The Schools Forum of Hammersmith and Fulham Council met on Tuesday 30 June 2026 to discuss the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) outturn for the 2025/26 financial year and review the forward plan for the upcoming academic year. The meeting also included the agreement of the minutes from the previous meeting.

Dedicated Schools Grant Outturn 2025/26

The report presented detailed the outturn position for the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) for the 2025/26 financial year, indicating a total in-year deficit of £5.220m. This deficit, when combined with a carry-forward deficit from prior years of £2.663m, resulted in a cumulative retained DSG deficit of £7.882m as of 31 March 2026. The report highlighted that the High Needs Block experienced a significant overspend of £5.787m after mitigations, driven by sustained demand, increasing complexity of needs, and inflationary cost impacts. The Early Years Block, however, showed an underspend of £0.567m.

The report also detailed the Schools Block expenditure, which included £36.486m for maintained primary budget shares and a £1.230m transfer to the High Needs block. Academy recoupment and non-domestic rates accounted for substantial deductions from the total Schools Block.

During the discussion of the previous meeting's minutes, which covered the Dedicated Schools Grant Monitoring Quarter 2 2025-26, there was a discussion regarding contingency payments to schools facing financial difficulties. Three schools had requested a total of £212,020 for redundancy costs as part of their stabilisation and deficit recovery plans, with the proposed support covering 47% of the requested amount. Concerns were raised by maintained primary representatives about fairness and the history of some schools receiving repeated funding without sufficient financial adjustments. Tony Burton, Head of Finance - People, explained the reasons for previous support, including school size reductions, and emphasised that the current funding was intended to support cost-reduction measures for a sustainable medium-term financial position. The report noted that the Maintained Primary representatives on the Schools Forum did not agree to the contingency payments, meaning the funding would be redistributed to maintained primary schools.

Schools Forum - Forward Plan 2026-27

The Schools Forum reviewed its forward plan for the 2026-27 academic year. This plan outlines scheduled discussions for upcoming meetings, including updates on the Schools National Funding Formula for 2026/27 and 2027/28, proposals for the 2027/28 budget consultation, and monitoring of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) for 2026/27. The plan also includes updates on the High Needs SEN Reform Plan and the review of the Scheme for Financing Schools and Financial Procedures. Future meetings are scheduled to address the 2027/28 Schools Budget, including hold for disapplications approval, and the draft Early Years Budget Model for consultation.