The Redbridge Schools Forum was scheduled to meet to discuss school funding, budget monitoring, and financial support for schools. They were also due to discuss updates to the early years single funding formula, the scheme for financing schools, and growth and falling rolls funding.

High Needs Block Funding

The Schools Forum was scheduled to discuss the High Needs Block (HNB) which provides funding for children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND). The forum was to review the HNB budget for 2025-26, and the month 7 outturn forecast.

The forum was to note that Redbridge continues to face increasing financial pressures within the HNB, with a projected in-year deficit of £8.953m for 2025/26, which will add to the existing cumulative deficit of £0.747m, resulting in an anticipated total cumulative HNB deficit of £9.795m by the end of 2025/26.

The forum was to hear that 35% of children and young people with an education, health and care plan (EHCP) in Redbridge attend in-borough mainstream primary schools, with high needs funding support for this cohort averaging £9,745 per pupil, with provision currently in place for 1,309 pupils.

The forum was also scheduled to hear about additional support for inclusivity:

• £1.625m of additional notional SEN funding has been distributed to schools where the number of pupils with an EHCP exceeds 3% of the total roll.
• £0.300m had been held centrally as a contingency for Early Years transition funding, to support reception-aged children with identified SEN but without an EHCP as they enter primary school, and that £0.346m funding has now been allocated to individual school budgets.

School Funding and Grants

The Schools Forum was scheduled to receive an overview of revenue grants (non-Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG)) for the financial year 2025-2026. These grants are received by the local authority and then passed to schools based on Department for Education (DfE) allocations/notifications.

The grants scheduled for discussion included:

• Pupil Premium Grant (PPG)
• PE and Sports Premium for primary schools
• Universal Infant Free School Meals
• Mayor's Universal Free School Meals
• School Budget Support Grant (SBSG)
• National Insurance Contributions Grant
• Core School Budget Grant
• Sixth Form Funding
• 16 to 19 Teachers Pension Scheme Employer Contribution
• 16 to 19 Bursary Fund
• Post 16 National Insurance Contributions Grant

The forum was to hear that the PPG allocation for 2025-2026 is £12.943m. This grant is for pupils in Key Stage 1 (KS1) to Key Stage 4 (KS4), including reception classes, with the aim of raising the attainment of disadvantaged pupils and supporting children and young people with parents in the regular armed forces.

The forum was also scheduled to discuss the Mayor of London's Universal Free School Meal grant, which has continued in the academic year 2025-2026 and will continue to be £3 per meal.

Dedicated Schools Grant Monitoring

The Schools Forum was scheduled to discuss the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) financial position as at Quarter 2 (September 2025) of the local authority financial year 2025-2026.

The DSG is forecasting an overspend of £8.597m on a total budget of £330.879m after deductions for academies recoupment for the financial year 2025-2026.

This is broken down into four blocks:

• Schools Block: £213.764m (forecast overspend of £1.902m)
• Central Schools Service Block: £3.753m (forecast balanced position)
• High Needs Block: £65.177m (forecast overspend of £6.695m)
• Early Years Block: £48.185m (forecast balanced position)

The forum was to hear that the Schools Block is forecasting an in-year balanced position whilst also using some brought forward reserves of £1.902m. The High Needs Block is forecasting an overspend of £6.695m for the financial year 2025/26, based upon an increase in the number of Education, Health Care Plans (EHCP's) which are exceeding local capacity, and an increase in placement costs due to increased resource and complexity.

Maintained Schools Budget Monitoring

The Schools Forum was scheduled to receive the initial findings of the Quarter 2 Budget Monitoring Returns received from schools.

As of 4 November 2025, completed returns had been received from all but 6 maintained schools. The submissions break down as follows:

• Primary: 39
• Secondary: 8
• Special: 3
• All-through: 1
• Pupil Referral Unit: 2
• Total: 53

The Quarter 2 returns show a forecast reduction in revenue reserves across the maintained schools of £6.053m, or 34%. The total value of the forecast deficit at 31 March 2026 across the six schools expecting to hold negative reserves is £1.997m.

Support for Schools in Financial Difficulty

The Schools Forum was scheduled to discuss the support the council intends to offer schools in deficit and in financial difficulties.

The Schools Finance Team have reviewed and identified those schools that need financial support and a recovery plan, to see if it is Suitable, Feasible and Achievable (SFA). Primary schools and special schools whose surpluses are at 4% or less of their total revenue for 2024-25, and secondary schools surpluses are at 3% or less, will be RAG rated¹.

