Purpose

The council’s local funding formulae for
schools and early years must be revised annually after a
consultation period with all schools and the Schools Forum.
Following the consultation, this report will recommend the
principles to be used in 2026/27. The report will also discuss the
wider implications of Dedicated Schools Grant funding including
those relating to Special Educational Needs and Disabilities
(SEND).

Content

RESOLVED:
 

That Cabinet notes and supports the
application to the Secretary of State to transfer 1% of
schools’ block funding to support high needs Special
Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) costs, as set out in the
council’s Safety Valve agreement with the Department for
Education (DfE)
That Cabinet agrees the general
principles for schools funding in 2026/27 recommended by the
Schools Forum at its meeting on 6 October 2025,
That Cabinet agrees to continue to
make additional funding available to a small minority of primary
schools with disproportionately high incidence of SEND, as agreed
by the Schools Forum
That Cabinet agrees to continue
additional funding to primary schools with temporary falls in roll,
as agreed by the Schools Forum
That Cabinet agrees the principles
of Surrey’s early years funding formula for 2026/27
That Cabinet delegates authority to
the Director of Education and Lifelong Learning in consultation
with the Executive Director of Children, Families and Lifelong
Learning and the Cabinet Member for Children, Families and Lifelong
Learning to approve amendments to the funding rates in the schools
funding formula and early years funding formula as appropriate,
following receipt of the DSG settlement and DfE pupil data in
December 2025 and taking into account relevant early years census
data. This is to ensure that total allocations to schools under
these formulae remain affordable within the council’s DSG
settlement and to meet the mid-January statutory deadline for
submission of school budgets to the DFE and the late February
deadline for publishing early years provider funding rates.

 
Reasons for
Decisions:
 
To comply with DfE regulations requiring
formal council approval of the local funding formula for
Surrey’s primary and secondary schools and to allow budgets
for schools to be submitted to the DfE by the anticipated deadline
of 22 January 2026 and funding rates for early years providers to
be set by the anticipated deadline of late February 2026.
 
(The decisions on
this item can be called-in by the
Children, Families, Lifelong Learning & Culture Select
Committee)