Commissioning
Civic Offices
Euclid Street
Swindon, SN1 2JH
Tel: 01793 463068
Please ask for: Steve Haley
Email: [email protected]
All Swindon Special School
Headteachers and
Headteachers at Schools with
Special Resource Provision
Our Ref: 2013-14 High Needs Funding
Date: 12th February 2013
Dear Headteacher
High Needs Place Plus Funding 2013/14
Following the September 2012 consultations to review the number of high needs
places required across the Borough and the subsequent moderation exercises to
review bandings, indicative 2013/14 funding allocations for each High Needs setting
have been calculated. The proposed top up values issued in the September
consultation papers remain unchanged and were approved at the 15th January 2013
Schools Forum, subject to confirmation that Special Schools and SRP’s are in
agreement with their final planned places and resulting indicative funding. (The tables
showing all top up values are attached below). The purpose of this letter is to advise
you of the value of funding the LA has included in its high needs budget, earmarked
for your school, and to explain the basis of how your indicative 2013/14 funding has
been calculated.
The move to the DfE’s “Place Plus” model represents a significant change to existing
funding arrangements, particularly for SRP’s, and it is important to note that there is
an inherent, unavoidable degree of uncertainty in your 2013/14 funding which is
explained below;
Place Funding


All planned places must be funded at £10,000 per year and this will be paid in
monthly instalments by SBC based on the agreed April 2013 place numbers.
Where additional places have been agreed from September 2013 place funding
will increase at that time.
Where the LA commissions additional places which are over and above the
agreed April 2013 / September 2013 planned places the new regulations stipulate
that the LA may provide part year place funding at £833 per month (£10,000 / 12)
in addition to the relevant top up fee. Subject to affordability the LA intends to
fully fund additional places unless, by mutual agreement with the setting, this is
not necessary. In practice the Special School or SRP will need to demonstrate
that the additional costs of taking on an additional pupil cannot be covered by the
appropriate top up fee. Schools are asked to bear in mind that the LA needs to
manage the overall cost of meeting all SEN needs from a finite pot of DSG
funding and that requests for additional funding must be challenged as any
overspends in 2013/14 would need to be recovered by reducing top up fees in
2014/15.
1
Plus Funding i.e. Top Up Fees


The LA has, in accordance with DfE requirements attempted to set top up fees
which maintain stability as far as possible but also to ensure additional funds are
provided for planned expansion at a time when the overall level of DSG is not
increasing in line with increasing SEN demands.
The attached tables show the proposed 2013/14 top up fees for pupils attending
Swindon Special Schools and SRPs.
 For Special Schools the move to place plus has been relatively straightforward
as local formula changes implemented to produce banded 2012/13 funding
allocations proved to be a fortunate step towards meeting the DfE
requirements of place plus.
 For SRP’s the move from an historic cost based approach to place plus has
required more fundamental changes and the 2013/14 SRP top up rates were
set to ensure that pupils with similar needs in similar settings are consistently
funded and that funding is responsive to pupil changes. The LA acknowledges
that, whilst fully complying with DfE requirements, the 2013/14 SRP Top up
rates are overly complex and will need to be rationalised for 2014/15. There
are wide discrepancies in the level of funding across different types of SRP
and between Special schools and SRP’s which need to be reviewed in full
consultation with Headteachers.
 SBC will provide the majority of top up funding to Swindon settings in monthly
instalments (as most pupils will be from Swindon) but individual schools will
need to invoice and recover funds from other LAs as the DfE have ended the
long standing inter LA recoupment process.
 A regional agreement has been reached whereby LAs will, during 2013/14,
pay the top up fee determined by the host LA but in an increasingly
competitive environment this may change from 2014/15.
 High Needs top up funding will only be paid for pupils placed at each setting.
For existing pupils top up values are based on the recent moderation exercise
and are fixed unless pupils are re-banded due to changing needs. For new
pupils which the LA anticipates will enter Special Schools and SRP’s during
the year, bandings and top up values have had to be estimated by the SEN
team.
 The LA has taken care to set its high needs budget to realistically reflect the
number of places and likely pupil bandings at each setting and this is the basis
of your indicative funding. Although occupancy levels are generally high in
Swindon it may be prudent for schools to assume a slightly lower level of
funding when setting the school budget to recognise that there may be periods
of time when occupancy levels are lower than planned places and / or that
pupil bandings may be higher or lower after September 2013.
Commissioned Services

