2012 SEN Funding Update

An unofficial guide for Norfolk governorsat NGN / GS conference 12 May 2012

By Alex Robinson, Governor, Millfield Primary SchoolNote: this presentation is not official guidance from Norfolk Children’s Services or

Norfolk Governors’ Network. It has been prepared and used to help inform governors in a number of clusters. Use the information at your own risk.

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The story so far…• SEN funding is being cut by £1.9m in 2012-13…• …but direct funding to schools is not being cut.• SEN support roles such as Educational Psychology,

Learning Support, Case Workers and Parent Partnership are being reduced.

• Pupil specific funding (PSF) of £16.3 million is being delegated to Clusters over 6 years.

• Schools do not control PSF today, it is allocated by LA to fund statements of SEN with 20 hours or more TA support.

• Norfolk has a higher level of statements than many other authorities.

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The formula

• The delegated SEN pupil specific funding is allocated according to a formula:– 2% area held contingency (held by LA)– 15% fixed sum per school regardless of size– 83% on a per pupil basis.

• Formula includes a fixed sum per school and a per pupil element. This is helpful for clusters with a lot of small schools.

• It is unlikely that the formula result will exactly match the funding needs in any cluster.

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The transition• The transfer to the new system will take place over

several years. Schools keep the PSF allocation for the children already within their school.

• Funds will be released at the end of the primary phase and at the end of the secondary phase i.e. year 6 and year 11 or when a child leaves the school. Children moving from infant to junior will have their allocation transferred to the junior school, to ensure equal treatment with those attending primary schools.

• If a child leaves a cluster the funds will be released in that cluster. The receiving cluster will not get extra funds.

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Need identified

School Review LA Statutory AssessmentDocumentsPrepared

Statement Issued

Funds released

School Prepares

Needs

met

Before

AfterNeed identified

DocumentsPrepared

Statement IssuedSchool & Cluster Review LA Statutory Assessment

Funds released

School Prepares

NeedsMet

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Challenge & Opportunity

Challenges• Cluster governance• Allocation of funds• No opt-outs• Statutory accountability• Statement wording• Transfers• LA service loss• September 2012…

see notes page for more detail on this slide.

Opportunities• Earlier intervention• Economies of scale• Economies of skill• Fewer statements• OFSTED readiness• More flexibility• Local efficiency• The start of something…

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Don’t panic

• September 2012 is not as bad as it looks…• Only 25-30% increase in total Cluster budget…

…so cluster governance is manageable• Problem areas: year 7, year R, transfers• PSF remains the same for other years• Collaboration across clusters will help

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What do we need to do?

• Sort out September 2012 Year 7 and Year R funding

• Agree cluster governance approach, enough to make things work in 2012

• Agree collaboration approach• Agree how to share liability for shared staff• In the next 9 months: establish governance,

management and admin approach ready for 2013

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How to sort out September 2012• Add up how many Year 7 intake ‘20 hours plus’• Add up how many Year R intake ‘20 hours plus’• Add up estimated ‘transfers in’ and new statements at ‘20

hours plus’ – for a contingency fund• Look at cluster SEN budget allocation (when available!)• Subtract ‘20 hours plus’ and contingency totals from

budget• Review surplus/deficit remaining• Decide how to cover deficit with allocation of other funds

– other cluster money?– school specific fund pooling?– realignment of resources?– less contingency?

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What next?• Share information and calculate September 2012 situation.• Cluster SEND Toolkit (MI sheet 94/12) – start here and find

an approach that will work for us.• Cluster governance – use LA advice and develop your own

model, led by working group of Cluster leaders.• Develop and share the governance model for approval by

all participants.• Develop and share management and admin model – with 3

year financial projection.• Use LA advice to write a ‘collaboration agreement’ for all

schools to sign – to mitigate financial risks and liabilities • Book time to collaborate!

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Feedback

Prepared by: alexrobinson@btinternet.com

Any comments, suggestions and improvements gratefully received.

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