Agenda item

To receive the Schools Funding Formula for Telford & Wrekin for 2025/26.

The Cabinet Member: Children, Young People, Education, Employment & Skills presented the report of the Director: Education & Skills.

A review of the local funding formula for mainstream schools in line with revisions from the Department for Education (DfE) took place annually in consultation with schools and the Schools Forum and applied to both academies and maintained schools as set out in the report.

Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) were allocated to local authorities by the DfE in four blocks which included Schools, High Needs, Early Years and Central School Services. In order to help with addressing high needs pressures, local authorities could transfer up to 0.5% of the schools block budget to high needs, which equated to £0.9m in 2025/26 for Telford and Wrekin. As the DfE classifies this as a transfer between DSG blocks, rather than a funding formula issue, this is a decision for the Schools Forum, rather than the Cabinet.

Funding for the School Block was calculated by multiplying the number of pupils at the preceding October census. The allocation for the 2025/26 year was set at £178m which was approximately £5m more than 2024/25.

The High Needs Block was calculated using a combination of historic allocations and the national funding formula. The allocation for 2025/26 was set at £39.6m which saw an increase of 8% compared to the allocation set for 2024/25. The Early Years Block was calculated by taking the average number of pupils in the two relevant January censuses and multiplying by a unit of funding. The allocation for 2025/26 was estimated as £26m despite challenges due to the extension of school funding provision.

The Central School Services Block was calculated through a mixture of historic expenditure levels and the number of pupils. The grant was introduced in 2018/19 to replace the abolished Education Services Grant. The allocation for 2025/26 was set at £1.2m.

Since 2020/21 the DfE had required local authorities to apply a national minimum funding per pupil amount to all schools. For 2025/26 this was set at £4,955 for primary schools and £6,465 for secondary schools. This funding would consequently boost the funding of schools with less deprived intakes, as these schools received relatively little from funding factors linked to deprivation and low prior attainment.

A further national minimum funding guarantee was to be expected, assuring a minimum increase per pupil compared to the previous year. For 2025/26, national regulations meant this must be set between -0.5% and 0%. The Council had proposed to adopt the highest possible level of 0%.

Cabinet Members welcomed the report and noted that the way in which the funding is calculated ensures that children and young people receive the maximum funding allowed and schools receive funding in a timely manner.

The Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group welcomed the increase in funding for children and young people in higher needs but noted the 2.23% increase in the school block was still below national inflation rates and highlighted the pressures it could impose on schools when balancing their budgets.

The Leader of the Conservative Group highlighted the challenges schools may face if required to find financial efficiencies and expressed concerns in relation to turnover of teaching staff. He asked Cabinet to clarify if the funding guarantee would be set at 0% or 0.5% and if delegated powers could be recovered if required in the future.

The Cabinet Member: Children, Young People, Education, Employment & Skills confirmed that the Council would be setting the minimum funding guarantee at 0% in line with national regulations.

The Director: Policy & Governance confirmed that delegated powers were not permanent and Cabinet would retain the power to make the decision if circumstances changed in the absence of the Director to whom powers had been delegated to.

RESOLVED – that:

a)    the 2025/26 funding formula for Telford & Wrekin mainstream schools, consulted on with the Schools Forum be approved; and

b)   delegated authority be granted to the Director for Education & Skills, in consultation with the Cabinet Member: Children, Young People, Education, Employment & Skills and the Schools Forum, to approve the Telford & Wrekin funding formula for mainstream schools.