Council and democracy

Hertfordshire Schools Forum

The Hertfordshire Schools’ Forum is established in accordance with Section 47a of the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 and the Schools Forums (England) Regulations. The Forum is a statutory advisory body in relation to the Schools Budget as defined in Section 41 of the Children Act 2002 and set annually by Hertfordshire County Council.

Who attends the Forum?

There must be a minimum of 16 members, comprising school and non-school members.

The schools members comprise:

• 4 primary school headteachers
• 4 secondary school headteachers
• 2 special school headteachers
• 1 nursery school headteacher
• 2 primary school governors
• 2 secondary school governors

At least one of the above will represent a voluntary aided school.

The non-schools members comprise:

• Chair of Education Panel
• 1 representative of 14-19 partnerships
• 2 managers/headteachers of PVI Early Years Settings
• 1 Education Support Centre headteacher

A nominated representative of the Hertfordshire LSC and the Executive Member for Education is invited to attend every meeting of the Forum as an observer.

What are the main functions and powers of the Schools Forum?

The main functions are:

• To be consulted on the funding formula
• To be consulted on issues in connection with the Schools Budget
• To be consulted on service contracts where the costs will be met from the Schools budget

The Secretary of State has devolved powers to the Schools Forum to approve proposals of the authority the following areas:

• Changes to the operation of the Minimum Funding Guarantee where it affects schools with less than 50% of the county's pupils on roll. Any variations that impact on more schools must be referred to the Secretary of State


• The level of school specific contingencies


• The retention and levels of certain items of central expenditure including funding for Combined Services, servicing the costs of a prudential borrowing scheme, premature retirement and redundancy costs and SEN transport costs


• Variations to the level of the Central Expenditure Limit


• Implementation of unplanned changes to funding formulae within a multi year funding period


• Changes to the authority's Scheme for Financing Schools.

When does the Schools Forum meet?

The following table shows the date, time and location of the Schools Forum meetings:

Date	Time	Venue
21 January 2009	1.00pm - 4.00pm	Robertson House, Stevenage
25 February 2009	1.00pm - 4.00pm	County Hall, Hertford
22 April 2009	1.00pm - 4.00pm	Robertson House, Stevenage
3 June 2009	1.00pm - 4.00pm	MEETING CANCELLED
1 July 2009	1.00pm - 5.00pm	Robertson House, Stevenage
16 September 2009	1.00pm - 4.00pm	Robertson House, Stevenage
21 October 2009	1.00pm - 4.00pm	Robertson House, Stevenage
9 December 2009	1.00pm - 4.00pm	Robertson House, Stevenage