Transcript DfE Template (Arial) v1.0 April 2012

High needs funding
reform: Next steps towards
a fairer system
National Fair Funding Conference
Wednesday 23 May 2012
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The case for reform (1)


The Government believes that funding arrangements for pupils and
students with high needs require urgent reform.
Broadly speaking, there are two principal reasons for this.
– To ensure funding arrangements fit with and support Government
policy
• Reform of SEN and disability framework – the Green Paper and the
Children and Families Bill
• Reform of AP – Charlie Taylor’s report on AP, the trial of
mainstream schools commissioning AP
• Academies and Free Schools – increasing numbers of high needs
pupils educated in academies
• Reform of post-16 qualifications – Professor Wolf’s report
– To address the shortcomings of current funding arrangements
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The case for reform (2)
Supporting policy reforms
Current funding: Shortcomings
SEN
Integrated approach 0-25 –
assessment, planning, statutory
framework
•Local offer
•Personalised funding
Providers funded in different ways
– potential perverse incentives to fill
places already funded
Lack of transparency – about
available provision and funding
Little planning at supra-LA level –
important for high needs
Inter-authority recoupment – timeconsuming, bureaucratic, does not
encourage pupil-focused
commissioning
High needs funding for Academies
– bureaucratic, error-prone, costly and
unsustainable
AP
Taylor report concern about quality
Most / all PRUs to become
Academies
New provision – AP Free School
Schools to take on greater role in
commissioning AP
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High needs reform: A simple new system
The steps to reforming high needs funding
 Define “high needs” – requiring provision costing more than
£10k (not linked to statutory assessment)
 Bring into line the level up to which mainstream providers will
contribute to pupils and students with high needs (local offer)
 Introduce an equivalent level of base funding for specialist
settings (address potential perverse incentives, and provide
some stability)
 Bring together all national high needs funding – provide local
authorities with a High Needs Block (covering 0-25)
 Bring educational commissioning and funding together – pupilor student-led funding, direct funding relationships
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Overview: Reform of high needs funding
Pre-16 SEN and AP
Element 1:
Core
education
funding
Contribution of £6,000 to
additional support required
by a pupil with high needs,
from the notional SEN
budget
Element 3:
Top-up
funding
Mainstream per-pupil
funding (AWPU)
Element 2:
Additional
support
funding
Mainstream settings
Specialist settings
Base funding of £10,000 for
SEN and £8,000 for AP
placements, which is
roughly equivalent to the
level up to which a
mainstream provider would
have contributed to the
additional support provision
of a high needs pupil. Base
funding is provided on the
basis of planned places.
Post-16 SEN and
LDD
All settings
Mainstream per-student
funding (as calculated by
the national 16-19 funding
system)
Contribution of £6,000 to
additional support required
by a student with high
needs
“Top-up” funding from the commissioner to meet the needs of each pupil or student placed in
the institution
This diagram appeared as Figure 1 (p.43) of
School funding reform: Next steps towards a
fairer system.
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Elements of the new funding
arrangements
 3 areas
– Mainstream settings
– Specialist SEN settings
– AP
 The High Needs Block
 Implementation and maintenance of the new arrangements
 Areas of further work and next steps
In the slides that follow, we take each of these in turn. We provide
a brief explanation of the reforms, and provider further
information about practical next steps and specific questions
you may wish to ask.
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Mainstream settings: Overview
 New system very similar to the current system …
– Current: funding per-pupil, notional SEN budget, IARs
– Reformed: funding per-pupil, notional SEN budget, top-up
 … first key reform is standardising across LAs and post-16 the
level up to which mainstream providers will contribute – first
£6,000 of additional support above per-pupil funding.
– Important link to the local offer – opportunity to define with
schools what they will provide for high needs pupils.
 … second key reform is direct top-up funding linked to
education commissioning – replacing the need for interauthority recoupment (including on behalf of Academies).
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Mainstream settings: Next steps
 Construct new mainstream formula and decide on the
maximum level of funding to be provided by mainstream
schools and Academies from their notional SEN budget – likely
to be a mixture of prior attainment, deprivation and AWPU.
 Define the “notional SEN budget” for mainstream settings.
 Define a local offer of provision, working with schools,
Academies and post-16 providers – including what mainstream
settings will make available from their notional SEN budget.
 Consider and define local circumstances in which schools and
Academies would receive additional funding – where the formula
does not adequately reflect the number or needs of pupils with SEN.
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Mainstream settings: Further information
(1)
How firm is the
£6,000?
The Government has recommended that local authorities should
bring their levels of delegation of high needs funding into line so
as to improve transparency, equivalence and transferability. The
Government’s strong recommendation is £6,000.
