The meeting on 12 December 2024 was a meeting of the Lewisham Schools Forum. Several funding streams were due to be discussed during this meeting, including updates on the Dedicated Schools Grant, the Special Educational Needs Inclusion Fund and the High Needs Block. The meeting was also due to receive an update on the high needs budget following the Autumn Statement.

Dedicated Schools Grant

The Dedicated Schools Grant for the 2025/26 financial year was scheduled to be discussed following the release of the Autumn Statement. The forum was due to be asked to agree to a number of principles for allocating funding to schools, including:

• Continuation of the National Funding Formula for deploying the Schools Block grant.
• How much to keep in the Growth Fund Budget to fund bulge classes, with any money left over also being kept in the Growth Fund.
• Confirmation that de-delegation would continue as it did previously, adjusted for inflation.
• How to apply the Minimum Funding Guarantee (MFG), with the forum being asked to choose from a range of options between 0% and -0.5%.¹

Streamlining of Grants

The forum was to be told that the Department for Education advised that several grants, including the Teachers' Pay Additional Grant (TPAG), the Teachers’ Pension Employer Contribution Grant (TPECG) and the core schools budget grant (CSBG), would be added to the main schools budget rather than being allocated separately.

“Total core school funding is increasing by £2.3 billion in 2025 to 2026, meaning that this funding will total almost £63.9 billion. This includes funding through the schools NFF, high needs funding, CSSB of the DSG, and pupil premium.” ²

The report makes clear that the headlines about increased school funding are subject to change and may not represent an increase in funding in real terms. It also notes that schools judged as requiring improvement and those subject to PFI schemes will be subject to separate discussions.

Special Educational Needs Inclusion Fund

The forum was scheduled to be asked to consider adopting a new, banded approach to allocating funding from the SENIF from September 2024 onwards. The report, which describes the demand for SENIF funding as having “increased substantially”, proposes three bands for allocating funding to early years providers:

• Level 1: £1,000-£2,000 per child depending on the number of hours of early entitlement they receive.
• Level 2: £2,400 per child per year.
• Level 3: £4,000-£8,000 per child per year.

The report notes that this model would be more expensive than continuing to allocate the funding as it is currently allocated, but that it better reflects the levels of need amongst children accessing the funding. In order to cover these costs, the report proposes transferring £200,000 from the DSG high needs block in order to cover the costs of the Level 3 funding band.

“In order to ensure there is sufficient funding to meet these higher-level needs, DSG high needs block funding should be applied here, as the level of need sits outside of the core purpose of the SENIF. The high needs operational funding guidance allows for this prior to a young child having an EHC Plan in place.” ³

The report also notes that there was a previous meeting of the forum to discuss pressure on the inclusion fund in October 2023, when it was agreed that underspend in the Early Years funding block would be allocated to the inclusion fund.

High Needs Block Update

The forum was due to receive a verbal update on the High Needs Block, but a report was also included in the meeting pack.

Dedicated Schools Grant funding

The report notes that the Chancellor of the Exchequer had committed to increasing the high needs budget by £1 billion to £11.9 billion, representing a 9% cash increase. It also says that Lewisham Council estimates that this will result in an increase of £3 million, or 4%, in the amount allocated to Lewisham.

Delivering Better Value Programme

The report also notes that 40 schools have received support from the Delivering Better Value (DBV) programme.

“DBV SEND Advisors working with 40 primary and secondary schools via a case management system of supporting schools with their learners at SEN Support level. Impact is becoming visible, first green shoots.”

The report also notes that a conference for practitioners involved in the programme is planned.

SEND Place Planning

The report notes that Lewisham Council has been in discussions with several education providers, including Christ The King Sixth Form College, Lewisham College and Lewisham Southwark College about increasing the provision of education for SEND pupils in the borough. It also says that the council is attempting to identify a site for a new secondary special school for pupils with ASD and/or SEMH needs.