The Gateshead Schools Forum met on 18 September 2025 to discuss school funding and related issues. The agenda included discussion of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) outturn, a summary of the Schools National Funding Formula, and a proposal regarding de-delegation of funding for a Social, Emotional and Mental Health (SEMH) intervention service. The forum was also expected to approve the minutes from their last meeting.

Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG)

The forum was scheduled to discuss the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) Outturn for 2024/25 and Quarter 1 Monitoring for 2025/26. The DSG is divided into four funding blocks:

• Early Years (EY) block
• Mainstream Schools block
• High Needs block (HNB)
• Central Services Schools block

The report pack indicated that the council-led DSG budget for 2024/25 was £122.701m, but the outturn was £125.905m, representing an overspend of £3.204m. A significant portion of this overspend was attributed to the High Needs Block, with overages in top-ups, support for inclusion, and alternative provision services.

The report pack also stated that the balance of the DSG reserve at 31 March 2024 was £2.719m, but factoring in the overspend and an Early Years clawback, the DSG reserve balance at 31 March 2025 was -£0.616m.

For 2025/26, the council-led DSG budget is £136.254m, but the forecast outturn as of 31 July 2025 was £138.976m, an overspend of £2.722m. The High Needs Block was expected to continue to be a primary area of overspending. The report pack stated that the projected DSG reserve balance at 31 March 2025 is forecast to be -£3.452m.

The report pack noted that Education Schools & Improvement Services have started to develop a High Needs Block Financial recovery plan.

Schools National Funding Formula (NFF)

The Schools Forum was scheduled to discuss the Department for Education (DfE) school funding policy for the financial year 2026/27. According to the report pack, the DfE published its Schools National Funding Formula (NFF) summary policy document for 2026/27 on 30 June 2025. The structure of the SB NFF will use the same factors as the 2025/26 NFF.

Points of note from the policy document included:

• Free School Meals (FSM) and Free School Meal Ever6 (FSM6): The FSM factor is intended to broadly cover the cost of a meal for eligible children, but will not cover the cost of the announced expansion of eligibility. FSM6 numbers will be based on the October 2024 census data and not reflect the FSM expansion.
• PFI Funding: The NFF PFI factor is used to distribute funding for PFI¹ from DfE to local authorities.
• Rolling in of Grants: The schools budget support grant (SBSG) and the National Insurance contributions (NICs) grant will be rolled into the NFF for 2026 to 2027.

The report pack stated that local factor values within 2.5% of the respective NFF values will be taken as 'mirroring' the NFF, and that the 2025/26 Gateshead funding formula did mirror the NFF, and this will be a continuing requirement.

De-Delegation HIMT SEMH Intervention Service

The forum was scheduled to receive an update on the HINT² SEMH³ HLTA⁴ intervention service, which is currently funded through de-delegation. The purpose of the discussion was to enable the Schools Forum to consider further de-delegation for the 2026-7 financial year.

The report pack stated that revenue funding arrangements for schools have changed, and it is no longer permissible for LAs⁵ to hold budgets centrally for the provision of some services to schools, but there are some areas that schools have the option for de-delegation.

The HINT SEMH service provides advice, guidance, support, and intervention to enable children and young people with social, emotional, and mental health needs to overcome barriers to learning. The team has specialisms in trauma, attachment, ADHD, resilience, and emotional wellbeing.

The report pack noted a significant increase in referrals to the HINT SEMH service in recent years. In 2024-25, 60 schools referred pupils for SEMH support, with 69% of referrals being for boys and 31% for girls.

The report pack included feedback from a survey of Gateshead Primary Schools regarding the HINT SEMH HLTA Intervention Service. The feedback highlighted the service's positive impact on pupils and staff, the positive relationships and flexibility of the HLTAs, and the collaborative approach of the service. However, some respondents noted that the service's effectiveness in supporting pupils with the highest levels of need was variable.

The report pack stated that the Local Authority has developed two new provisions for the 2025-26 academic year to undertake assessment and intervention of pupils with higher SEMH needs; Eslington ARO and ReSTART Primary@Brandling.

The report pack included several case studies to illustrate the work of the HINT SEMH service.