Issue - meetings

Background:

The report provided the Cabinet with details of the final funding proposals for Medway’s schools and academies for 2025/26. Officers had formulated the funding arrangements for schools and academies and recommended changes to Medway’s local mainstream schools and academies funding formula.

The Schools Forum had met on 21 January 2025 and had recommended Cabinet approve the implementation of the final funding formula, as set out at section 5 of the report.

It was noted that in line with rule 15.11 of Chapter 4, Part 5 of the Constitution, call-in could be waived where any delay likely to be caused by the call-in process would seriously prejudice the Council’s or the Public’s interests. In this case, the deadline for the submission of the final funding formula to the Department for Education (DFE) was 22 January 2025, which meant that the Council had already submitted the final formula in draft form, subject to final approval by the Cabinet. On this occasion it was proposed that the call-in period be waived to prevent any further delay confirming the Cabinet’s decision to the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) and to allow the authority to implement the funding formula changes in accordance with the regulations. The Chairperson of the Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Committee had agreed that the decisions proposed were reasonable in all the circumstances and to them being treated as a matter of urgency and to waive call-in.

Reasons:

The local authority is required to implement the Final Funding Formula changes for 2025-26 in accordance with the regulations and to inform the Education Skills Funding Agency.