The 0.5% block transfer – decision made

Schools were consulted at the end of last year on the transfer of 0.5% between council funding blocks for 2025-26. 164 schools (82%) disagreed with the transfer from the schools block to the high needs block.

The Schools Forum (DEF) therefore rejected the transfer as they wished to act as a body representative of schools and leadership and additionally, as identified by the Schools Finance Group, “school leaders had not felt that previous investment of the block transfer had impacted on their school directly.”

There was also concern raised that the proposals would mean that some schools were being punished for the actions of others, with 0.5% representing a significant degree of funding to be taken away from schools, many of which have good practices regarding inclusion and SEND. It was felt that taking away that funding would be to the detriment of schools’ abilities to make a difference on the ground. Devon however, wishes to invest further in a support offer for schools that generates the equivalent system savings rather than applying the block transfer directly to the deficit. So, following the decision at DEF to reject a transfer the Council then pursued the request with the DfE via a ‘disapplication’ to obtain a transfer up to 0.5%, based on the Devon safety valve intervention programme agreed with the DfE and Devon’s strategy to sustainably manage high needs funding into the future.

On 5th February the DfE made their decision and approved Devon’s request to override the decision made by DEF in January.  Devon Finance will send out an update to school’s finance staff via the Finance blog to advise on the change in funding linked to the 0.5% transfer along with ensuring the information is put on the website for school finance staff to understand the funding allocation within each school to enable them to set their 2025-26 budget. Devon believe that 101 out of 351 schools will see no impact on their budgets of a 0.5% transfer between Schools Block and High Needs Block.

Members of DEF will now hold Devon to account for how it spends the transferred funding.