Will schools
contribute £6,000
or £6,000+AWPU?
Mainstream settings’ contribution to the needs of a high needs
pupil will be £6,000+AWPU. In other words, mainstream settings
will be expected to contribute the first £6,000 of a high needs
pupil’s additional education support costs. The provision this
should cover should be set out in the local offer.
From which Block
will the
£6,000+AWPU
come?
For pupils with high needs placed in mainstream settings, AWPU
and funding for the notional SEN budget (from the £6,000 would
be funded) would come from the notional Schools Block. Perpupil top-up funding above this level would come from the High
Needs Block.
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Mainstream settings: Further information
(2)
Is the £6,000
allocated only on
prior attainment?
It will be up to local authorities to determine the most
effective way of targeting SEN funding through the
construction of the new mainstream funding formula. It is
likely that will include a combination of AWPU, deprivation and
prior attainment.
What if a school
has a significantly
higher number of
high needs pupils
than that which
their formula
Local authorities will be able to use their notional High
Needs Block flexibly to provide additional funding to schools
and Academies in certain, locally-agreed circumstances such as
those where the number and/or needs of high needs pupils at the
school are not adequately reflected in the local formula funding.
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Specialist SEN settings: Overview
 New way of funding specialist settings – moving from a
predominantly place-led system to a “place-plus” approach
– Per-place base funding (£10,000 pre-16; slightly different post16)
– Per-pupil top-up funding
 Base funding “passported” to providers
– By the maintaining local authority for maintained settings
– By the EFA for Academies, Free Schools etc.
 Specialist settings – institutions or places specifically set aside
for high needs pupils. Includes special schools / Academies,
special units and resourced provision, INMSSs and ISPs.
 Direct top-up funding linked to education commissioning – from
the commissioning local authority (replacing recoupment).
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Specialist SEN settings: Next steps
 Determine the number of places in maintained special schools,
and maintained special units and resourced provision that the
authority intends to fund in 2013-14 – the EFA will shortly begin to
work with local authorities to confirm this information.
 Remodel provider budgets from “place” to “place-plus”.
– Take the current “place value” (the total budget divided by the
number of places), and then express this as £10,000 base
funding plus top-up funding.
– Work with Academies that the authority used to maintain to help
them to do the same.
 Make arrangements for the new direct funding arrangements –
work with providers and neighbouring local authorities to develop
effective, collaborative commissioning and funding arrangements.
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Specialist SEN settings: Further
information (1)
How are special
units / resourced
provision to be
treated?
Designated places in special units / resourced provision will
be funded in the same way as special schools: receive base
funding (£10,000 per planned place) and per-pupil top-up funding.
The places and pupils will not count towards AWPU.
How will outreach
services be
funded?
Where a setting undertakes functions other than educating pupils
on its roll, the local authority may fund these through a
separate payment from the High Needs Block. There may also
be local arrangements for mainstream schools to purchase these.
How will the
additional 1.5%
protection work in
year one?
The key points about this are:
• principal protection is the place-led base funding;
• additional temporary protection applies to pupils placed in a
setting by the maintaining / former maintaining authority; and
• the level of per-pupil top-up funding in 2013-14 must be such that
the base and top-up funding must not be more than 1.5% less than
the “place value” (total school budget divided by the number of
places) in 2012-13.
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Specialist SEN settings: Further
information (2)
How will the
number of places
be set and
reviewed?
What if a setting
has filled all of its
places?
Will there be inyear adjustments
to the base
funding?
The number of places will be set initially on the basis of the
number of places funded currently. Thereafter, any changes to
the number of planned places would be agreed between the
provider and its commissioners, and a case put to the Education
Funding Agency as part of a standard annual process.
• Under the new system, there will be no need for in-year
adjustments. It will be up to the commissioners and provider to
agree the appropriate number of funded places.
• For each pupil placed in the school, it will be up to the school
and its commissioners to agree the appropriate amount of
top-up funding.
• This process should take account of the additional cost of
admitting a pupil if the school has a significantly higher number of
pupils on roll than the number of places for which it is funded.
• See Example E (pp.75-76) for more information.
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AP: Overview
 New way of funding AP … very similar to specialist SEN
settings – “place-plus” and introduction of base funding
– Per-place base funding £8,000
– Base funding “passported” to providers through the maintaining
local authority (maintained AP) or the EFA (AP Academies, Free
Schools)
– Top-up funding from the commissioner – either the local
authority or mainstream school / Academy
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AP: Next steps
 Following the Education Act, PRUs should have delegated
budgets by April 2013. They do not currently have these.
