Correspondence

ESFA e-bulletin for schools, colleges, local authorities and other 16 to 19 providers: 22 March 2018

Published 22 March 2018

This correspondence was withdrawn on 23 December 2019

This has been withdrawn as it’s out of date. The EFA e-bulletin has been replaced by ESFA Update.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. Information: local authority AEB and apprenticeship funds return, and the School Financial Value Standard Assurance Statement for 2017 to 2018

We sent an e-mail to all local authorities on 15 March 2018. The email explains the process for LAs to submit 2 returns to us:

• the adult education budget (AEB) and apprenticeship funds return for 2017 to 2018, due by 30 April 2018
• the school financial value standard assurance statement for 2017 to 2018, due by 31 May 2018

We require LAs to:

• upload a Chief Financial Officer signed AEB and apprenticeship funds return to the ESFA’s Information Exchange by 30 April 2018, we have published guidance on GOV.UK
• upload the school financial value standard assurance statements to the ESFA’s Information Exchange by 31 May 2018

You should upload all files to the ESFA Information Exchange in the document exchange ‘Finance and Payments’ folder, under ‘AY 2017-18’.

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

2. Information: special post-16 institutions and non-maintained special schools revenue funding

We are starting to upload funding allocation statements to ESFA Information Exchange for special post-16 institutions (SPIs) and non-maintained special schools (NMSS) this week. All statements should be available by the end of next week except for a small number, who we will contact about their data returns.

We’re uploading allocation statements to the Document Exchange ‘revenue funding’ folder, under ‘AY 2018-19 (2018/19)’. The Document Exchange is accessible by logging into the Information Exchange, and choosing the Document Exchange tab at the top of the page. For support and guidance about Information Exchange, please visit our support page.

We have published detailed guidance to help you understand your allocation.

We will consider business cases where there is a significant error in the data you have returned. The deadline for business cases is 27 April 2018. We will apply standard minimum thresholds to decide whether we will consider your case. Please review the thresholds published in the supporting information before submitting your business case.

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

3. Information: free meals in further education guide for 2018 to 2019

We have published the free meals in further education guide for 2018 to 2019. The updated guide includes changes to eligibility for students and parents in receipt of Universal Credit.

4. Information: calling all users of Information Exchange

Thank you to all of you who have given feedback so far about the Information Exchange system. To support the research, we want to talk to a broad mix of customers in different roles and organisation types. Your input will help us make user centred improvements and prioritise future developments.

Can you give us 45 minutes of your time to help us improve Information Exchange? We are flexible and can do this over the phone, via web meeting, visit you, or you can come to us at our Coventry location.

To share your views and experience, please fill in your information in this short form so we can contact you to arrange a time and date that suits you. The form will only take a few minutes to complete and will close on 30 March 2018.

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact us at pds.mailbox@education.gov.uk.