Correspondence

ESFA e-bulletin for schools, colleges, local authorities and other 16 to 19 providers: 13 July 2017

Published 13 July 2017

This correspondence was withdrawn on 23 December 2019

This has been withdrawn as it’s out of date. The EFA e-bulletin has been replaced by ESFA Update.

Applies to England

1. Action: fire safety questionnaire

We would like to remind providers that have yet to complete the fire safety questionnaire to do so immediately. We have written to all providers to request the questionnaire is completed as soon as possible. It is essential for all providers to complete the questionnaire as part of the government-wide review of fire safety.

If you need help accessing the questionnaire, please email enquiries.efa@education.gov.uk.

All colleges that have reported that they might have cladding risk issues must confirm by Friday 14 July whether or not they have cladding that meets any of these conditions:

• on buildings that are higher than 18 metres or are residential (any height)
• the cladding is made from aluminium composite material, metal or if not known

It is vital that those colleges send confirmation by 5pm on Friday. If any colleges have discovered, since completing the questionnaire, that they might have cladding that meets any of the above conditions they should write immediately to enquiries@efa.education.gov.uk.

2. Information: technical education work placement funding

On Thursday, 6 July, Education Secretary Justine Greening confirmed a £50 million investment from April 2018 to fund high-quality work placements, a key component of every T-Level, to help prepare young people for skilled work.

All 16 to 19 students following a new technical education route will be entitled to a substantial work placement to arm them with the technical skills that they need to give them the best possible chance for entering skilled employment.

This funding will be available to providers currently delivering the technical programmes we expect could evolve over time to T-Levels. Guidance and details of provider eligibility will be issued in September.

Further information is available on GOV.UK.

3. Information: sixth-form college key financial indicator dashboard

We have uploaded an updated key financial indicator dashboard for sixth-form colleges on the Information Exchange. The dashboard is available as a PDF and can be downloaded from the document exchange, 2016/17 finance and payments folder.

To access the document exchange log into the Information Exchange and choose the document exchange tab at the top of the page. For support and guidance about the Information Exchange, please visit our support page.

If you have any queries, please contact us using our online enquiry form.

4. Information: June 2017 release of 16 to 18 FE data and management information for local authorities

Local authorities (LAs) can now access the June 2017 release of 16 to 18 FE data and management information pivot tables on the Information Exchange.

This can be found in the document exchange in the revenue funding folder under AY 2016-17. Please note that the information has only been uploaded for those LAs that have returned a signed data sharing agreement. The purpose of the release is to update LAs’ overview of provision.

For support and guidance about the Information Exchange, please visit our support page. If you have any queries, please contact us using our online enquiry form.

5. Information: update on business cases for 2017 to 2018 academic year post-16 funding allocations

We have reviewed and confirmed the outcomes of most business cases received, relating to post-16 funding allocations for the 2017 to 2018 academic year. Only cases which were submitted after the published deadline or where we are still waiting for additional information from institutions are outstanding. Once we have received this information we will review business cases and respond within 4 weeks.

Where allocations have been updated following a business case, a revised allocation statement will be available on the Information Exchange in the revenue funding folder under AY 2017-18 (2017/18).

If you have any queries about the outcome of your case, please contact us using our online enquiry form.

6. Information: customer engagement user research

Many thanks to those of you who have already volunteered to host or attend one of our customer engagement focus groups, or to be interviewed by phone.

As you will be aware, we are looking at how we engage with our customers. We want to understand your experience of engaging with us, identify what works well for you and where we may need to make improvements. To achieve this aim we would like to speak with you directly.

We still have a few spaces on focus groups and for interviews. Volunteers should ideally be people who have the most contact with ESFA within your organisation.

If you are able to take part, either in a focus group or on the phone, please contact us at ESFA@education.gov.uk by 12pm on Friday, 14 July.

User group(s)	Host and area	Date and time
Local authorities, maintained schools and academies	Kent County Council, South East – Swanley	Tuesday, 18 July at 11.30am to 2pm
Local authorities, maintained schools and academies	Tupton Hall School, North – Chesterfield	Thursday, 20 July at 10am to 12.30pm
FE colleges and sixth forms	College of North West London	Wednesday, 19 July at 10am to 12.30pm
FE colleges and sixth forms	Prior Pursglove and Stockton Sixth Form College (Stockton Campus)	Monday, 17 July at 2pm to 4.30pm
Training providers (independent and charitable)	Appris Management Limited, North East – Bradford	Tuesday, 25 July at 2pm to 4.30pm
Training providers (independent and charitable)	Qube learning, Midlands – Abingdon	Monday, 31 July at 10am to 12.30pm