The Bexley Schools Forum convened to address financial challenges and strategic planning for the upcoming years. Discussions included a review of the high needs block budget, a request for a transfer of funds from the schools block, and an update on the Safety Valve programme¹. The forum also considered the preparation of central budgets for 2026/27.

High Needs Block Funding

The Schools Forum was asked to consider the medium-term financial profile of the high needs block and a request to transfer 0.5% of the schools block to the high needs block for the 2026/27 financial year. The report pack noted that a decision on the transfer needed to be made at the meeting, as the deadline for notifying the Department for Education (DfE) of any unresolved block transfer requests was 17 November.

The report pack included a review of expenditure assumptions for the final three years of the Safety Valve agreement, and noted that the accumulated deficit at the end of the programme could reach £78.905m. Factors contributing to this included:

• An increase in the number of independent sector placements.
• An increase in the average unit cost of Bexley top-ups² for mainstream and special schools.
• An increase in the numbers of pupils in out of borough maintained provision.
• Increased budget provision for tuition services and other alternative provision.

The report pack also included a table comparing the projected future deficits before and after mitigations, and a breakdown of the impact of mitigations up to March 2026. It stated that by the end of the Safety Valve programme, mitigations are projected to have had a benefit of £146.554m.

Safety Valve Programme Update

The Schools Forum was scheduled to receive an update on the Safety Valve programme. The report pack included a summary of progress since the last report, and the financial impact of Safety Valve interventions.

According to the report pack, 2,315 children had received one or more of the KS1 Talk Boost, ELSA and FRIENDS interventions³, and all schools have been offered multiple intervention opportunities. The new Shenstone School building opened in September, providing an additional 140 secondary school places for children with Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND). 32 learners moved from independent schools or out of borough special schools into local post-16 settings as part of a repatriation initiative.

The report pack also included information on the financial impact of interventions such as:

• Early Interventions KS1 Talk Boost, ELSA and FRIENDS
• Repatriation of learners from out of borough independent special settings at key points of transition
• Outreach Project
• Supported Internships
• Increasing the number of learners supported by Resourced Provisions
• Development of SEND integration within Family Hubs
• Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA) intervention
• Remote learning technologies to support young people absent from school

The Schools White Paper, which was due to set out the government's planned reforms to the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) system, was expected to be published in early 2026.

Central Budgets 2026/27

The Schools Forum was asked to approve the use of Central Schools Services Block funding and the historic commitment to support the local authority's continuing statutory duties and combined budgets supporting early intervention. Maintained sector representatives were asked to approve maintained school contributions of £26.62 per mainstream pupil and £131.35 per special school place to support statutory services specific to maintained schools.

The report pack included a table outlining the Central Schools Services Block funding for 2025-26 and the estimated funding for 2026-27. It also provided further information on expenditure allocations for areas such as:

• Education Welfare / System Leadership
• Schools Admissions
• Servicing of Schools Forum
• National purchase of copyright licences
• Strategic Education Partnership
• Transfer to High Needs
• Contribution to combined budgets – early intervention services

Matters Arising From The Minutes

The Schools Forum was scheduled to discuss matters arising from the minutes of the meeting held on 6 October 2025. These included:

• Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA) intervention: Members had requested more detail and data on EBSA interventions and outcomes.
• Independent placements: Members had requested a breakdown of independent sector data over the last 12 months, including costs and reasons for placements.
• School capacity data: The Chair had requested updated resourced provision data to show a clear figure across mainstream, resourced provision, special and independent, based on a set date.
• SEND funding: Members had requested clarity on SEN funding and how schools are involved in the SEN funding panel.
• Safety Valve financial impact: Members had requested more information on the financial impact of Safety Valve interventions.
• Free School Meals: Officers were scheduled to provide clarity on FSM funding for secondary special schools, following a query from Mr Neil Miller, Horizons Academy.
• Income from non-attendance fines: Members were interested to know how much this generates for the Council each year.
• School place planning: Officers were scheduled to communicate further updates on pupil admissions numbers (PAN) from September 2026 at future meetings.

The report pack included tables showing school place planning changes and census data.