3 February 2015 weekly update

New contact number for Early Help and Preventative Services 

KCC is moving to a new communications system and old extension numbers are being deleted. 

From Monday 2 February, the Early Help contact number will be: 03000 419222 

Anyone calling 01622 221222 will hear a recorded message advising them of the change and asking them to call 03000 419222. We have asked for this recorded message to be in place for the next month. Please see information on the Early Help webpages. 

High Needs Funding 

Following our consultation with schools in November regarding changes to High Needs funding for 2015-16 financial year, I am now in a position to update you following the decision by the School Funding Forum. 

In response to the DfE's Schools Funding Reform changes, introduced in April 2013, we are required to change the way we determine eligibility for high needs pupil funding. 

Twelve months ago, with support from the Schools' Funding Forum, we established a working group consisting of senior leaders from Kent schools and academies. The group's remit was to establish a DfE compliant process for identifying High Needs pupils and providing schools with top up funding for pupils with additional support costing more than £6000 a year. Their contribution to the shaping of our proposals has been extremely helpful and valuable, and a number of benefits from the current process have been highlighted. 

In line with Government guidance, we consulted on these new proposals to change the way eligibility for high needs funding is determined from 1 April 2015. In December we held two briefing sessions for Headteachers, Governors, SENCO's and Business Managers. The consultation closed on the 12 December and the LA received a relatively small number of written responses, as well as the feedback in meetings. 

Overall the responses were positive about the proposals and supported the recommended option. Feedback suggests that the case for change is well set out and schools were particularly positive about some of the benefits offered by the proposed system, namely:

• A stronger focus on earlier intervention and earlier access to additional resources to support pupils with high needs
• Less reliance on a statutory process to obtain top up funding
• Better targeting of the funding matched to pupil needs 

The Schools' Funding Forum and Cabinet Members considered these proposals during the consultation period and both groups fully supported the LA preferred option. 

The decision therefore is to:

• introduce a new system from 1 April 2015 for schools to claim high needs funding from the LA.
• lower the threshold when schools can submit an application for high needs funding, from a statement of 25 hours or more to the cost of interventions exceeding £6,000. 

As the overall estimated cost of meeting the needs of these pupils with additional top up funding was likely to be about £10m in excess of what we currently spend, and there was no other funding available apart from the DSG, this change has required a small change to the funding allocated under the prior attainment factor in the school funding formula. 

These changes will be reflected in your school budget which we are aiming to publish at the end of February, once the EFA have confirmed compliance with financial regulations. 

A simple online application process for high needs funding has been developed, which we piloted with a number of schools, and this will be live from April. Julie Ely, Head of SEN, has explained the new process at all the recent 2 KELSI schools e-bulletin | 3 February 2015 | www.kelsi.org.uk District Headteacher Meetings. Details have also been shared with SENCOs in area briefings. For further information please contact Julie.Ely@kent.gov.uk or Louise.Langley@kent.gov.uk. Louise will manage the team that will administer the process from April