The council will then arrange to meet these schools and discuss their financial problems, their mitigation plan (recovery plan) and discuss the DfE support.

The schools that are in a known deficit position would be encouraged to take up the free DfE offer of a Schools Resource Management Advisor (SRMA) as a priority, which the local authority can arrange.

School Leases Update

The Schools Forum was scheduled to receive an update on school leases, providing a background on the change in process for lease arrangements and reporting within schools and the process that this entails.

Under International Financial Reporting Standard 16 (IFRS16), which came into effect for UK maintained schools on 1 April 2024, all leases previously classified as either an operating lease or a finance lease, are now treated as borrowing for accounting purposes.

To comply with IFRS 16, maintained schools and academies should:

• Identify all lease agreements and conduct a full inventory of existing leases, including those embedded in service contracts.
• Assess lease classification to determine which leases fall under IFRS 16.
• Check for general consent as some leases such as those for IT hardware, catering equipment or furniture are pre-approved by the Department for Education and don't require individual consent.
• Determine lease liabilities and right-of-use assets by calculating the present value of future lease payments and the corresponding right-of-use asset value.
• Update financial systems and policies to ensure that your accounting software and internal controls can handle IFRS 16 requirements.
• IFRS 16 requires detailed disclosures in financial statements. Keep thorough documentation of lease terms, assumptions, and calculations.

Early Years Block Update

The Schools Forum was scheduled to receive an update on the timeline for 2026/27 Early Years Single Funding Formula (EYSFF) rates, and the proposed rationale of the 2024/25 Early Years underspend.

The DfE are expected to publish the Early Years National Funding Formula (EYNFF) allocations in December 2025, and there are no proposed changes to the local authority's EYSFF for 2026/27.

A forecast underspend in the DSG Early Years Block was reported to Schools Forum in March 2025, and in June 2025 Schools Forum approved a rationale for distribution should an underspend be available after the DfE mid-year adjustment due in July 2025.

Since the Schools Forum in June 2025, the DfE have provided further guidance on the move to a termly Early Years census from summer term 2026 (currently this is an annual census conducted in spring term). Due to these changes, the distribution of underspend to early years settings will be delayed to ensure there is sufficient contingency funding should the new census collection method result in an overspend.

Scheme for Financing Schools

The Schools Forum was scheduled to receive details of the updates that the Department for Education (DfE) has made to the Scheme for Financing Maintained Schools for the financial year 2025/26.

There are no new directed revisions in issue 16 of the statutory guidance and the following updates have been made by the DfE to reflect current policy positions and changes in legislation:

• The issue number of the statutory guidance has been updated from 'issue 15' to 'issue 16'.
• Addition of an extra item where a schools budget share may be charged: the cost of an undisputed invoice for energy where a school has entered into an agreement with the Secretary of State for the supply of energy and failed to pay such an invoice (Regulation 23 of the regulations).

Growth and Falling Rolls Funding

The Schools Forum was scheduled to receive an update on the proposed allocation of Growth and Falling Rolls Funding for the 2025-26 financial year.

In January 2025, the School's Forum agreed that a budget for Growth and Falling Rolls Fund of £0.368m, from the 2025-26 DSG allocation, with the remainder of Growth and Falling rolls expenditure in line with Growth and Falling Rolls criteria to be met from the DSG reserve.

The forum was to hear that there are significant challenges across London where falling birth rates and family migration from the city, have led to a significant decrease in demand for school places, and that local planning data shows that the trend for pupil places over the next three to five years is down.

The forum was to note that according to the agreed criteria no schools are eligible for additional funding.

Cash Advancements and Deficit Management

The Schools Forum was scheduled to receive information on the council's provision of cash advancements to schools and the expectations around deficit management in maintained schools.

The council has historically provided short term repayable cash advances to maintained schools that hold their own bank accounts where they have experienced short term temporary cashflow issues.

Going forward, the council will only provide a cash advance where a school can demonstrate that it can be repaid on a short time frame and if this can't be assured, then the school will be identified as a school in need of financial support and a financial recovery plan.

If deficits are incurred in a school's budget, the full amount of that deficit will be carried forward to the next financial year and set against the budget for that year. Schools must submit a recovery plan to the local authority when their budget goes into deficit at 31 March of any year.