action
1 / Welcome and apologiesRob Thompson opened the meeting and welcomed Louise Fitzpatrick from PHC. Apologies were given as above.
2 / Minutes of the last meeting
The minutes were agreed to be correct.
3 / Matters arising
There were no matters arising from the minutes.
4 / Energy saving and carbon tax issues
Steve Hall introduced his paper on energy saving and carbon tax issues, and outlined the following key points:
Smart meter installation
It is expected that this will be complete by February 2011. The smart sub-meter programme has experienced a delay, as only two of out of seven shortlisted contractors returned their tender.
Advanced boiler controls – Invest to save
Property Services have offered advanced boiler controls, that could lead to energy savings of 10-12% to schools, as identified in section 3 of the paper. The suppliers of the controls have agreed to apply a discount structure based on the numbers of units sold, which could reduce the cost of installation by up to 15% if sufficient schools join the installation programme. If the programme was done as a block contract most schools could be experiencing reduced energy costs from the start of the 2011/12 heating season at a total cost of £2.7m after the 15% discount.
Display energy certificates (DEC) and Air Conditioning Energy Inspections
Section 4 of the paper states that from 1 October 2008 all public buildings frequently used by members of the public were required to display operational energy consumption data known as the Display Energy Certificate.
Section 4.4 explains that all schools are now required, by the Energy Performance of Buildings (Certificates and Inspections) (England and Wales) Regulations 2007 SI2007/991, to have an inspection of their air conditioning systems. It is expected that the cost will be around £100 per installation and this needs to be completed within the 2011 calendar year.
Carbon tax implications for schools
The coalition government have announced a Carbon Reduction Commitment scheme, which will require local authorities to purchase carbon credits at £12 per tonne, as stated in section 5 of the paper. The cost for schools will be around £1m. Steve informed the group that schools will receive carbon expenditure information from PBRS, whichwill help them with planning to budget for these costs in2011/12.
A question was asked ofhow simply schools’carbon tax usage will be calculated. Steve replied that Property Business and Regulatory Services will look at schools utilities usage to estimate their expenditure and convert this into carbon tax. A further point was raised that the standing charge had not previously been stated. This charge was previously anticipated, however it is a relatively small charge in comparison to others.
There was a question around whether the £200 standing charge will be built into the costs for smart meters, and some concerns were raised about thepressure on schools as other utility bills remain. Steve responded that the costs will be built in, and that the scheme should help capture more reliable data and should improve matters.
Following the discussion, the recommendations in section 6 were agreed. It was also agreed that budget communications to schools will convey information about the proposals outlined in the paper.
5
5a
5b / Budget 2011-2014
Schools Budget 2010/11 and 2011/12 – 2012/13
Felicity provided a recap of the changes to the wider Children’s Services budget in the last year, starting from the Cabinet decisions made in July 2010, the subsequent restructure and the Government funding reductions announced in December 2010 but where the complexity meant that the impact was not fully apparent until January 2011. Felicity also referred to the following key points:
- There is a large gap in the Children’s Services budgets as a result of cuts that were more severe than anticipated, and this is partly attributed to Michael Gove’s pledge to protect schools budgets.
- £3.2m academy funding has been removed from the Children’s Services budget. The County Council has absorbed the pressure in the central budget until schools have decided whether to go academy.
- Local authority budgets have been top-sliced nationally for this. A paper was sent to the Leader in early January, and will be considered on Friday 28 January.
- The biggest four areas to be affected are the following:
- Services for Young Children – there will be an £8.5m reduction and children’s centres will be refocused on only targeting the most vulnerable children
- Integrated Youth Support Service – community youth provision will be commissioned to the voluntary sector, targeted youth work will remain but only for the most vulnerable young people, including care leavers, young offenders and homeless young people. Government plans for Information Advice and Guidance (IAG) are still unclear, but it is expected that there will be an all age careers service, and there may be a provision targeted at young people that schools can buy into
- Community use of schools – a question was asked around whether this is something that schools would like to take on, however, the Primary and Secondary Resources Groups and HGAhad felt that this should not go in the budget proposals to forum
- Home to school transport – all of the discretionary elements of the Home to School transport polity are to be removed, while maintaining the statutory provision
A question was raised around whether the numbers of children’s centres will be affected by the reduction. Felicity said that work on the re-organisation of children’s centres is still being done, but part of it could see some centres merged and operating in clusters. It has also been proposed that the 44 County Council managed centres would be moved to third parties, with the County Council retaining a strategic planning and quality assurance role for the service.
Further discussion took places around the changes to home to school transport provision. All areas will be looked at for potential savings, and non-statutory elements will be removed. There will be some cases where a charging mechanism will be introduced for 16-18 year olds, pupils receiving the Education Maintenance Allowance have been able to use this money to help towards their transport costs.
Felicity noted that it is important that schools are aware of the community impacts of these proposals.
It was recognised that the targeted youth service will have provision for statemented pupils. David White registered his dismay at the changes to youth services over the years, and felt that changing advice for year 11s would build problems for the future.
