Introduction to Children’s Services Finance - London - 29 April 2010
Management for practitioners new to the sector

An introductory seminar balanced with children’s education and social care finance sessions. It is an essential event if you are new to children’s services finance or seeking to refresh your knowledge of the latest developments.

Click here to download the full event flyer. For more information, please email charlotte.cordrey@cipfa.org.uk

The CIPFA Social Care & Children’s Services Finance Conference 2010 - Southampton - 17/18 June 2010
De Vere Grand Harbour Hotel, Southampton

For further information on this event please contact Daisy Crisp on 020 7543 5751 or daisy.crisp@cipfa.org.uk

Government announces School Funding Consultations
The long-awaited consultation on School Funding is now out and will be a key area of Children’s Services work over the next couple of months.

The consultation is deadline is 7 June, by which time of course we may have a new government. The Panel will be working to produce draft CIPFA responses for May. The context is one of very tight money for schools.

Summary details on the consultation are:

The Consultation on the future distribution of school funding has been issued alongside the publication of a document about the more immediate school funding settlement - Investing for the future: school funding 2010-13.
 
The first (and bigger) consultation document sets out the principles the Government believes should underpin the new funding formula and includes options for the proposed elements of the formula. It aims to reflect the priority the Government is giving to support deprived pupils to raise their achievement, signals the intention to mainstream many specific grants into the DSG and reaffirms the principle that needs in individual schools are best assessed at the local level. This principle is behind a proposal for a Local Pupil Premium. The Secretary of State has also announced the intention to set a Minimum Funding Guarantee and to include a minimum per pupil increase for local authorities.

The elements of the formula being proposed include: - a basic entitlement for every pupil, extra funding for pupils with additional educational needs, funding for provision for high cost pupils, a sparsity factor and an adjustment for local authorities which have higher labour costs. Options for allocating funding for these elements have been set out where appropriate.

The Secretary of State is also setting out more details about the funding settlement from 2010-13. The priorities are “to protect frontline provision for schools; to ensure that there is sufficient funding for the schools that need the most support, particularly those serving disadvantaged communities; to deliver a fairer funding distribution between local authorities which more accurately reflects current need; and to ensure best value for the considerable resources being put into schools”. The announcement provides more detail of the programme of support available to schools to help them secure value for money and further guidance on managing school balances.

Copies of both the main consultation documents are available at www.dfes.gov.uk/consultations/

Response
The Children's Services Panel, jointly with the Further and Higher Education Panel, has responded to the draft National Commissioning Framework (NCF) developed by the Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Learning and Skills Council. To view the response, please click here.

Newsletter
To read the latest edition (January 2010) of the Panel newsletter, please click here. This edition includes various topical updates, a summary of the Children, Schools and Families Bill and a briefing on schools and the carbon reduction commitment. There is also some information about forthcoming CIPFA events.

Schools And The Carbon Reduction Commitment
The CRC - a mandatory carbon emissions trading scheme – will commence in April 2010 for large public and private sector organisations in the UK.

The carbon footprint of participating authorities will need to include emissions from any state funded schools under their authority. This includes Maintained, Foundation, Voluntary Aided, Voluntary Controlled, City Technology Colleges, Academy and Trust schools. The local authority is the CRC participant and so responsible for the legal and financial aspects of the scheme. However a ‘reasonable assistance’ duty will be placed on schools requiring them to supply the authority with energy data. In the case of PFI schools, where the PFI company is the counterparty to the energy supply contract, the energy use will be attributed to the PFI company.

There are important implementation issues for schools and for local authorities - it is crucial that systems and procedures are in place to collect, collate and analyse this data. Click here to read a summary briefing, with advice on what steps to take, from CIPFA’s Children’s Services Finance Advisory Network (CSFAN). The full briefing is available to CSFAN subscribers.

Select Committee on Schools’ Accountability Reports
The Committee has published its first report which may be downloaded from the following link: www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmchilsch.htm

The main message in this Report is a warning against the complexity which results from overlapping accountability structures and serial policy initiatives. The Government is correct in saying in the 21st Century Schools White Paper that schools should be empowered to take charge of their own improvement processes; but shifting Government priorities and the pressures of inspection, targets and Government programmes for school improvement combine to prevent schools from having the freedom to take ownership of their improvement. The "flexibility" of the accountability system, championed by the Government, may not be quite the benefit which it appears to be. Schools and local authorities now need a period of stability so that they can regroup, take time to identify where their priorities lie, and then work to secure the necessary improvements.

Click here to read CIPFA’s own submission to the Select Committee.

Volunteer Feedback Survey
We are always eager to hear existing (and potential) panel members' views on how we can help support you better. The Volunteer Survey offers a formal mechanism for you to feed back your views to CIPFA.

An Introductory Guide to Children's Social Care Finance in England (2009)
This new guide builds on the foundation of CIPFA’s earlier guide An Introductory Guide to Social Services Finance (Fully Revised Second Edition). It should contribute to an improved understanding of children’s social care financial issues. It is intended to provide an introduction to the subject and is written with a wide audience in mind. To read more or to order, visit the the CIPFA Shop.