Guidance

ESFA post-16 provider relief scheme (July to October) COVID-19 response: policy document

Updated 25 June 2020

This guidance was withdrawn on 5 September 2022

This page has been withdrawn as the scheme is now closed.

Applies to England

1. Summary and purpose

ESFA recognises that training providers are faced with enormous challenges caused by the outbreak of COVID-19. ESFA has taken steps to ensure that suppliers can continue to deliver education and training during the coronavirus pandemic. ESFA are now preparing for the recovery and transition to new ways of operating. During this period we will continue to provide payment measures in the form of a supplier relief scheme and at the same time work in partnership with suppliers to develop transition plans to exit from relief as soon as is reasonably possible.

Following the publication of Procurement Policy Note 04/20 Recovery and Transition from COVID-19 on 9 June 2020 (PPN 04/20) eligible training providers who need access to supplier relief during the period July to October 2020 can apply for support through this relief scheme. Eligible training providers who received supplier relief from the ESFA during April to June 2020 will need to re-apply if they wish to be considered for further supplier relief. Those providers that applied but who were unsuccessful may wish to reapply if their circumstances have changed.

In offering supplier relief, the aim is to continue to retain capacity within the apprenticeships and adult education sector to deliver the skills needed to support economic recovery post-pandemic. As part of that, ESFA also want to support training providers to maintain delivery to and support for existing learners and employers and enable new learners to enrol.

In addition, training providers applying for support must be able to demonstrate how they are going to update and change delivery models, using the flexibilities that have been introduced by ESFA, which enable learners, employers and their apprentices to continue to benefit from the development of new skills. Training providers will need to consider how they will continue to operate without further relief during and after the extended period of the supplier relief scheme and we will require information on these plans from those providers who receive support under the scheme.

2. Expiry or review date

This document will be withdrawn on 31 October 2020. If you have this document in a saved, offline or hard copy format, you are advised to check on GOV.UK to ensure that you are using the most up to date version of the publication.

3. Who is this policy publication for?

This document is primarily aimed at senior leaders of eligible further education colleges, independent training providers, higher education institutions and other organisations who hold contracts for services to deliver adult education budget and / or apprenticeship provision for smaller employers that do not pay the levy (non-levy) which has been procured in accordance with the Public Contract Regulations 2015.

4. Key points

The main points of this policy document are:

• training providers must make every effort to continue to deliver education and training to their existing apprentices and learners, including contact with and support for those learners and employers where delivery cannot continue or commence due to restrictions caused by COVID-19. For clarity, this includes apprentices that have been furloughed or made redundant

• training providers must be able to demonstrate how they will implement strategies to ensure that future delivery models are able to meet the needs of apprentices, learners, and employers

• PPN 02/20 and 04/20 sets out information and guidance for contracting authorities on payment of their suppliers to ensure service continuity during and after the current coronavirus, Covid-19 outbreak. The ESFA has put in place short term financial measures in accordance with PPN 02/20 and PPN04/20 to support eligible training providers cash flow during this time based on an assessment of need

• we will calculate a funding cap for each training provider requesting support from the scheme. The funding cap will be applied to the amount requested by the training provider

• the cap will be based on a period is deemed most appropriate by the ESFA. Existing maximum contract values (MCV) continue to apply for the relevant academic year and the providers funding cap cannot exceed 25% of the MCV even where the average earnings exceed this

• funds claimed through this relief scheme will cover 2 academic years. Training providers accessing support will need to ensure eligible costs are evidenced for 2019 to 2020 and / or 2020 to 2021 as appropriate

• the relief scheme will apply to activity undertaken in July, August, September, and October 2020 and paid in the subsequent month. Funding through this relief scheme will be paid on top of the regular payment claimed via the ILR. The total of the 2 payments will not exceed the provider’s funding cap. If the payment claimed through the ILR exceeds the funding cap, no further payments will be provided for that month

• training providers who received funding from the first post-16 provider relief scheme should note that the 25% MCV limit applies to the period April to October 2020. As this relief scheme covers 2 academic years, for AEB we will calculate your 25% MCV using the funding envelope 2 (April to July 2020) and funding envelope 1 (August to March 2021)

• where the training provider is claiming other funds from wider financial support for business, this offer cannot be used to cover the same costs. In some circumstances other support measures may be more appropriate, and details of those schemes can be found in coronavirus (COVID-19): financial support for education, early years and children’s social care published on 17 April 2020

• eligible training providers can apply for funding to support staff returning from furlough where they are now needed to support learners. From 1 July 2020, as per the coronavirus job retention scheme (“CJRS”) guidance (published 26 March 2020 and updated 29 May 2020), you may bring staff back to work shorter hours / different shift patterns from their contracted working pattern. Where this is the case, you may apply for funding for the actual costs incurred, whilst claiming from CJRS for the proportion of contracted hours that they are not working. You should note that should double funding be identified at a later date this will be recovered