Where the LA has commissioned Borough wide Outreach and Support Services
the value for 2013/14 is fixed and this is separated from place plus funding. A
summary of all these services is attached and funding is included as a separate
line on the attached funding allocation statement where applicable. This will be
paid by SBC in monthly instalments.
2
Post 16 Place Plus Funding



The indicative funding for Uplands Special School includes 46.8 FTE post 16
placements (45 from April rising to 48 from September) which the LA has so far
assumed would be banded and funded at the same level as pre 16 pupils. Over
recent weeks the Education Funding Agency has released information regarding
post 16 funding which is a major concern to the LA as the level of additional
funding passing over from the EFA has been provisionally estimated as being
£900,000 lower than the cost of the LAs new responsibilities.
This appears to be a concern across the region and the LA is in contact with the
EFA to seek clarification on this. There is therefore a possibility that lower levels
of post 16 funding will need to be allocated unless pre 16 budgets are
proportionately reduced.
As a matter of urgency, the LA is working on the post 16 funding issues and will
engage with all involved schools and colleges as soon as it is practical.
Academy Funding

Please note that the level of SRP funding for Academies will continue to be
calculated by the LA and will be recouped by the EFA prior to the start of the year.
Actual funding will be paid over to Academies by the EFA but should be based on
the values calculated by the LA. Any issues relating to Academy funding must be
raised directly with the EFA but the LA will continue to assist in resolving any
queries.
Funding Statements
For 2013/14 the LA is aiming to streamline bureaucracy by incorporating annual
funding allocations into the budget template which maintained schools are required to
submit to the LA by 30th June 2013. Historically separate documents have been used
for these purposes.
The attached spread sheets provide;



Funding 2012/13 and 2013/14 – this provides a high level summary of annual
funding changes
3 Year Revenue Summary – on completion of the 3 Year Revenue plan this
automatically provides a summary of opening balances, projected funding,
projected spending and resulting closing balances in a format which schools
may wish to present to Governors and Leadership Teams
3 Year Revenue Plan – this has been prepopulated with the LAs estimate of
your total 2013/14 place plus (i.e. place and top up) funding and includes the
template for you to complete and return electronically to the LA after your
budget has been set. The LA has provisionally assumed that the level of
2013/14 high needs funding will continue throughout 2014/15 and 2015/16 but
schools may wish to adjust place and / or band numbers to reflect their own
estimates or plan for different levels of funding. There is scope within the
spreadsheet to assume lower income levels will be received due to occupancy
and/or banding fluctuations. The spreadsheet also projects opening and
closing balances for as many years as funding and spending projections are
completed for. (Please note this worksheet is set to print on A3 but can be
changed locally if necessary)
3

