ESFA e-bulletin for schools, colleges, local authorities and other 16 to 19 providers: 1 December 2017
Published 1 December 2017
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2017
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/esfa-e-bulletin-1-december-2017-issue-197/esfa-e-bulletin-for-schools-colleges-local-authorities-and-other-16-to-19-providers-1-december-2017
1. Reminder: submitting college finance records for 2016 to 2017 by 31 December 2017
Colleges must submit their 2016 to 2017 audited financial statements and supporting documentation to ESFA by 31 December 2017.
The following documents should be submitted to PRA.Financialhealth@education.gov.uk and follow the naming conventions below.
| Document type | File naming convention |
|---|---|
| Audited annual report and financial statements. | UKPRN_FS_1617_college code |
| A scanned copy of the finance record cover sheet signed by the accounting officer. | UKPRN_FRsigned_1617_college code |
| The unsigned finance record excel workbook. | UKPRN_FR_1617_college code |
| External auditor’s management letter including the college’s response. | UKPRN_ML_1617_college code |
| Annual report of the college’s audit committee. | UKPRN_ACAR_1617_college code |
| Where appropriate, audited annual report and financial statements of subsidiary company accounts, if submitting accounts information for more than one subsidiary, please amend the file name to sub2 etc. | UKPRN_FSsub1_1617_college code |
| Any other supporting documents. | UKPRN_[brief description]_1617_college code |
The subject field of your submission email should include the college name and ‘1617 Finance Record’.
For further information or related queries, please contact the ESFA enquiry service.
2. Reminder: November school workforce census
Friday, 1 December 2017 is the deadline for submission of the school workforce census. Please submit your return now if you have not done so.
If you have made any amendments to your data and the status is ‘loaded and validated’ or ‘amended by source’ please do not forget to press submit.
2.1 How to complete the school workforce census.
You’ll find all the guidance you need to submit the school workforce census on GOV.UK. This includes:
- links to the latest:
- guide for school-employed staff
- guidance video (new)
- guide for staff employed centrally
- COLLECT guides and COLLECT report guides
- notepad entries for COLLECT queries
-
what to do if you’re having access problems with COLLECT
- how to get support from the helpdesk
2.2 Multi Academy Trusts, (MAT): staff working in specific schools:
MATs must include staff in each of their individual schools’ returns in which they work and are paid. Staff who split their time between different schools, should be included in each return including the contract details relevant to the school (role, hours, pay etc).
If you have any queries regarding the school workforce census collection please contact the helpdesk using the service request form. Thank you to those who have already provided their return.
3. Reminder: Individualised Learner Record R04 2017 to 2018
The Individualised Learner Record (ILR) R04 data collection for 2017 to 2018 academic year closes on 6 December 2017. This is a key return for the calculation of funding allocations for 2018 to 2019 so please ensure that you make an accurate and timely return in line by the deadline. We will use 2017 to 2018 data within the calculation of the high needs national funding formula for local authorities so institutions should ensure that students with high needs are recorded correctly in line with the ILR specification.
In accordance with the advice in ILR funding returns paragraph 17, you should use our Provider Data Self-Assessment Toolkit (PDSAT) reports.
In particular, ILR data for the following report numbers should be checked before submitting the R04 return:
- Report 17E-202 (learners with high weekly study hours)
- Report 17E-203 (learners with high planned hours in-year)
We have published a suite of materials to support you to return accurate and timely data.
4. Information: Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) 2018 to 2019 helpline
The CIF 2018 to 2019 helpline will open from 9:00 am Monday 4 December 2017 on 01325 340947.
The helpline will be available Monday to Friday 9am to 4.30pm.This is to assist you with any problems you may have accessing your CIF portal account. It will also provide help if you are experiencing issues submitting your application.
The deadline for submitting an application to CIF 2018 to 2019 is 12 noon on Thursday 14 December 2017.
Please use the ESFA enquiries contact form for all other CIF enquiries, such as monitoring returns, loans or scope changes.
5. Information: consultation on the implementation of T level programmes
In July 2016, the government published the report of the Independent Panel on Technical Education and the Post-16 Skills Plan on how to reform the technical education system.
We outlined our commitment to co-creating the next phase of T level implementation in the T level Action Plan and we are pleased to announce the launch of the DfE public consultation on the implementation of T level programmes.
The consultation focuses on the next level of detail for the implementation of T levels and how they can be designed to work for providers, employers and students. We are inviting everyone with an interest in technical education reforms to contribute.
The consultation will last for ten weeks and will close in February 2018. We are also planning to run consultation events during January, dates of these events will be published in December.
6. Information: updated dedicated schools grant (DSG) allocations for 2017 to 2018
The Education and Skills Funding Agency has updated the DSG allocations to local authorities for the financial year 2017 to 2018, to take account of academy conversions from August to November 2017. These updates were reflected in DSG payments to local authorities from 22 November.
7. Information: 2016 to 2017 R14 reconciliation statements
We have uploaded 2016 to 2017 individualised learner record (ILR) R14 reconciliation statements for independent learning providers (ILPs) and further education colleges to the ESFA Information Exchange.
The statement is available in the ‘Revenue Funding’ folder, under ‘AY 2016-17’. You can access the document exchange by logging into ESFA Information Exchange, and choosing the Document Exchange tab at the top of the page. For support and guidance about the ESFA Information Exchange, please visit our support page.
For ILPs only, and where applicable, we will pay any remaining responsive growth for over delivery in 2016 to 2017 in accordance with the rules set out in ILR funding returns 2016 to 2017. We have scheduled these payments for December 2017 for ILPs that have submitted both ILR R14 returns and a final claim form and whose data has been validated by the ESFA.
If you have any questions about the reconciliation process, please submit your query using the online enquiry form.
8. Information: gender pay gap reporting
The new reporting requirements for public bodies are set out in the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties and Public Authorities) Regulations 2017. If your organisation is covered by the reporting requirements, you need to report your data by 30 March 2018 on the government’s online reporting service, as well as on your own website.
If your organisation is in-scope of the regulations, please register to report your pay gap data as soon as possible.
You can read further information about the gender pay gap campaign.