The Camden Council Schools Forum met to discuss the financial outturn for 2024/25, funding for 2025/26, and updates on the High Needs Block (HNB) and Robson House. The forum was also scheduled to review Camden's Local Inclusion Fund (CLIF) and the Schools Forum work programme.

High Needs Block (HNB)

The Schools Forum was scheduled to discuss the outturn position on the High Needs Block (HNB) spend for 2024/25, where spending was £4.88m over budget, and a projected budget for 2025/26.

The report noted that if the rate of increase of spending continued, it would likely consume the current HNB Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) Reserves of £5.2m by the end of 2025/26 and create a level of spend in excess of the government’s in year DSG grant allocation.

The report also suggested some mitigation strategies:

• Data analysis to identify specific areas for investment.
• A review of mainstream and Additionally Resourced Provision (ARP) banding levels and banding descriptors.
• Development of new service level agreements for ARP provision.
• Migration to Impulse Nexus.
• Review of Special Educational Needs (SEN) Panel and Exceptional Needs Grant (ENG) decision making processes.
• Work with Post 16 providers on admissions processes.
• Multi Agency Post 16 Workshop.
• Training for the SEN team on record keeping requirements.
• Improve annual review processes.

School Funding

The Schools Forum was scheduled to receive an update on school funding, including the financial outturn position for 2024/25 and the funding situation for 2025/26. Total government funding for 2024/25 from the DSG, pupil premium, 6th form and Teachers pay grants totalled £242.9m. Spending across the four DSG blocks, was a net £3.413m above the annual government funding.

The report outlined a range of current pressures resulting from the current national economic climate, conflicts, emergencies and ongoing “real terms” funding constraints including the most recent update on the National Funding formula (NFF).

The report explained current funding arrangements for the next few years from the planned transition to a “hard” National Funding Formula (NFF) which has now been delayed until April 2026 at the earliest. It also outlined the measures that the Council, in conjunction with Schools Forum, headteachers and Camden Learning have taken to support schools and to help schools to continue to adapt to potential reductions in real terms funding.

The report noted that individual school balances had decreased by £5.784m, resulting in a final total balance of £14.59m at the end of the financial year 2024/25.

Camden Local Inclusion Fund

The Schools Forum was scheduled to receive a report describing Camden’s Special Educational Needs Inclusion Fund, known locally as Camden Local Inclusion Fund (CLIF). The report set out the process of allocating funding to early education providers, the criteria against which awards of funding are made, the growth in demand and the breakdown of spend by provider type.

Local authorities are required to have a Local Inclusion Fund that supports providers to meet the needs of individual children with Special Educational Needs who are taking up the entitlements.

The number of children for which early education providers require support to enable them to access the curriculum has increased significantly in the last 10 years.

In Autumn 2024 a banding system was introduced for the allocation of CLIF funding. A summary of the banding criteria is shown in figure 4. The higher child / staff ratio in early years provision makes a direct comparison to funding provided to schools for older children, through the Exceptional Needs Grant, impossible.

Robson House

The Schools Forum was scheduled to receive an update on the Council’s funding arrangements discussion with Robson House.

Robson House is the base of Camden’s Primary Learning Support Service (PLSS). PLSS is made up of the Primary Pupil Referral Unit (PPRU), the Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) Outreach Team and the Camden Language and Communication Service (CLCS).

The report noted that Camden covered circa £340k+ overspend at Robson House in 2024/25 financial year and that the deficit position at the school is forecast by the school’s committee to increase in 2025/26.

The Council in collaboration with the Leadership team at Robson House have set up a project team with Abrilli Phillip - Interim Head of Education Transformation appointed as the Senior Responsible Officer (SRO) and Single Point of Contact (SPOC) to lead on the project which will review the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) provision at Robson House.

Schools Forum Work Programme and Action Tracker

The Schools Forum was scheduled to review the draft work plan for the 2025/26 school year and an update on actions requested at previous meetings.