 Identify PRU budgets – identify the funding currently needed for
maintained PRUs to operate so as to provide a delegated budget.
 Determine the number of places in maintained PRUs and other
maintained AP that the authority intends to fund in 2013-14 –
the EFA will shortly begin to work with local authorities to confirm
this information.
 Determine the “place-value” – determine the current “place value”
(total budget divided by the number of places).
 Rework PRU budgets as “place-plus” – take the current “place
value” and express this as £8,000 base funding plus top-up funding.
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AP: Further information
Is it possible to
introduce a form of
shadow delegation
for PRUs first?
The Education Act 2011 contained provisions that allow PRUs to
have delegated budgets. These should be in place by April
2013. Preparation for giving PRUs delegated budgets should help
establish information about planned places and current funding.
AP in my local area
is not arranged in
formal places. How
will this be
handled?
• Local areas that do not arrange their AP in formal places will
not be disadvantaged.
• Local authorities will have access to the same level of spending
power on high needs provision as at present.
• Local authorities will be able to use their High Needs Block
flexibly to commission provision that best meets local need.
How does this fit
with the exclusions
trial?
The place-plus approach has been developed to accommodate
a greater role in commissioning AP for mainstream schools
and Academies, while at the same time operating within the
current statutory framework and commissioning responsibilities.
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Top-up funding: Further information
How will top-up
funding work in
practice?
• Per-pupil
• Based on the pupil’s assessed needs
• Flow directly between the commissioner and provider
• Follow the pupil in or close to their real-time movement
Will top-up funding
be per-pupil, or can
I set a flat rate?
How top-up is arranged is a matter for local determination. Local
authorities may choose to use local banding frameworks, to
facilitate management of top-up funding. Top-up funding,
however, must reflect a pupil’s needs and the cost of the
provision they receive in a particular setting, and it is unlikely
that an entirely standard approach without scope to reflect a
pupil’s needs would do this.
Will this mean that
schools receive
different top-up
rates from different
local authorities?
In theory this could happen, but we consider that this could be
mitigated most effectively by local authorities working
together to plan and commission provision on a consistent
basis.
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The High Needs Block: construction and
use
How will the High
Needs Block be
constructed?
• The High Needs Block will be based on current spend.
• To implement the new approach, we will need to calculate the
place-led (sum total of designated places) and pupil-led parts.
• The place-led part will be allocated to providers – “passported”.
• The pupil-led part will be allocated to local authorities.
• This will not create changes to local authority spending
power.
• This will require a one-off adjustment so that place-led funding
is in the right place to be passported to providers.
Does all funding in
the High Needs
Block need to be
allocated in the
form of base or topup funding?
• There may be provision that local authorities wish to fund from the
High Needs Block that does not relate directly to per-place base
funding or per-pupil top-up funding.
• One of these areas may be central support services for high
needs pupils – for example, a service for the hearing impaired, or a
children out-of-school support service.
• Under the new funding arrangements, local authorities will
be able to manage their high needs budget flexibly.
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New arrangements: Implementation
summary




Mainstream – local authorities adjust threshold up to which mainstream
providers will contribute to £6,000 as part of developing a new mainstream
formula.
Specialist SEN and AP
– Local authorities determine the number of places the authority intends
to fund in 2013-14.
– Local authorities rework provider budgets as “place-plus” and work with
providers to agree appropriate top-up rates.
Post-16 high needs – we will provide further information to enable local
authorities to model and rework post-16 budgets as soon as possible.
EFA identify the place-led component of the national high needs
budget – require a one-off adjustment between authorities so that the
place-led base funding can be passported to providers by maintaining
authorities or the EFA.
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New arrangements: Maintenance
 Once we have made the one-off initial adjustment, there will be
a simple process for reviewing the number of places funded in
a particular setting.
– Number of funded places to be reviewed at least every two
years
– Based on dialogue between a provider and its commissioners,
EFA to co-ordinate
– Ensure high needs funding is responsive to need (and choice)
– Enable planning at local and supra-local, and encourage joint
commissioning
 We will ensure that there is a system in place to adjust the
place-led and pupil-led components of an authority’s High
Needs Block if the authority needs more specialist places or
needs fewer (e.g. investment in early intervention) over time.
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Areas of further work and next steps
 Application to INMSS – route through which INMSSs will receive
base funding
 New funding arrangements for hospital schools
 AP
– finalise level of base funding
– Confirm pro rata arrangements for short-term / part-time
placements
 Further details about underpinning processes
– avoiding unnecessary bureaucracy
– ensuring there is clear information about responsibilities and
timescales for payments
 Checking and confirmation of information about places
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