3 Year Capital Plan – the LA advocates that a separate capital budget is
maintained for items funded from Devolved Formula Grant as this can distort
the underlying level of balances held.
The spreadsheet has been successfully trialled with one of our Special Schools and I
hope will be of use to all schools and possibly Academies. For schools with SRP’s
the LA advocates that a separate budget is established and monitored on SIMS
using the attached template but schools may choose to amalgamate their SRP
funding and spending within the wider school budget.
Maintained settings are asked to return the spreadsheet electronically to the LA at
[email protected] by 30th June 2013 after 2013/14 budgets have
been approved by Governors.
If you have any queries about the financial aspects of this letter or the spread sheets
please contact me or Sarah Higgins (465752). For specific queries about place
numbers or the banding levels for individual pupils please contact Emily Heaton,
Admissions and SENAT Manager (465769) or Paul Davis SEN Finance and
Contracts Officer (463875).
Yours sincerely
Steve Haley
Steve Haley
Head of Finance (Education & Innovation)
4
Extracts from 15th January 2013 Schools Forum Report – Dedicated Schools
Grant and School Funding Reform 2013-14 (All proposals were agreed)
Table 12 - Current and Proposed Special School Top Up Banding Values
Proposed 2013/14 Funding
Existing
Values
Banding
Place
Top-Up
Total
N /A
Band 1 plus = 35% uplift re 1-2-1 bespoke
£10,000 £20,183 £30,183
support packages
£27,244 Band 1 BESD
£10,000 £22,021 £32,021
£22,703 Band 1
£10,000 £14,950 £24,950
£24,518 Band 2 BESD
£10,000 £19,072 £29,072
£20,432 Band 2
£10,000 £13,455 £23,455
£16,346 Band 3 BESD
£10,000 £10,223 £20,223
£13,622 Band 3
£10,000
£5,875 £15,875
£12,259 Band 4 BESD
£10,000
£5,797 £15,797
£10,216 Band 4
£10,000
£2,467 £12,467
Therapy top ups have been included above to transfer existing central contributions
a) Uplands @ 220 per pupil
b) Brimble Hill @ £220 per pupil
Table 13 - Projected 2013/14 Special School Funding - Excluding Pupil Premium
2012/13
Funding
Setting
Place @
£10,000
£680,000
£658,333
£520,833
£1,280,000
£1,221,667
£343,333
£4,704,167
2013/14 Indicative Funding
Top Up @
PFI @
Total
Band Values Actual Cost
Funding
£1,020,365
£1,700,365
£757,203
£96,470 £1,512,006
£489,701
£1,010,534
£1,046,238
£2,326,238
£1,557,691
£167,909 £2,947,266
£555,493
£898,826
£5,426,691
£264,379 £10,395,237
£1,663,914 St Lukes
£1,629,931 Brimble Hill
£892,289 The Chalet
£2,287,121 Crowdy’s Hill
£2,485,489 Uplands
£892,893 Nylands
£9,851,637
Totals
Notes
1) Top Up funding is based on the estimated places and assumed banding values
2) Top up funding includes 14 pupils from other LAs who will directly pay placement
top ups fees of approximately £177,900 to the providers.
3) Uplands includes Post 16 places – with effect from August 2013 the place element
will be directly funded by the EFA
5
Table 15 - Proposed SRP Top Up Banding Values 2013/14
Prime Need
Band
Place
Top Up
A plus
£10,000 £18,900
A
£10,000 £16,493
B plus
£10,000 £14,888
Cognitive and Learning - General and
B
£10,000 £10,073
Specific Learning Difficulties
C plus
£10,000 £9,270
C
£10,000 £8,468
Settings - Redoaks, Eldene & Millbrook
D plus
£10,000 £7,665
D
£10,000 £6,863
A plus
£10,000 £10,450
A
£10,000 £9,580
B plus
£10,000 £9,000
Speech, language and Communication
B
£10,000 £8,130
Difficulties
C plus
£10,000 £7,550
Settings - Even Swindon
C
£10,000 £7,260
D plus
£10,000 £6,970
D
£10,000 £6,680
A plus
£10,000 £8,650
A
£10,000 £7,780
B plus
£10,000 £7,200
Speech, language and Communication
B
£10,000 £6,330
Difficulties
C plus
£10,000 £5,750
Settings – Commonweal
C
£10,000 £5,460
D plus
£10,000 £5,170
D
£10,000 £4,880
A plus
£10,000 £22,200
A
£10,000 £19,500
B plus
£10,000 £18,600
Speech, language and Communication
B
£10,000 £16,800
Difficulties with ASD (Primary)
C plus
£10,000 £15,000
Settings - Ruskin Junior
C
£10,000 £13,200
D plus
£10,000 £11,400
D
£10,000 £9,600
A plus
£10,000 £21,250
A
£10,000 £18,550
Speech, language and Communication
B plus
£10,000 £17,650
Difficulties with ASD (Secondary)
B
£10,000 £15,850
C plus
£10,000 £14,050
Settings - Lydiard Academy , Kingsdown &
C
£10,000 £12,250
Ridgeway (New)
D plus
£10,000 £10,450
D
£10,000 £8,650
6
Total
£28,900
£26,493
£24,888
£20,073
£19,270
£18,468
£17,665
£16,863
