1. Post 16 Funding NatSIP Working Day June 13 Brian Gale
National Deaf Children’s Society
Special Education Consortium

2. 16-24 High Needs Before the reforms
Four elements:
SEN block grant (given to LAs for post 16 students with SEN in schools)
Specialist placements (mainly independent)
High needs students in FE colleges
Additional Learning Support (ALS) allocated according to a complex formula

3. The law
S 15ZA Education Act 1996: Duty on LAs to secure the provision for LLDD under 25 and subject to a learning difficulty assessment (LDA).
The EFA passes funds to institutions and LAs in accordance with the commissioning decisions of LAs.

4. The law
The Skills Funding Agency (Dept of BIS) has a duty to secure the reasonable facilities for education and training (particular qualifications) suitable to the requirements of young people who are over 19, other than those who are under 25 and subject to a LDA.

5. The law and LDAs
‘Subject to a LDA’ covers those with a LDA and those where arrangements for one to be conducted have been made or are required to be made. They are required to be made if the child has a statement of SEN. There is a power to undertake a LDA in wider circumstance

6. The new system: Low level needs funding
For all students whose additional support needs cost less than £6,000:
Post-16 providers will have Additional Learning Support funding for:
‘disadvantage’ and;
‘low level learning difficulties and disabilities
EFA will set a minimum allocation for the single disadvantage fund for institutions at £6,000

7. 16-19 funding formula
This will be calculated and allocated according to:
A deprivation based measure
The numbers of students without C grades in English and/or Maths (£480 for one - £960 per student for two)

8. 16-19 Funding Formula
£100m of ‘Additional Learning Support’ funding has been removed and is being used to fund the core programme costs (element 1) for post-16 pupils.

9. High Needs – a recap

10. Objective
“A place plus approach to high needs will ensure that all providers, mainstream and specialist, will be funded on an equivalent basis. This approach as been designed to be straightforward and transparent, so as to encourage flexibility and where appropriate, improve choice”

11. High Needs Block
A commissioning budget for C&YP with High Level Needs – 0-24 years
ie those who require provision costing more than about £10,000
Also specialist support services for low level and high level needs

12. High Needs Block 2 parts: Pre 16
16-24 years for high needs students (don’t have to have a statement or Learning Difficulty Assessment or EHC Plan – they have to have high needs)

13. Pre 16 High Needs
LA allocation includes place based funding (ie £10k) for specialist places in maintained schools, academies but Place funding for specialist places in academies and NMSS comes direct from the EFA so the LAs allocation will be adjusted. Existing mainstream academies won’t start on the new system until Sept 13

14. HNB Post 16 : Allocation of money

15. 16-24 High Needs New system introduced in August 2013
Pays the top up funding ( for all high needs students placements commissioned by LAs in maintained schools, academies, NMSS, FE colleges and ISPs.
But LAs pay full cost to any other provider and full cost of any student identified after 22/2/13

16. Post-16 High Needs
Element 1: Core education funding according to the funding formula (includes disadvantage)
Element 2: Automatic allocation of £6,000 for every high needs pupil placed in an institution
(Elements 1 and 2 are paid directly to providers by the EFA not maintained schools)
Element 3: Top up funding provided by the local authority

17. Setting LA budgets
Setting LA budgets in was a two stage process:
Calculating amount spent on high needs students resident in each LA last year; and
Allocating for next year at least same level of funding back to LAs and institutions for high needs students resident.

18. Stage one Combining: SEN Block grant
Programme costs for 70% of statemented students in mainstream
Total spend from LLDD placement budget (EFA)
Total spend in FE on students with ALS costing between £5,500 and £19,000

19. Stage two
Element 1 calculated using average costs for all high needs students by LA – allocated to providers and paid by EFA
Element 2 = Standard national value of £6,000 per student – allocated to providers and paid by EFA
Remaining funding allocated as Element 3 - Each LA should have at least £2,800 per HNS for element 3

20. The flow to providers EFA will allocate for every post-16 HNS:
Element 1: the value according to the post-16 national funding formula (£4,877 per annum average)
Element 2: £6,000 per annum of additional support

21. The flow to providers Elements 1 and 2 will flow to providers:
Through the LA: for all maintained schools but the funding will not be included in the DSG allocation.
Direct from the EFA: for all other institutions

22. Allocations to providers
Each institution will receive element 1 and 2 from the EFA for every high needs students placed there.
Allocations are based on numbers reported for the previous academic year.

23. 16-24 High Needs is capped 2011/12 spend = £585m
2013/14 allocation = £693m
9% increase
124 LAs will see an increase
No LA will experience a loss
Increase to 2010/11 to 2013/13 capped at 24%

24. Issues Confusion over numbers and budgets
Planning difficult for providers having to deal with lots of commissioners
Demography and RPA
Elements 1 and 2 is not the same as pre-16

25. Issues
Will the disadvantage factor in element 1 be enough to support the high number of students with low levels of additional needs?
Funding of specialist support services (should FE colleges continue to fund)
Transitional protection for some but not others