Purpose

West Sussex County Council is required, under
national funding regulations, to consult schools and the Schools
Forum on proposed changes to funding arrangements affecting school
budgets. A consultation was launched in the autumn to seek views on
the proposed changes to funding arrangements for 2024/25, further
detail of the outcome of this is set out in section 4 of the
report.
 
Feedback from schools and Schools Forum has
been taken into account in the development of the local funding
formula for mainstream schools in 2024/25. 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 local
funding formula for mainstream schools as set out in section two of
the report and to approve the proposals in paragraphs 2.23 and 2.24
to:
 

(1)Adopt the National
Funding Formula rates in full, with the exception of the basic
entitlement rates which will increase to £3,557 for primary,
£5,014 for key stage 3 and £5,651 for key stage 4.
 

(2)Set the Minimum
Funding Guarantee level at 0.5% to ensure that all mainstream
schools benefit by this increase in
their pupil-led funding.