• to be eligible for support, training providers must deliver quality education and training provision, meet the eligibility criteria of the scheme (set out below) and have submitted their latest annual financial statements for assessment to the ESFA no later than 9 months after your year end, in order for an assessment of financial need to be made

• training providers who apply and are offered support through the relief scheme will be required to accept additional terms and conditions of funding in accordance with the change control clauses contained in the contracts and agreed by both parties. The Model Interim Payment Terms attached to PPN 02/20, adapted to meet the additional requirements of PPN 04/20 as required will be used as the basis for the contract variations

• training providers receiving support from this scheme must be prepared to provide all evidence of spend for future reconciliation and provide ‘open book’ access to accounting records, upon which their application is based

• training providers receiving support from this scheme must be prepared to provide forecast financial information with an accompanying commentary to demonstrate their plans for sustainability over the coming year

5. Terminology

Where this policy document refers to ’we’ this should be taken to mean the ESFA.

Use of the term ’training provider’ in this document should be taken to mean any provider type who delivers education and training that is eligible to benefit from this support package as set out in this policy document.

6. Scheme eligibility

To be eligible to receive support from the relief scheme you must hold one of the following contracts directly with the ESFA that was procured as a service under Public Contract Regulations 2015. This applies to apprenticeship contracts that commenced in January 2018, for delivery to smaller employers that do not pay the levy (non-levy), and adult education budget contract for services that commenced in November 2017.

In addition, applicants will only be able to seek support from this scheme where they meet all the following requirements:

• have 2018 to 2019 qualification achievement rates which are above 40%. However, providers with rates below that can submit an exceptional case that they are a critical supplier based on niche provision. Further information on the criteria for exception cases can be found in the application guidance
• have submitted their latest financial accounts to the ESFA where these are due by 19 June 2020
• not been judged by Ofsted as making insufficient progress as a result of a new provider monitoring visit which resulted in a suspension on new starts
• delivered under the contract prior to April 2020
• plan to deliver learning under the contract in July, August, September and October 2020, and demonstrate the ability to continue to deliver without additional support from November
• not furloughed the staff required to deliver the contract (you are eligible to apply to the relief scheme if staff are fully or partially withdrawn from any claim for furlough if such a claim has been made when they return to work); and
  • not received a notice of termination from the ESFA to terminate the provider’s AEB or non-levy contract

Training providers who hold a contract for services to deliver apprenticeships to smaller employers (non-levy), must also be listed on the register of apprenticeship training providers (RoATP) as a main provider.

Only training providers who meet the scheme criteria will be eligible to receive support under the Relief Scheme. If a training provider in receipt of support from the Relief Scheme no longer meets the criteria, they will cease to be eligible.

7. Terms and conditions of the scheme

Providers will need to meet several conditions to claim funding under the relief scheme, and the associated contract for services:

• meet all the provider eligibility criteria

• continue to deliver education and training to their existing apprentices and learners including contact with and support for those learners and employers where delivery cannot continue or commence due to restrictions caused by COVID-19. For clarity, this includes apprentices that have been furloughed or made redundant

• provide declarations in relation to compliance with delivery requirements to retain and provide relevant evidence of the activities delivered and costs incurred and agreement to submit a final claim and repay any over-payment or funds that were not defrayed in the month requested

• submit a schedule of expected costs in respect of the planned delivery during the extended period of the relief scheme and plan for the transition to a new sustainable operating model during this period

• continue to submit an accurate ILR return on time each month. Where providers fail to submit an ILR provider relief funds will not be paid

• only claim for funds from the coronavirus job retention scheme for staff time which are not included in this relief scheme or through regular payments for delivery received from ESFA

• continue to pay subcontractors, end point assessment organisations and awarding organisations in accordance with their existing obligations

• submit a final claim, including a schedule of costs in respect of actual delivery for reconciliation purposes and retain appropriate supporting documentation

• agree to open book accounting and acknowledge that its application and supporting documentation will be subject to compliance checks and may be subject to in-scheme and / or post scheme audit in addition to the audit of the final claim

• supply 12-months actual and forecast financial information with a supporting narrative

• an application must be submitted on behalf of the training provider by someone with the authority to request the funds such as the Chief Executive Officer or Finance Director

8. Further information

We will publish further detailed information about the provider relief scheme in the application guidance, including details of the scheme criteria and eligible costs that can be claimed and associated contractual terms and conditions.

We expect that this support will discontinue after 31 October 2020 in line with Cabinet Office guidance.