Issue - meetings

The Assistant Chief Finance Officer presented the settlement update for 2026–27, a copy of which had been circulated to each Member and appears as Appendix ‘A’ to these Minutes in the Minute Book.

The Schools Forum was advised that the DSG Settlement for 2026–27 had been received on 17 December 2025 and included the following:

• Indicative allocations for the Early Years Block, with an 18% increase (from £9.7m to £62.2m) reflecting higher hourly funding rates across the free entitlements and full?year funding for the expansion of the childcare entitlement for working parents from September 2025.
• Final allocations for the Schools Block based on the October 2025 schools census, with a 1% funding increase (£2.3m to £290m) through the National Funding Formula, reflecting an average 2% rise in factor values and a 1.4% reduction in pupil numbers. The Growth Fund had more than halved to below £1m.
• Final allocations for the ongoing functions within the Central School Services Block of £1.9m (a 1% increase), alongside indicative funding for unavoidable historic commitments.
• Indicative allocations for the High Needs Block, with the NFF suspended for 2026–27 and no increase in funding.

Members were advised that a draft DSG budget for 2026–27 had been provided in the Appendix to support decision?making, with the funding gap for High Needs pupils projected to be £95.7m.

The report also included quarter three budget monitoring for 2025–26, which showed the accumulated DSG deficit was projected at £183.6m by March 2026, rising to £279.3m by March 2027.

During discussion, Members asked about recent Government indications regarding the future treatment of DSG deficits. The Forum noted that the statutory override would continue to March 2028, and that while Government had signalled an intention to assume responsibility for SEND expenditure from 2028–29, Local Authorities would remain responsible for deficits incurred to that point. No further operational detail had been made available.

The Chair confirmed that there was no surplus within the DSG system available for redistribution, and that any previous Early Years surplus had already been allocated in prior years.

RESOLVED that:

• The Financial Settlement for 2026–27 be noted; and
• The Forum agreed the contents of the settlement table set out in paragraph 27 of the report.

It was noted that officers had provided the additional information requested previously on average costs of provision.