Richard Carlyle registered his unease with the community education funding being directed at alternative costs, and his apprehension that any increased responsibility and involvement of schools in community education will lead to greater carbon tax charges for schools. Felicity answered that whilst this was not an ideal situation, every effort was being made to ensure that the savings are achieved in a way that will ensure minimum impact for pupils.
Sarah gave a presentation on the schools budget, and outlined the headroom figures for 2010/11, 11/12 and 12/13. There is a total of £20.943m headroom for 2010/11, which comprises of £9.27m ongoing headroom and £11.673m one-off headroom. There is currently headroom, chiefly one-off, of £12.257m for 2011/12.
Sarah stressed that it would be advantageous not to use all ofthe headroom, as there are likely to be further complexities and pressures in 2012/13.
The Chair asked whether there were any further questions, and Steve Shepherd thanked Sarah for her presentation and supported the proposals in the way that they were put, with schools being in control of their own budgets. It was noted that Grahame Sammons, on behalf of secondary schools, would prefer to maintain flexibility in the headroom, and that the Secondary Heads Resources Group felt that funding advanced boiler controls is a good project to take forward, HSPN 2 cost reductions is also a good proposal and equal pay is a prudent way to take the headroom forward.
Presentations by groups represented on Forum and discussion
Hampshire Governors Association
Robin Gray spoke on behalf of the Hampshire Governors Association (HGA), who would have preferred a three year transition for the budget cuts on Community Education, but have accepted that this was not possible.
Advanced boiler controls – HGA had some reservations as to whether it was the correct time for this project.
Equal pay – HGA agree with this wholeheartedly, and also felt that money should be invested in Early Years, as the sooner issues are picked up in a child’s life, the less problems they will have later.
Local children’s partnerships – Robin recognised that some schools may be thinking about withdrawing from local partnerships, but the HGA felt that they are more important now than ever before, and would encourage others to continue their engagement.
Early Years Partnership
Sue Wilkes thanked the HGA for their support of Early Years. Any support to help with education in small settings is greatly appreciated.
Base level funding – a lot of staff are on minimum wage, which has increased, pushing costs up by around 8 pence per child per hour.
Teachers Liaison Panel
John Gawthorpe identified key points from the Teachers Liaison Panel (TLP) presentation, which were as follows:
- The public need to be aware that the cuts to funding and staffing will result in a loss, particularly to non-statutory services
- Schools need to be aware that if a number of schools decide to go for academy status, the ability of the local authority to support schools will diminish unless academies buy back into County Council services
- This may be the last schools forum that is able to take decisions, therefore John stressed the principle that schools should work collectively to support the schools where the burden of reduced funding has the greatest impact on pupils
Janet Roberts talked about the importance of church schools as a vital link for lots of issues, and said that they would like to continue to play an important roleas part of the community of schools.
Matt Quinn reiterated the importance of the role played by church schools, and spoke about the concerns the catholic diocese has around equal pay. Although the liability for catholic schools is less than it is formany other schools, they feel that an approach that offers the greatest flexibility in reducing the liability for all schools would be favourable.
Academy school representative
Julie Taylor spoke on behalf of HavantAcademy. They are conscious of the partnership role within the Hampshire and the wider community, and are interested in receiving details about any County Council services they can buy back into.
The elected member perspective
Councillor Perry apologised for arriving to the meeting late and introduced himself to the group. He said that he is in listening mode and asked that colleagues never hesitate to contact him or his colleagues if there are things that can be looked at another way. He gave thanks to Sarah and Felicity for their work. He stressed that Early Years is crucial, and it is important to get it right. Councillor Perry also said that we are going to have to make the best of the limited money available, and that the real job that he and all others have to do is to ensure the children of Hampshire receive the best service they can.
Rob thanked Councillor Perry and asked the group for any recommendations for one-off headroom.
A one-off payment for Early Years funding was suggested of £1m.and this was added to the budget proposals in the paper. The use of the one off funding now being: £2.7m – automatic boiler controls, £1.2m HPSN2, £1.0m Early years with the rest of the £12.257m being held against equal pay arrears. The budget proposals as in the paper and with these items was put to the vote. There were 32 votes in favour of this proposal, with none against or abstaining.
A further report on the best ways of distributing this would be brought, after consideration at the Early Years Partnership Advisory Group (PAG), to the March 2011 meeting.
A vote was taken on equal pay.(Item 5c – confidential) There were 32 votes in favour of the recommendations, with none against or abstaining.
Mainstreaming specific grants
Thomas outlined the key points from the mainstreaming grants paper, which updates the information given to schools forum in December 2010 and indicates the effect of a number of aspects of the 2011/12 funding settlement.
The money for One to One Tuition is in schools budgets but schools regain flexibility in the way it is spent. The recommendations in the paper were agreed by vote, with 32 voting in favour and none against or abstaining. / FR
CR/TBW
6 / Any other Business
Thomas advised that the following topics will be considered at the next schools forum – Early Years, HSPN2, central expenditure areas andper pupil premium.
The next meeting will be held on Wednesday 2 March 2011 from 9.30am to 12.30pm Ashburton Hall, Elizabeth II Court, The Castle, Winchester
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