Correspondence

ESFA Update academies: 12 July 2023

Published 12 July 2023

Applies to England

1. Information: related party transaction reporting requirements are changing

From 1 September 2023, related party transaction (RPT) reporting requirements are changing:

• The approval threshold for RPTs increases to £40,000 per transaction. The cumulative total for multiple transactions with the same supplier is removed.

• RPTs with a college/university/school that is a trust sponsor, or with state-funded schools/ colleges, no longer require ESFA approval, regardless of value, but must be declared in advance via the online form.

Contracts with related parties must still be reported in advance using the online form.

Transactions starting before the end of August 2023 can be submitted until 31 August via the online form. Academy Trust Handbook (ATH) 2022 requirements will apply.

ATH 2023 requirements will automatically apply to transactions starting on or after 1 September 2023 submitted via the online form.

To find out more, please join ESFA’s RPT Power Hour on 2 August.

2. Information: Manage your education and skills funding (MYESF) will use DfE Sign-in from 21 August 2023

Signing in to Manage your education and skills funding (MYESF) will be changing from 21 August 2023.

As a MYESF user, you will need a Department for Education (DfE) Sign-in account to continue using the service.

An email notifying you of this change will be sent to the email address linked to your IDAMs account from DfE Sign-in.

If you are a registered MYESF user and have not received an email by 14 August 2023, check your spam and junk folders or contact us using the DfE Sign-in help form.

Whilst this change will not affect the way MYESF works and what you can do once you sign in, your IDAMS roles will be known as sub-services in DfE Sign-in and will look different. To understand these role changes to sub-services, visit Help with role changes in Manage your education and skills funding (MYESF).

Also, as part of this change, you will not be able to access the apprenticeship service for providers directly from MYESF. You will need to access it using this link with your existing IDAMS log-in until it is available again via MYESF later in the year.

Get more information on DfE Sign-in.

3. Information: National Tutoring Programme (NTP) year-end statement opens on Monday 4 September

All organisations that received the 2022 to 2023 NTP grant are required to complete a year-end statement, which is available from Monday 4 September.

We will email you when the form opens and provide guidance on how to complete it. You must complete the form by Friday 29 September, even if you did not use any of your NTP funding. Failure to submit your form will result in your full funding allocation being recovered by the ESFA.

Next term, we are hosting webinars to support schools to deliver tutoring, which will include guidance on how to complete the year-end statement.

Both webinars will contain the same content and you can register here:

• Wednesday 13 September 2023 - 12:30 to 13:15
• Friday 15 September 2023 - 12:30 to 13:15

If you have any other queries, please contact the NTP support desk.

4. Information: support with school buying over summer

DfE’s Get help buying for schools service is available throughout the summer to support you with buying for your school. If you are planning ahead for Autumn 2024, contact our procurement experts who can support you buying goods and services for your school or MAT.

Don’t just take our word for it! In our latest Buying for schools blog post on GOV.UK, Jason Murgatroyd, Executive Head at Grangetown Primary School in Middlesbrough, shares his positive experience of using Get help buying for schools to buy catering and cleaning.