Report - London Borough of Hillingdon

6.6 The Hillingdon Association of Secondary Headteachers asked that two
changes be made to the funding formula for 2004/05.
6.7 The first was that the OFSTED Free School Meal bands be used
instead of the average Free School Meal eligibility for the social deprivation
factor. Officers have no problem in principle with this alternative approach
and would be prepared to consult separately on this change. Unfortunately,
there has not been the opportunity for further discussion on how this change
might work, so no alternative models have been developed. If secondary
schools are funded at or very close to the MFG, any change in the social
deprivation factor is likely to be cosmetic (ie most schools would continue to
be funded at the MFG level). Regrettably, there is little time to develop
models at this stage and it may be best to consider the use of OFSTED FSM
bands alongside the ACORN data for 2005/06 and beyond.
6.8 The second was that the fixed factor should be reduced in 2004/05 to
80% of the absolute value of that factor for 2003/04, then to 50% of the
absolute 2003/04 value for 2005/06 and for the factor to disappear completely
in 2006/07. This proposal was put forward with no explanation as to the
reasoning behind it and it was acknowledged that the proposal had not yet
been formally endorsed by HASH at their meeting in January 2004. No
further information has been provided about either the status of or the
rationale for such a change.
6.9 Officers would have concerns about a proposal which removed protection
for the smallest secondary schools without some analysis of the impact that it
would have, the reasoning behind it and the evidence that demonstrated the
reasonableness of funding a school of 1,700 and a school of 450 with no
account taken of the different proportions of fixed to variable costs. If
secondary schools believe that this, collectively, is appropriate in principle,
this ought to be considered in more detail for 2005/06. The MFG may prove
to be a barrier to introducing a phased withdrawal of this factor as the impact
of it may not be experienced by schools in the way that the initial phasing
intended.
Special
6.10 The only proposal is to introduce a factor providing minimum
protection for special schools. This factor is necessary to allow the Minimum
Funding Guarantee to operate.
Nursery
6.11 It is a requirement that the Governing Bodies of maintained nursery
schools are consulted on two issues for the first time for April 2004.
6.12 The first is the determination of a delegated budget for the school
within the Fair Funding scheme. Currently, maintained nursery schools (ie
McMillan Nursery in the case of Hillingdon) are not part of Fair Funding.
PART I – MEMBERS & PUBLIC (INCLUDING THE PRESS)
Cabinet Reports - 4 th March 2003 Page 34