Agenda and decisions

Cllrs Groom and L McCarthy submitted their apologies and Cllrs Allen and Thomas attended as substitutes respectively.

To receive notification of any declarations of pecuniary and /or conflict of interests from Members.

None received.

To answer questions and hear deputations, if any, asked by any resident of the Borough pursuant to Standing Orders.

None received.

The report sets out changes to the recommended rates for the:

(a)  Fees and allowances paid to Foster Carers.

(b)  Charges made to other local authorities for foster placements.

(c)  Level of other care payments/allowances.

The Cabinet Member RESOLVED to:

(i)  Approve the proposed allowances, fees, payment rates and charges to other Local Authorities from 2nd January 2023 (2022/23 in-year recommended change) and from 10^th April 2023 for 2023/24 - Appendix A;

(ii)  Approve the Guidance for Foster Carers on appropriate use of the Foster Allowance - Appendix B;

(iii)  Approve the proposed Financial Support for SMBC Foster Carers - Appendix C; and

(iv)  Approve the Fostering Fee Scheme for SMBC Foster Carers - Appendix D

The report sets out for the Portfolio holder a number of matters relating to funding for Schools Early Years, High Needs and education central services for 2023-24.

The Cabinet Member RESOLVED to:

(i)  Approve the application of the national funding formula at the local level is 100% NFF emulation for factors and unit rate values, with the per pupil unit rate adjusted to fit with the total grant available, and the minimum funding guarantee at 0.5%, resulting in the funding for each school as set out in Appendix 1 to the report;

(ii)  Approve increase in per pupil top-up rates of 3% for all Solihull special and alternative provision and an increase of 8% for moderate learning difficulty (MLD) schools in order to meet the required MFG;

(iii)  Approve increase in mainstream top-up rates for pupils with an EHCP of 6.1%, in line with the overall increase in school funding;

(iv)  Approve the incorporation of teacher pension grant element, but not the teacher pay element into a funding supplement payable in relation to a qualified teacher present in a grant eligible early years session;

(v)  Approve the early years hourly rates as set out in paragraph 3.7.4 of the report;

(vi)  Approve a subsidy to school commissioned places at Solihull Academy of £1,000 per place from April 2023;

(vii)  Approve a requirement for schools to provide a contribution towards local authority commissioned and funded alternative provision from April 2023. The contribution to be based on the per pupil funding the mainstream school receives for the duration the pupil is in the local authority funded setting; and

(viii)  Thank Solihull School Forum for their continued positive and productive working with the local authority.

To inform the Cabinet Portfolio Holder of the financial position for the core service and Dedicated School Grant (DSG) budgets as at Period 9 2022/23.

The Cabinet Member RESOLVED to:

(i)  Note the financial position for the Portfolio as at Period 9, 2022/23 and endorse the actions as set out to mitigate the identified risks;

(ii)  Approve the grant submission for £1.0 million under the Delivering Best Value programme (DBV), to support building capacity in places and improve inclusion for Solihull Children and Young People with SEND; and

(iii)  Approve delegated responsibility for appropriate officers to sign the DBV grant terms and conditions, which have not yet been made available, subject to being satisfied that the Council can meet those terms and conditions.

The SEND School Place Commissioning Strategy provides a baseline to work with key stakeholders and considers a range of factors that are driving demand.  The strategy provides data analysis and draws conclusions around priorities for the development of provision, including the expansion of special school places.

The Cabinet Member RESOLVED to:

Approve a period of consultation with schools, parents and the wider community on a proposal to expand Forest Oak and Merstone Special Schools from 1 September 2023.

The Alternative Provisioning Commissioning Strategy was approved on 23 January 2023.  The strategy identifies 10 key priorities, one of which is the development of primary alternative provision.

The Cabinet Member RESOLVED to:

Approve that Officers work with Solihull Alternative Provision Multi Academy Trust to develop and consult on a proposal to create a primary alternative provision and submit a business case to the DfE Regional Director.