Correspondence

ESFA Update academies: 10 May 2023

Published 10 May 2023

Applies to England

1. Information: academies financial returns go live and submission dates for 2023

Please make a note of the following schedule for the academy trusts financial returns online forms.

The budget forecast return (BFR) for 2023 will go live week commencing Monday 5 June 2023. The deadline for submission is Thursday 31 August 2023, as previously announced.

The land and buildings collection tool (LBCT) for 2023 will go live on Tuesday 3 October 2023. The deadline for submission is Tuesday 7 November 2023.

The academies accounts return (AR) for 2022 to 2023 will go live on Tuesday 12 September 2023 2022. The deadline for submission is Tuesday 30 January 2024.

For more details use the above hyperlinks to visit each of the financial return’s webpage.

2. Information: academies budget forecast return (BFR) guidance

The academies budget and forecast return (BFR) guidance has now been published.

The BFR form will go-live week commencing 5 June 2023 and has a deadline of 31 August 2023. We will email all registered users once the BFR is ready for you to use.

To find out more about the support and guidance the ESFA offers academy trusts visit the School Resource Management page on GOV.UK. This includes details ranging from estates management advice to buying guides) and how to join or create your own school professionals network.

We want to understand trusts forecasts, so we can more effectively support a financially healthy sector. The return provides us with an assurance that trusts are undertaking strategic budget planning, following best practice, and helps ESFA understand which trusts may benefit from further support.

3. Information: clarifying your remittance advice for schools supplementary grant and maintained schools additional grant

Remittance advice we issued to academies in the week commencing 2 May 2023 contained incorrect details.

The remittance advice should have stated that one of the grants to be paid on 10 May 2023 is the mainstream schools additional grant (MSAG). This is the first payment for the 2023 to 2024 financial year, (covering the April to August 2023 period).

The other grant is the schools supplementary grant (SSG) for academies, covering the April to August 2023 period before the grant is rolled into the national funding formula core funding.

We are sorry for any confusion that this may have caused.

School-level allocations of the MSAG for the full 2023 to 2024 financial year were recently published on GOV.UK.

Allocations and guidance relating to the SSG are also available on GOV.UK.

4. Information: 16 to 19 tuition fund 2023 to 2024 claim form

The 16 to 19 tuition fund 2023 to 2024 opt in/out digital form is now live.

The deadline for your submission is 11:59pm on 26 May 2023.

We’ve published guidance to access and help you complete the form.

5. Information: update on the Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) for 2023 to 2024

For the CIF 2023 to 2024 round, we are aiming to announce the outcomes by the end of May 2023, and following this announcement we will be holding a live interactive webinar.

The webinar is for responsible bodies with successful projects in the CIF 2023 to 2024 funding round. Our aim is help you understand the reporting actions you need to take while delivering your CIF project so that you can continue to receive payments in line with your project spend.

The webinar will be held via Microsoft Teams, with an opportunity for some Q&A, and is aimed at anyone who is responsible for overseeing, managing, or reporting on CIF projects (accounting officers, business managers, project managers).

It will also offer practical advice on how to make sure that you are taking an appropriate level of oversight of the project and reporting progress on the CIF portal.

We will write to you shortly with further details.

6. Information: do the fire doors in your school meet the required safety standards?

Julie Noble and Joanne Rafferty conduct on-site fire risk assessments every day in schools as part of the RPA resilience measures. In our latest Buying for Schools blog post, they will guide you through how to check and make sure your fire doors are up to the required safety standards.

7. Information: it’s not too late, have you got your ticket for the Schools and Academies Show on 17 May?

It’s not too late to register and join the DfE Schools Commercial Team at the Schools and Academies Show, London Excel on Wednesday 17 May.

The team will be hosting a session at the show:

• 10 – 10:30: How Get help buying for schools can help your school (Business and Finance theatre)

You can also speak directly to the team and join our mini sessions at the Government Education Village:

• 13:50 – 14:10: Energy and your school
• 14:20 – 14:40: Is your school cyber secure?

Registration is free for schools, multi-academy trusts and the wider public sector.

8. Information: Buying for Schools webinars – book your place now

Are you a school business professional who buys goods and services for your school?

We host regular webinars on how using our approved frameworks could help your school get value for money. Click on the links to find out more and book your place:

• Buying cleaning services for your school through YPO – 24 May
• Buying catering services for your school through YPO – 24 May
• Buying synthetic sports facilities for your school – 24 May

You can find the full programme of webinars for the summer term on the Summer 2023 webinar page. Visit the page to find out more and book your place.

9. Information: book a 1:1 chat to discuss your school’s buying needs – spaces available on 23 May

Schools Commercial Team are offering the opportunity for a free, virtual 1:1 conversation with a member of the team, to see how we can support you.

You can speak to us about anything you like to help you make informed buying choices for your school.

There is no pressure or obligation to take any of our recommendations forward following the conversation. Book your 1:1 conversation now.

10. Your feedback: take part in research to improve the School resource management self-assessment checklist (SRMSAC)

ESFA and DfE would like to find out how the SRMSAC could better meet your needs.

The survey is open to anyone involved in SRMSAC, including trustees. If you’ve been involved in completing or using the SRMSAC, you can participate by:

1. Completing a short survey. The survey should take around 5 to 10 minutes to complete.

2. Taking part in an online interview with a user researcher. To register for this:

• Read the Participant Information Sheet and complete the Consent Form
• We will contact you to arrange a convenient time slot with a user researcher. Sessions last no longer than an hour and are running until 22 May 2023.

Getting involved will help us understand your needs and improve our services to you.

If you have any questions, please email us.