The Bexley Schools Forum met to discuss school funding, special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) provision, and school place planning. The forum approved the growth fund budget for Birkbeck Primary School, recovery of overspend on maternity cover, de-delegation of maternity cover, de-delegation of free school meals (FSM) eligibility checking, the proposed early years funding formula, and a 0.5% transfer from the schools block to the high needs block. The Schools Forum also received updates on the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) outturn, the Safety Valve programme, and the scheme for financing schools.

High Needs Block Funding and Safety Valve Programme

The Schools Forum discussed the increasing expenditure and deficit within the high needs block, which supports children and young people with SEND. Officers reported that the latest forecast deficit was £7 million, representing a £4.5 million overspend, and that Bexley was no longer on track to deliver the deficit profile of the Safety Valve programme.

Several factors were contributing to the increased overspend, including:

• Increased demand for tuition services, personal budgets, and alternative provision
• Upward pressure on funding bands for mainstream provision
• Growth in the number of education, health and care plans (EHCPs)
• High costs of independent sector school placements

Officers outlined a number of mitigations being explored to manage the deficit, including increasing the number of learners supported by resourced provisions¹, ensuring NHS financial contributions, developing SEND integration within family hubs, and improving parental confidence in mainstream provision.

Councillor Caroline Newton, Cabinet Member for Education, and officers reassured the forum that the Department for Education (DfE) still had confidence in Bexley's process and intervention programme.

Councillor Steve Wheatley felt it was too early to stop the 0.5% transfer from the schools block to the high needs block, as provision in schools was positive in most areas. Councillor Karen Herbert raised concerns about schools needing the money now and questioned whether the impact of the programme was enough.

Despite these concerns, the Schools Forum approved a 0.5% transfer from the schools block to the high needs block for 2025/26. 11 members voted in favour, 2 against, and 1 abstained.

As a result of the pressures on the High Needs budget, the council is exploring new mitigations, including:

• Increasing the number of learners supported by resourced provisions
• Ensuring NHS financial contributions in appropriate cases
• Engagement with health and social care regarding early intervention models before EHCP application
• Development of SEND integration within Family Hubs
• Development of a tuition framework
• Development of an access to therapies framework
• Expansion of supported internships
• Improving parental confidence in mainstream provision

2024/25 Dedicated Schools Grant Outturn

The Schools Forum received a report on the 2024/25 Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) outturn², which showed a net adverse variance of £6.035 million compared to the planned deficit. The main contributor to this was variations in high needs expenditure, partially offset by an underspend on other funding blocks, mainly early years.

The report highlighted an overspend of £6.443 million on the high needs block, with increased expenditure on special school top-ups, mainstream provision, independent sector placements, and tuition and personal budgets. This was partially offset by underspends on further education and alternative provision.

The early years block saw an underspend of £0.415 million, due to adjustments made by the DfE following the January Early Years Census.

The report also noted that the number of children requiring specialist settings has outstripped the expansion of special school placements planned in the original Safety Valve proposal. As a result, it has been necessary to resort to placing children in independent sector placements.

The report warned that the emergence of a significant adverse variation in the accumulated deficit, compared to what was assumed in the Safety Valve agreement, is a cause for concern. It is anticipated that the accumulated deficit will reach around £24 million as of March 2026, a divergence of around £14.5 million from the Safety Valve assumption.

School Place Planning

The Schools Forum received an update on school place planning, which included details of the annual admission rounds and in-year applications.

Officers reported that Bexley is experiencing a period of demographic change, with a decrease in demand for school places. As a result, the council is planning to reduce mainstream school places by around 300 primary places and 190 secondary places over the next three years.

Officers also reported on the expansion of resourced provisions in mainstream schools, with an additional 67 new places across 6 new schools in phase 1, and another 76 expected places through a further 3 new provisions during the 2025/26 academic year.

Scheme for Financing Schools

The Schools Forum considered the 2025/26 Scheme for Financing Schools, which sets out the financial relationship between the local authority and the schools it maintains. The scheme is updated each year following guidance published by the DfE.

The 2025/26 scheme includes minor changes to reflect updated guidance and local circumstances. Maintained members agreed to adopt the updated scheme.

Matters Arising

The Schools Forum reviewed actions arising from the meeting held on 13 January 2025, including clarification on English as an additional language (EAL) support and provision of pupil roll and school capacity data.

Officers provided details of EAL support offered to Bexley schools, including EAL audits, conferences, and bespoke training. They also provided data on pupil roll and school capacity, including resourced provisions and special educational needs (SEN) units.