The Rotherham Schools Forum met to discuss school budgets, exclusions, part-time timetables, and Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs). The forum noted the latest Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) funding for schools in the 2025/26 financial year, as well as the proposed funding framework and structure for local funding formulas for 2026/27. Members also reviewed reports on exclusions and suspensions, part-time timetables, and EHCPs.

Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) and School Budget Update

The Schools Forum reviewed the latest Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) funding for schools for the 2025/26 financial year. Louise Keith, Principal Finance Officer, and Joshua Amahwe, Head of Finance, presented the report. The latest confirmed DSG funding allocation for Rotherham is £121.076 million, which includes £28.744 million in Schools Block funding for local authority maintained schools.

The report highlighted a reduction of £840,000 in the Schools Block due to the academisation of a maintained primary school¹. There was also an increase of £185,000 in the Early Years Block, and a £120,000 increase in the High Needs Block.

The forum also discussed centrally retained DSG budgets, which cover school expenditures managed by the council. A cost pressure of £3.083 million is forecast for the High Needs block, mainly related to Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) provision and support. The report noted that the Safety Valve Programme, including the SEND Sufficiency Strategy, is the framework for managing demand challenges and cost pressures in the high needs block.

An overall deficit is anticipated in the DSG reserves (£3.6 million) in 2025/26, compared to a balanced position assumed in the signed Safety Valve Agreement. The government has extended the current statutory deficit protections for another two years to 31 March 2028, providing flexibility for the council to carry forward the deficit.

The forum also received an update on delegated school budgets. The July forecast positions indicate a decrease in surplus balances of £1.167 million compared to the 2024/25 final outturn position, which the report said could be attributed to increased financial pressures faced by schools. Three schools are operating under a licensed deficit for 2025/26, with two receiving funding through the Schools in Financial Difficulty (SIFD) fund.

School Budget Planning and Funding 2026-27

The Schools Forum also discussed school budget planning and funding arrangements for 2026/27. Louise Keith, Principal Finance Officer, and Joshua Amahwe, Head of Finance, presented a report outlining the proposed funding framework and structure of Rotherham's local funding formulae for 2026/27.

The updated Schools National Funding Formula (NFF) summary policy document for 2026/27 was published by the Department for Education (DfE) on 4 August 2025. The budget for maintained schools in 2026/27 will consist of core school funding via the National Funding Formula (NFF), Pupil Premium Grant (PPG) funding, and other grant funding.

The 2026/27 schools NFF will use the same funding factors as the current year, including basic entitlement, additional needs factors, and school-led factors. The NFF will continue to provide funding protections to guarantee a minimum amount of funding for every pupil.

The Schools Budget Support Grant (SBSG) and National Insurance Contributions (NICs) grant will be rolled into the notional NFF for 2026/27.

Local authorities will continue to be responsible for maintaining the local funding formulae for mainstream schools in their area for 2026/27. Rotherham's local funding formula is deemed to be 'mirroring' the NFF, as most of the funding factor values are either aligned to NFF values or within 2.5% of the NFF values.

Local authorities can transfer up to 0.5% of their schools block to other blocks of the DSG, with schools forum approval, without submitting a disapplication request².

Exclusion and Suspensions Annual Report

The Schools Forum received a report on exclusions and suspensions for the academic year 2024-2025. Kelly Robinson, Strategic Lead for Inclusion and Alternative Provision, presented the report.

There were 84 permanent exclusions in Rotherham schools in 2024-25, compared with 93 in 2023-24, representing a 10.6% decrease. Nationally, there was a 16% increase in permanent exclusions from 2022-23 to 2023-24. Rotherham's permanent exclusions to conclusion in 2023-24 represented an increase of 22% from 2022-23.

Nationally, there was a 21% increase in suspensions from 2022/23 to 2023/24. Rotherham suspensions showed a 7% increase from 2022/23.

The report noted that 56.4% of all exclusions in 2024-25 were a result of persistent disruption. 73% of pupils excluded were males and 27% females. 58.3% of permanent exclusions in 2024-25 were for pupils in Key Stage 3³. 68% of pupils excluded had a SEND need identified, with 59% of these being pupils recorded as SEN Support. 76% of permanently excluded pupils were eligible for Free School Meals (FSM).

Suspensions have increased across all school phases since 2020/2021, with this rise continuing in 2024-2025, albeit at a slower rate. 63% of pupils suspended were male and 37% female. 57% of pupils suspended were also eligible for FSM. 60% of pupils suspended had SEND needs identified.

Kelly Robinson, Strategic Lead for Inclusion and Alternative Provision, outlined key actions including sending out exclusions data across all phases to allow for local comparison and benchmarking, and the launch of updated monthly online inclusion events.

Part Time Timetables Annual Report

The Schools Forum received a report on part-time timetables for the academic year 2024-2025. Kelly Robinson, Strategic Lead for Inclusion and Alternative Provision, presented the report.

Schools shared 144 reports for pupils supported by part-time timetables in 2024-25. The vast majority of part-time timetables are put in place to support Emotionally Based School Avoidance (EBSA). 53% of part-time timetables are agreed to support pupils in primary schools and 47% for secondary-aged pupils. 57% of pupils with part-time timetables in place are male, and 45% are also supported by an EHCP. The most common number of hours a pupil attends school is 16 hours.

Kelly Robinson, Strategic Lead for Inclusion and Alternative Provision, outlined key actions including a reminder to all settings of the online reporting pathway for part-time timetable reporting, and best practice part-time timetable use and models of reintegration sharing.

Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) Annual Update

The Schools Forum received an annual update on Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs). Cary-Anne Sykes, Head of Service (SEND), presented the report.

Over the past two years, the number of EHCPs has shown a consistent upward trend, reaching 3,909 as of October 2023.

The report included a breakdown of EHCP placements by school types and provision categories, comparing Rotherham's data with regional and national figures.

The report noted that the number of requests progressing to assessment has steadily increased year-on-year, rising from 372 in 2020 to 735 in 2024. Decisions not to assess have also increased, from 154 in 2020 to 306 in 2024.

The report also included data on the quality of new EHCP referrals and their outcomes at panel, focusing on the use of the Graduated Response approach and involvement of Specialist Teams.

The report outlined key performance indicators across the EHCP process, including the annual review process, decision-making timeliness, and phase transfer compliance.