Decision

1.   
That the continued application of the National Funding Formula
(NFF) in the development of the Council’s mainstream schools
funding and the following steps to address the affordability gap
when adopting the NFF for mainstream schools for 2025/26 before the
application of the Schools block transfer to the High Needs Block
be approved as follows:
 

·      
To reduce the Schools Growth/Falling Roll funding budget within the
Schools block from £1.784m (funded by Central Government
through a formulaic allocation using prior school level growth
data) to £0.983m, and the remaining amount of £0.810m
to support the adoption of the NFF.

·      
Age Weighted Pupil Unit (AWPU) funding being -0.361% below the
Government 2025/26 NFF values when adopting the NFF for
2025/26.
 
Lincolnshire Schools’ Forum approved the c.0.5% Schools
block transfer to the High Needs block in 2025/26 following a
consultation with mainstream schools. Approval for the
£2.812m transfer to be funded through a further downward
adjustment of -1.403% of the Key Stage Age Weighted Pupil Unit
(AWPU) values resulting in an overall downward adjustment of
-1.764% below the Government 2025/26 NFF values when adopting the
NFF for 2025/26.
 

2.     
That the following NFF arrangements for 2025/26 be
approved:
 

·      
Minimum Funding Guarantee (MFG): to set the MFG at
the higher range of +0.0% to ensure no schools would see a
reduction in its pupil funding value.

·      
Primary Rent Factor: to continue adopting the
Primary Rent Factor in the NFF for 2025/26 to ensure equality and
fairness in funding across all schools.

·      
Notion SEN budget: in response to DfE guidance, the
Council has updated the notional SEN percentages assigned to each
formula factor in the NFF to ensure they better reflect lower-level
SEN correlation, and Lincolnshire’s total notional SEN
allocation is more aligned to the DfE’s determined cost of
SEN support, having deducted £6,000 per pupil with an
Education Health and Care (EHC) Plan.