The Cornwall Schools Forum met to discuss school funding and related issues. Items on the agenda included the pupil growth formula for 2026/27, the schools funding formula, and proposed dates for future meetings. The forum was also scheduled to receive verbal updates on membership and progress against the work plan.

School Funding Formula

The forum was scheduled to consider the authority's proposed schools funding formula for 2026/27. According to the report pack, local authorities have a statutory duty to submit a schools funding formula to the Department for Education (DfE) based on criteria set out in the National Funding Formula (NFF). The forum was asked to consider and vote on several recommendations relating to the school funding formula, including:

• Setting the minimum funding guarantee to a minimum of 0%.
• Options for capping school budgets.
• Continuing to mirror the National Funding Formula factor values, subject to any changes agreed.

The report pack stated that the schools block of Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) funding each year is based on the notional allocation due via the NFF, with overall per pupil funding adjusted to fit with the gains ceiling set by the DfE. It noted that Cornwall is likely to see an increase in the schools block funding of approximately 2.6%, which, based on a static roll, is estimated to be £11.7 million.

The forum was also scheduled to discuss central school services budgets, with a recommendation to delegate responsibility for reviewing these budgets to the Service Director for Education and Community Health, Eveleen Riordan, with the objective of ensuring that a balanced budget is set. Final budgets would then be presented to the schools forum as part of a future funding update.

For maintained schools, the forum was scheduled to vote on de-delegated budgets[^2], including:

• Continuing to pool funds to form a Staff Costs/Supply Cover Maternity Leave fund for primary schools, with a projected 2026/27 fund of £137,000.
• Continuing to pool funds to form a Trade Union Representation fund for primary schools, with a projected value of £29,000 for 2026/27.
• De-delegating resources to establish a fund for Schools in Financial Difficulty for 2026/27, with a projected value of £135,000 for primary schools.
• Continuing to de-delegate Free School Meals Eligibility assessments for 2026/27, with a projected fund value of £10,000 for both primary and secondary schools.
• Continuing to establish a fund to assist in covering in-year Schools Based Redundancy costs incurred by schools in 2026/27, applying to all maintained schools, with a projected fund value of £154,000.

Finally, the forum was scheduled to discuss delegating responsibility to senior officers and the Chair/Vice Chair of schools forum to resolve any issues presenting themselves when calculating the funding formula, excluding any decisions requiring a formal schools forum vote.

Pupil Growth Formula 2026/27

The forum was asked to consider information about the approach to dealing with the reduced budget to fund pupil growth and falling rolls for the current year and likely the next few years. This is due to commitments the Local Authority (LA) made to fund new and growing schools.

The forum was asked to consider two options:

• A) to reduce the number of schools who get growth funding, but ensure that the ones that do get funding get a significant amount in line with what they might have expected to receive previously, OR
• B) to reduce the amount each school gets, but ensure all schools who qualify for growth funding under the usual methodology get something.

The report pack stated that there are no school expansion schemes now, or on the horizon, that warrant any planned growth funding, and that all recent expansion works that triggered planned growth funding have been paid in previous financial years.

Other Business

The agenda also included:

• Apologies for absence.
• Declarations of interest.
• Approval of the minutes of the meeting held on 17 October 2025.
• A verbal update on membership.
• A verbal update on progress against the work plan.
• Proposed dates of future meetings.
• Any other business that the Chairman, Councillor Bill Marshall, considers to be of urgency.