The Camden Council Schools Forum met on 2 December 2025 to discuss school funding for the 2026/27 academic year, receive updates on the High Needs Block ¹ (HNB) and school meals, and review the school placement strategy. The forum was also scheduled to elect a vice-chair and note updates to the Schools Forum membership list.

Election of Vice-Chair

The Schools Forum was scheduled to elect a Vice-Chair for the 2025-26 academic year.

School Funding 2026/27

The Schools Forum was to discuss school funding for the 2026/27 year. The report pack included estimated notional National Funding Formula² (NFF) budgets for individual schools, and sought agreement on the amount of Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) de-delegation for the coming year.

The report pack noted that there had been delays in confirming the notional NFF figures for the schools block due to a delay in the government's budget statement. The figures included in the report pack were therefore estimates based on cash uplifts to the NFF factors provided by the Department for Education (DfE) for 2025/26, but did not include a general inflation uplift rate for the 2026/27 schools block.

The report pack stated that final individual school budgets for 2026/27 would be released to schools pending an update of DfE data and its application to the local Camden schools' formula. The report also summarised forecasts for the 2025/26 High Needs DSG outturn, future budget requirements, and planned DSG spending.

The Schools Forum was asked to:

• Note the estimated NFF allocations to individual schools.
• Note the DfE's continued use of the Central Schools Block (CSSB).
• Approve the de-delegated budgets.
• Note the current forecast spending plans and funding for the high needs and early years blocks.
• Note the potential effects of future funding and cost pressures on schools budgets.

The report pack stated that the DfE intended to roll the following 2025/26 additional schools funding, currently allocated by separate grants, into the base DSG NFF budgets for 2026/27:

• Schools Budget Support Grant (SBSG)
• National Insurance Contributions Grant (NICs)

High Needs Block (HNB): Update on 2025/26

The Schools Forum was scheduled to receive an update on the High Needs Block (HNB) spend for 2025/26, reflecting Quarter 2 budget monitoring. The report pack stated that while the overall projection had improved slightly, there remained several unknowns requiring close monitoring. The report also updated on mitigation activity to control and reduce spending where possible, while meeting the needs of children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).

The Schools' Forum was asked to:

• Note the updated HNB projection for 2025/26.
• Note the update on the cost mitigation activity.

The report pack stated that the overspend resulted from the following key areas:

• Camden Schools
• Out of Borough placements
• Tuition
• Independent and non-maintained schools
• Post-16 college fees

2025 School Place Planning Report Update

The Schools Forum was scheduled to discuss the 2025 School Place Planning Report, which had been considered by the Children, Schools and Families Scrutiny Committee on 10 November 2025. The report provided an update on demographic trends in the borough.

The Schools Forum was asked to note the update report.

The report pack stated that there had been no significant changes in the data:

• There is still a declining intake across primary and secondary schools
• National and regional data trends remain the same
• There is an increase in Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) ³

School Meals Update

The Schools Forum was scheduled to receive an update on school meals provision in Camden. The report pack noted that the council had been exploring potential future options for school meals provision, including insourcing. However, having carefully considered the options, the council now expected to allow its current school meals contract with Caterlink to run its term.

The Schools Forum was asked to note the update contained in the report.

The report pack stated that Camden had a longstanding commitment to tackling food poverty and the cost-of-living crisis, as well as improving nutrition and food education. Over the past year, this had included:

• Supporting pupils across all age groups through the Camden School Breakfast programme
• Exploring the establishment of School of Food sites in at least two Camden primary schools
• Working to launch an auto-enrolment/opt-out process for accessing Free School Meals (FSM) during the 2025/26 academic year

Schools Forum Work Programme and Action Tracker

The Schools Forum was scheduled to review its work programme and action tracker for the 2025/26 school year. The work programme sets out the key reports that officers intend to submit to the Schools Forum during the year, while the action tracker provides an update on actions requested at previous meetings.

The Schools Forum was asked to note the Work Programme for 2025-26 and the Action Tracker.