The Northumberland County Council Schools' Forum met virtually on 1 October 2025 to discuss school funding and related matters. The forum approved the revised Scheme for Financing Maintained Schools and noted updates on free school meal uptake and the national funding formula. They also reviewed the Schools' Forum membership and work programme.

Scheme for Financing Maintained Schools

The Schools Forum approved the revised Scheme for Financing Maintained Schools for the period commencing 1 September 2025. The scheme outlines the financial framework between Northumberland County Council and its maintained schools, detailing the responsibilities of both the council and the schools in managing school funding. It covers various aspects of financial management, including:

• Financial Controls: Schools must adhere to high standards of financial control and monitoring, with documented procedures compliant with the council's Financial Regulations for Schools.
• Budgeting and Accounting: Schools must submit budget plans and financial forecasts to the council, following prescribed formats and accounting policies.
• Resource Management: Schools are expected to seek effective resource management and value for money in their spending.
• Audit: The council's internal audit has the right to inspect school records, and schools must respond to audit reports.
• Business Interests: Schools must maintain a register of business interests for governing body members and the headteacher.
• Purchasing and Tendering: Schools must follow the council's regulations for purchasing, tendering, and contracting.
• Surplus and Deficit Balances: The scheme outlines the rules for carrying forward surplus and deficit balances, with restrictions on excessive surplus balances.
• Income: Schools can retain income from lettings, fees, fundraising, and asset sales, but it must be used for school purposes.
• Charging of School Budget Shares: The council may charge school budget shares in certain circumstances, such as for costs incurred in securing the termination of employment contracts or for failure to comply with health and safety requirements.
• Taxation: Schools must comply with VAT and Construction Industry Taxation Scheme (CIS) regulations.
• Community Powers Facility: The scheme includes provisions for schools exercising their powers to provide community facilities[^2], including consultation with the council and financial management requirements. [^2]: Community Power Facilities are powers given to schools that allow them to provide community facilities or services.

National Funding Formula and School Funding Update

The Schools Forum received an update on the implementation of the National Funding Formula (NFF) and information published by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) regarding school funding for 2025/26.

The key points from the update were:

• The Department for Education (DfE) intends to move to a Direct Formula, with full implementation expected by the 2027/28 funding year.
• Northumberland mirrors the NFF, as all formula factors are within 2.5% of the NFF.
• There is no confirmed total core Schools Budget levels for 2026/27, but the figure for 2025/26 was £63.9 billion.
• The Schools Budget Support Grant (SBSG) and the National Insurance contributions (NICs) grant will be rolled into the NFF for 2026/27, following a similar approach to previous grants.
• No information has been published regarding the High Needs Block[^3], Central Schools Services Block or Early Years Block for 2026/27. [^3]: The High Needs Block is a specific part of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) used to fund education for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).

The DfE is expected to publish NFF allocations and operational guidance in autumn 2025, with Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) allocations based on the October 2025 school census in December.

The forum was also provided with the DfE's Schools National Funding Formula (NFF) Summary Policy Document for 2026 to 2027, which outlined key elements of the schools NFF, including the factors used and how they operate.

The NFF for 2026 to 2027 will use the same factors as the 2025 to 2026 NFF:

• Basic entitlement: Funding for every pupil, with different values for primary, key stage 3, and key stage 4 pupils.
• Additional needs funding: Funding for pupils with additional needs, measured by deprivation, low prior attainment, English as an additional language, and mobility.
• School-led funding factors: Lump sum, sparsity factor[^4], and premises-related costs. [^4]: Sparsity funding is allocated to schools where pupils would have to travel a significant distance to their next nearest school.
• Area cost adjustment: An uplift to allocations for some local authorities to reflect variations in labour market costs.
• Funding protections: Minimum per pupil levels and a funding floor to protect schools from sudden drops in funding.

The NFF policy document stated that:

In June 2025, the government announced that, starting from September 2026, free school meals (FSM) will be extended to all children in households receiving Universal Credit. For 2026 to 2027, we are not proposing any changes to the schools NFF to allocate funding for this expansion of FSM. Instead, the funding needed for the FSM expansion will be provided through a separate grant. Further details on how this grant will be calculated will be published separately in due course.

Free School Meals Take Up Campaign

The Schools Forum received an update on the Free School Meals (FSM) Take Up Campaign and its potential impact on schools in Northumberland. The report highlighted the benefits of registering students for FSM, including access to a nutritious midday meal for pupils and additional Pupil Premium funding for schools.

An initial campaign in Summer 2024 resulted in 246 new eligible claimants ahead of the October 2024 school census. A subsequent campaign in 2025 identified 549 potentially eligible students, with 380 confirmed as eligible after verification.

Of the 380 students identified as eligible:

• 249 were subsequently processed as being eligible for FSM as a direct result of the exercise
• 93 made claims themselves after receiving the initial letter indicating potential eligibility
• 10 students had claims made on their behalf after the May 2025 school census data.

The report estimated that the 352 successful claims would result in additional funding of £1,075,360 per year for Northumberland schools once the full financial benefits are achieved in the 2027/28 financial year.

The report recommended that a FSM enrolment campaign should be repeated each summer as a priority for all departments with any involvement, until a FSM Auto-enrolment campaign is in place at a national level.

Work Programme and Meeting Dates

The Schools Forum reviewed the 2025/26 work programme and meeting dates, which include:

• 12 November 2025: National Funding Formula Update & Consultation for 2026/27, SEN Update
• 21 January 2026: Setting the DSG for 2026/27 – overall allocations, De-delegation decisions for 2026/27
• 25 February 2026: Setting the DSG budget for 2026/27 – individual budgets
• 15 July 2026: DSG Provisional Outturn, Scheme for Financing Schools, Analysis of School Balances

Other Matters

The Schools Forum also:

• Noted a membership update, including the resignation of B. Mansfield, Newbrough CE Primary School Governor Representative, and welcomed new member R. Cant, representing the Church of England Diocese.
• Approved the minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 16th July 2025.
• Received a verbal update on the Public Accounts Committee report - Solving the SEND Crisis.