Cornwall Schools Forum - 12 December 2025

The meeting opened with a statement that there were no declarations of interest. A resolution was passed, moved by Sean Pinhay and seconded by Tim Hooper, to clarify that the yearly Schools Funding Formula report for 2026/27 is produced at the end of the academic year rather than the calendar year. The minutes of the Cornwall Schools Forum held on 17 October 2025 were confirmed as correctly recorded and were to be signed by the Chairman. The Democratic Officer reported that Adrian Massey had resigned and was replaced by Matthew Symonds, and that Jo Lumbard’s resignation left one Academy vacancy.

The Head of Education Effectiveness Cornwall gave a verbal update on the work‑plan progress. Items added to upcoming agendas were the Balances Policy for the February meeting and the Music Hub end‑of‑year report for the June meeting. The revised work plan will be circulated to Forum members together with the minutes. A working group on contingency funds was proposed, and members wishing to join were asked to contact the Democratic Officer.

A presentation on the Pupil Growth Formula 2026/27 sparked several points of discussion. Members noted that the number of schools affected and the scale of impact were not disclosed, and they requested data on how threshold changes would alter funding amounts. Two funding options were outlined: Option A, which tweaks the methodology to concentrate funds on schools with the most acute pupil‑number changes, and Option B, which retains the methodology but reduces the payout for all eligible schools. Participants expressed difficulty interpreting the information and asked for an anonymised visual table. The Chairman, seconded by Tim Hooper, moved and resolved that the report be deferred to an Extraordinary meeting in January 2026. Concerns raised about the fairness of the consultation process were addressed, with the Chairman confirming adherence to the Department for Education’s representation policy and noting that the consultation survey had been circulated early enough for schools to respond.

The Finance Analyst outlined proposals for the 2026/27 funding formula, introducing a capping and scaling mechanism intended to protect small primary schools given the shortfall between Cornwall’s available funds and the national formula. The Forum voted on several items: the minimum funding guarantee was set at 0 % (moved by Sean Pinhay, seconded by Sam Davis); the basic entitlement reduction for capping school budgets was fixed at 0.25 % with a cap of 1.10