Purpose

In 2025/26, as in previous
years, West Sussex County Council is responsible for deciding local
funding formulae for mainstream schools in its area. The funding
levels that schools – both Local Authority (LA) maintained
schools and academies – receive will be determined by the
county’s local formula.
 
The County Council is required,
under national funding regulations, to consult schools and the
Schools Forum on proposed changes to funding arrangements affecting
school budgets, when setting its local formula each
year.
 
Since the county’s local
funding formula now uses the full National Funding Formula values,
no consultation document was sent out to mainstream schools for
2025/26, although Schools Forum were still consulted.
 
Feedback from Schools Forum has
been taken into account in the
development of the local funding formula for mainstream schools in
2025/26. Approval is now sought to progress the proposed changes to
the funding arrangements.

Decision

The Cabinet Member for Children and Young
People, Learning and Skills has agreed the approach to the 2025/26
local funding formula for mainstream schools as set out in section
two of the report and has approved the proposals in paragraphs 2.39
to 2.42 to:

(1) Adopt the National
Funding Formula rates in full,

(2) Set the Minimum
Funding Guarantee level at 0% (the maximum level allowed),

(3) Set the Notional
Special Educational Needs budget at £89.8m, and

(4) Set the
county’s growth fund budget at £1.870m.