£20,450
£19,580
£19,000
£18,130
£17,550
£17,260
£16,970
£16,680
£18,650
£17,780
£17,200
£16,330
£15,750
£15,460
£15,170
£14,880
£32,200
£29,500
£28,600
£26,800
£25,000
£23,200
£21,400
£19,600
£31,250
£28,550
£27,650
£25,850
£24,050
£22,250
£20,450
£18,650
Behavioural Emotional Social and
Difficulties
Settings - Mountford Manor
Physical Difficulties
Settings - Robert LeKyng & Westlea
Physical Difficulties
Settings - Commonweal
Sensory Difficulties with British Sign
Language
Settings - Redoaks
Sensory Difficulties without British Sign
Language
Settings – Ridgeway
7
A plus
A
B plus
B
C plus
C
D plus
D
A plus
A
B plus
B
C plus
C
D plus
D
A plus
A
B plus
B
C plus
C
D plus
D
A plus
A
B plus
B
C plus
C
D plus
D
A plus
A
B plus
B
C plus
C
D plus
D
£10,000
£10,000
£10,000
£10,000
£10,000
£10,000
£10,000
£10,000
£10,000
£10,000
£10,000
£10,000
£10,000
£10,000
£10,000
£10,000
£10,000
£10,000
£10,000
£10,000
£10,000
£10,000
£10,000
£10,000
£10,000
£10,000
£10,000
£10,000
£10,000
£10,000
£10,000
£10,000
£10,000
£10,000
£10,000
£10,000
£10,000
£10,000
£10,000
£10,000
£12,950
£11,435
£10,425
£9,415
£8,910
£7,900
£6,890
£5,880
£12,850
£11,350
£9,850
£7,850
£7,350
£6,850
£6,350
£5,850
£13,250
£11,750
£10,250
£8,250
£7,750
£7,250
£6,750
£6,250
£31,450
£27,160
£22,870
£20,010
£17,150
£16,864
£11,430
£8,570
£9,580
£8,570
£7,560
£6,888
£6,215
£6,148
£4,869
£4,196
£22,950
£21,435
£20,425
£19,415
£18,910
£17,900
£16,890
£15,880
£22,850
£21,350
£19,850
£17,850
£17,350
£16,850
£16,350
£15,850
£23,250
£21,750
£20,250
£18,250
£17,750
£17,250
£16,750
£16,250
£41,450
£37,160
£32,870
£30,010
£27,150
£26,864
£21,430
£18,570
£19,580
£18,570
£17,560
£16,888
£16,215
£16,148
£14,869
£14,196
Notes
1) "Plus premiums" are payable to meet exceptionally high provision costs arising
where;
- Provision requires British Sign Language
- Pupils have high levels of physical difficulties which require constant 1-2-1 personal
care
2) Top up fees include the transfer of the following therapy top up fees which are
currently centrally commissioned to provide educational assistance over and above
PCT health related provision;
- £1,800 Speech, language and Communication Difficulties
- £1,350 Speech, language and Communication Difficulties with ASD – primary
- £400 Speech, language and Communication Difficulties with ASD – secondary
- £400 Physical Difficulties
Table 16 - Projected 2013/14 SRP Place Funding
2012/13
Funding
2013/14 Indicative Funding
Place @
Top Up
Total
£10,000
Values
Funding
Setting
£520,034 Redoaks - HI SL
£105,174 Ridgeway - HI
£130,000
£40,000
£408,850
£34,280
£538,850
£74,280
£169,357 Redoaks – LDD
£60,000
£96,638
£156,638
Ridgeway – ASD
£327,058 Lydiard Academy – ASD
£246,333 Ruskin Junior - ASD
£356,143 Kingsdown – ASD
£23,333
£133,333
£94,167
£151,667
£43,283
£228,626
£175,525
£272,117
£66,617
£361,959
£269,692
£423,783
£240,963 Robert Le Kyng – PD
£227,644 Westlea – PD
£324,949 Commonweal – PD
£91,667
£95,833
£191,667
£148,042
£113,396
£206,208
£239,708
£209,229
£397,875
£84,167
£84,167
£116,418
£127,534
£200,585
£211,701
£150,000
£290,000
£140,800
£208,220
£290,800
£498,220
£60,000
£58,510
£118,510
£1,680,000
£2,378,447
£4,058,447
£178,621 Eldene – CLD
£164,038 Millbrook – CLD
£266,305 Even Swindon - SSL
£414,200 Commonweal – SPLD
£120,018 Mountford Manor - BESD
£3,660,837 Total SRP's
8
Table 17 - Proposed 2013/14 Special Education Needs Outreach & Support Services
Setting – Provision
2012/13
2013/14
Notes
Nylands - Primary Behaviour Support Team £209,873
£220,400
Uplands - Education Support Service
£214,416
£225,100
Even Swindon - Speech and Language
£21,170
£22,200
Ruskin Junior - ASD
£82,852
£87,000
Ridgeway - Education Audiologist
£10,580
£11,100
Redoaks HI Support Service
£214,684
£225,400
Commonweal PD Support Service
£61,020
£64,100
Millbrook SLD Support Service
£63,739
£66,900
Ruskin Junior ASC Support Service
£57,943
£135,800
1
Issambard BSL Provision
£0
£50,000
2
Totals
£936,277 £1,108,000
Notes
1) 2013/14 includes an additional £75,000 to expand the Ruskin ASC outreach service
as proposed at the 9th October 2012 Schools Forum. See update at paragraph 5.14
below.
2) 2013/14 incudes proposal to establish a British Sign Language (BSL) provision so
that pupils currently at Redoaks Primary SRP can effectively transition to a secondary
setting at Issambard – see paragraph 5.16 below
9