Purpose

Proposed decision
–
 
That the Cabinet Member for
Education and Skills:
 
(a) 
Approve a policy change to the funding arrangements
for the following services, that from 1 April 2026 these shall be
provided from the maintained schools’ budgets in line with
the funding all schools receive under the National Funding Formula,
as is currently the case for Academies, and that the Council
shall cease to provide additional funding for these:
 

Statutory compliance
testing and surveys, including tree surveys;
Health and Safety
advice and training;
Employment tribunal
awards and associated legal costs;
Staff care
(occupational health advice); and
Administration of
teachers’ pensions.

 
(b) 
Delegate authority to the Corporate Director for
Children, Young People and Education, in consultation with the
Cabinet Member for Education and Skills, to (1) take the relevant
actions to progress the decision, including as necessary seeking
the agreement of the Schools Funding Forum to top-slicing or
alternative or revised proposals as required, and (2) in the event
it may become necessary, to then take all necessary steps to seek
formal determination by the Secretary of State.
 
(c) 
Delegate authority to the Corporate Director for
Children, Young People and Education to take all relevant actions
including but not limited to entering into relevant contracts or
other legal agreements as required, to implement the changes
required to give effect to this decision, including implementation
of the proposal where it is approved by the Secretary of State
provided that such determination aligns with the intended outcome
of the decision
 
 
Reason for the
decision
 
The national funding
arrangements for schools and local authorities have been shifting
over the years.  With the introduction
of the School Funding Reforms in 2013-14 Local Authorities were
directed to delegate a number of former centrally retained
Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) budgets to schools for the first
time.  At the time, a total of
£8.7m of DSG funding was delegated to schools from 1 April
2013 and at the same time, local Schools Funding Forums were given
the powers to de-delegate funding.  This
is where some of this funding is returned to the LA for certain
categories of spend where better efficiency could be achieved
through central delivery by the LA.
 
The Education Services Grant
(ESG) allocated to local authorities by the Government for the
provision of statutory services in relation to schools was
withdrawn in 2016/17.  The DfE
introduced a provision within the School Funding Regulations for
local authorities to agree a contribution from LA maintained
schools budget shares towards the cost of statutory services
(top-slice). This principle reflects the charge that most Multi
Academy Trusts (MATs) place on their schools for central
services.
 
With the introduction of the
National Funding Formula and the withdrawal of Department for
Education (DfE) funding to Local Authorities to support schools, we
have seen funding shifting from Local Authorities to schools to pay
for services.
 
The Council currently funds a
range of services which are provided to maintained
schools.  Following consultation with
maintained mainstream and special schools, and pupil referral units
(PRUs), a decision is needed as to whether the Council or
schools’ budgets will pay for certain services from
2026-27.  These are:
 

Statutory compliance
testing and surveys, including tree surveys;
Health and Safety
advice and training;
Employment tribunal
awards and associated legal costs;
Staff care
(occupational health advice); and
Administration of
teachers’ pensions.

 
The services in question
currently cost the Council £2.6m. 
The receiving maintained schools and PRUs already have funding to
deliver these within their delegated budgets, as per the National
Funding Formula.  The proposed decision
is for the Council to cease spending £2.6m of General fund
providing these services to maintained schools and PRUs, and for
the schools and PRU to meet the costs of these from their delegated
budgets.
 
This would deliver a
£2.6m saving to KCC without necessarily resulting in any
reduction of service, as the affected schools are in a position to
use their dedicated budgets to continue to secure the services
themselves.
 
Options (other
options considered but not proposed)

 
A review of the services
provided to schools by the Council considered, for each area of
service delivery, whether the service should “continue, stop,
reduce or change”.  
 
For change in 2026-27, the five
areas of service delivery set out above were identified, and have
been subject to consultation.  In
respect of four of these: statutory compliance, health and safety,
employment tribunals and administration of teacher pensions, the
Council has to discharge its statutory duties, and thus cannot stop
providing the services.  However,
finance regulations provide for the costs of these to be funded
through schools’ budgets (i.e. change).  The option to reduce support continues to exist,
but was not the preferred option. 
Continuing without change was not seen as a viable option, because
funding has moved from the Council to schools.  In respect of occupational health, the proposal is
to cease providing this support for free.  Schools are responsible for their
staff. 
 
How the proposed
decision supports the
Framing Kent's Future - Our
Council Strategy 2022-2026
 
Priority 1 of Framing
Kent’s Future sets out the Council’s commitment to
maintain KCC’s strategic role in supporting schools in Kent
to deliver accessible, high quality education provision for all
families.  It states the Council will
maintain improvement support services for all Kent schools,
including maintained schools and academies, to maintain
Kent’s high-quality education system.
The proposals seek to secure
the funding necessary to enable the Council to deliver this
commitment. 
 
How the proposed
decision supports Securing Kent’s Future 2022 -2026:
Securing Kent’s Future -
Budget Recovery Strategy.pdf
 
The Council has continued to
provide the above services at a cost of c£2.6m.  The proposals collectively, if agreed, would
result in schools meeting this cost.
 
 

Decision

As Cabinet Member for Education and Skills, I
agree to:
 
(a) 
Approve a policy change to the funding arrangements for the
following services, that from 1 April 2026 these shall be provided
from the maintained schools’ budgets in line with the funding
all schools receive under the National Funding Formula, as is
currently the case for Academies, and that the Council shall
cease to provide additional funding for these:

Statutory compliance testing and
surveys, including tree surveys;
Health and Safety advice and
training;
Employment tribunal awards and
associated legal costs;
Staff care (occupational health
advice); and
Administration of teachers’
pensions.

 
(b) 
Delegate authority to the Corporate Director for Children, Young
People and Education, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for
Education and Skills, to (1) take the relevant actions to progress
the decision, including as necessary seeking the agreement of the
Schools Funding Forum to top-slicing or alternative or revised
proposals as required, and (2) in the event it may become
necessary, to then take all necessary steps to seek formal
determination by the Secretary of State.

 
(c) 
Delegate authority to the Corporate Director for Children, Young
People and Education to take all relevant actions including but not
limited to entering into relevant contracts or other legal
agreements as required, to implement the changes required to give
effect to this decision, including implementation of the proposal
where it is approved by the Secretary of State provided that such
determination aligns with the intended outcome of the
decision.