Paul McCahill
Council: West Northamptonshire
Committees:
Activity Timeline
Meetings Attended Note this may include planned future meetings.
5 meetings
West Northamptonshire Schools Forum - Tuesday 7th July 2026 2.00 pm
West Northamptonshire Schools Forum - Tuesday, 19 May 2026 - 2.00 pm
West Northamptonshire Schools Forum - Tuesday 3rd February 2026 2.00 pm
The West Northamptonshire Schools Forum was scheduled to discuss the financial performance of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) for the 2025-26 academic year, alongside proposals for High Needs Budgets and Early Years Funding for 2026-27. The meeting also included updates on the SEND Sufficiency Strategy and the Council's School Organisation Plan.
West Northamptonshire Schools Forum - Monday 8th December 2025 2.00 pm
The West Northamptonshire Schools Forum met to discuss school and early years funding for the 2026-27 financial year, agreeing to increase the amount of funding passed directly to early years providers, and to continue transferring 0.5% of funding from the schools block to the high needs block. The forum also reviewed and approved the updated West Northamptonshire Council Section 19 Policy Statement, which outlines the council's duty to provide education for children unable to attend school. The Schools Forum also noted updates on the Schools White Paper, the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) monitoring for 2025-26, and high needs provision.
West Northamptonshire Schools Forum - Tuesday 14th October 2025 2.00 pm
The West Northamptonshire Schools Forum met to discuss Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) monitoring, school funding, and early years funding for the upcoming financial year. The forum endorsed consultation proposals for both schools and early years funding for 2026-27, with minor additions to include questions around falling rolls funds and deprivation rates. They also noted the forecast outturn position for the year ending 31 March 2026 and the forward plan, with additional items to be added around education white paper review, changes around requirements of the Education Act S19[^2], draft sufficiency strategy update, and forecasting numbers/place planning.
Decisions from Meetings
23 decisions · Page 4 of 5
Schools Funding 2026-27 - outcome of consultation and final proposals
From: West Northamptonshire Schools Forum - Monday 8th December 2025 2.00 pm - December 08, 2025
...the Schools Forum approved the continuation of a 0.5% transfer from the schools block to the high needs block, the balancing of individual school budget shares by capping per pupil increases if necessary, the inclusion of growth funding for new and expanding schools, the creation and funding of a falling rolls fund, proposed central school services block expenditure, the continuation of trade union facility time de-delegation at the current rate, and the continuation of the School Improvement Grant and redundancy fund at their current rates.
Recommendations Approved
Early Years Funding 2026-27 - outcome of consultation and final proposals
From: West Northamptonshire Schools Forum - Monday 8th December 2025 2.00 pm - December 08, 2025
The West Northamptonshire Schools Forum agreed to pass all the increase on 3&4 year old funding through the base rate for universal and extended hours. They also agreed to increase the pass through to providers to 97% of total budget for 3-and-4-year-old funding, and to continue to pass through 97% of the total budget for under 2’s and 2-year-old funding. The Schools Forum agreed to increase the existing SENIF hourly rate by £2.00, resulting in a new hourly rate of £12.00 for eligible providers.
Recommendations Approved
Declarations of Interest
From: West Northamptonshire Schools Forum - Tuesday 14th October 2025 2.00 pm - October 14, 2025
Recommendations Approved
Early Years Funding 2026-27 - Consultation proposals
From: West Northamptonshire Schools Forum - Tuesday 14th October 2025 2.00 pm - October 14, 2025
The West Northamptonshire Schools Forum approved proposals for the West Northants Early Years Budget Consultation 2026-27 on 14/10/2025. The forum endorsed the proposals subject to adding a question about a deprivation rate for all ages.
Recommendations approved
Minutes
From: West Northamptonshire Schools Forum - Tuesday 14th October 2025 2.00 pm - October 14, 2025
The West Northamptonshire Schools Forum decided that the minutes of the meeting of 1 July 2025 were agreed as an accurate record. The forum also approved the carry forward of two school balances above 10%.
Recommendations approved
Summary
Meetings Attended: 5
Average per Month: 0.5
Decisions Recorded: 23