Correspondence

ESFA Update local authorities: 15 June 2022

Published 15 June 2022

This correspondence was withdrawn on 27 December 2023

This has been withdrawn as it’s out of date. Read the latest editions of ESFA Update for the latest news and information.

Applies to England

1. Action: the no recourse to public funds: free school meals additional pupil premium claim form is now live

The no recourse to public funds: free school meals additional pupil premium claim form is now live.

The deadline to submit your claim is 11.59pm on Friday, 8 July 2022.

We have published guidance to help you complete the claim form.

You can read more information on providing free school meals to families with no recourse to public funds (NRPF) on GOV.UK.

2. Action: the school-led tutoring transfer of funding form for local authorities

The school-led tutoring: report your transfer of grant form is now live.  
 
You will need to act if you have transferred school-led tutoring funds to any Independent Special School(s).

The deadline for your submission is 11.59pm on Friday, 15 July 2022.

We have published guidance to help you complete the form.

You can read more on the School-led tutoring grant page.

3. Action: get help buying for schools – free 1 to 1 procurement advice and support

We are offering the opportunity for a free virtual 1 to 1 conversation with an experienced procurement expert from the Get help buying schools team, to see how best we can support your buying needs.

We can provide advice and support on ICT, energy, MFDs, catering, cleaning, furniture, facilities management and much more, helping you buy compliantly, save time and secure great value.

Book your free 1:1 conversation now.

4. Action: join these webinars on approved frameworks and see how you could save money for your school

The Department for Education (DfE) is hosting webinars on how using our approved frameworks could help your school get value for money.

If you are responsible for buying goods and services for your schools, check out the range of informative webinars that could help you save time and money.

All sessions are free, use these Eventbrite links to join the Schools Commercial Team and take the opportunity to ask providers the questions you may have:

• Hiring supply teachers and agency workers
• Find out how to make every pound count when buying goods and services for your school
• Find out more about sustainable print marketplace options for your school?
• Find out more about the alternatives available to traditional grass pitches
• Is your school looking to renew and/or set up a new cleaning contract?

Follow our ‘Buying for Schools’ LinkedIn page to learn more about how we can support your school to buy goods and services. Information: local authority Post 16 grant return for 2021 to 2022  financial year

Local authorities are required to submit their signed Post 16 grant return in the template issued to all local authority chief financial officers copied to chief executives on 31 May 2022, by email to academiesfinancialmonitoring.efa@education.gov.uk by 30 June 2022.

5. Information: local authority post-16 grant return for 2021 to 2022  financial year

Local authorities are required to submit their signed post-16 grant return in the template issued to all local authority chief financial officers copied to chief executives on 31 May 2022, by email to academiesfinancialmonitoring.efa@education.gov.uk by 30 June 2022.

6. Information: additional funding for newly qualified teachers completing induction between summer 2021 and Spring 2022

We have now published the school level allocations for establishments which qualify for the additional funding for newly qualified teachers completing their second year of induction between summer 2021 and spring 2022.

The allocations are separated by pre-16 and post-16 establishments. We expect payments to be made to local authority maintained schools (via their respective local authorities) and academies before the end of the summer term.

For any further queries please contact: continuing-professional-development@digital.education.gov.uk.

7. Information: local authority funding formulae 2022 to 2023 publication - analysis of local authorities’ schools block funding formulae

We’ve published information showing local authorities’ funding formulae for allocating dedicated schools grant (DSG). This is for allocating DSG funding for 2022 to 2023 to academies and mainstream schools in local authority areas. The information can be accessed on GOV.UK.

These formulae determine school budget share (SBS) funding for:

• mainstream maintained schools for the 2022 to 2023 financial year
• academies for the 2022 to 2023 academic year

We’ve also published a report providing further information and brief commentary.

8. Information: have you seen the new strategy, ‘school resource management: building a stronger system’?

On 10 June, we published a new school resource management (SRM) strategy setting out our approach to supporting and empowering schools, academy trusts, local authorities (LA) and LA-maintained schools to get the best value from all their resources.

The new strategy and growing suite of SRM tools and services has been developed in partnership with the sector and in response to feedback and user research. It recognises the excellent practice that already exists in many schools and sets out our plans to continue embedding this across the whole system.

On Wednesday 15 June we are holding the first ever SRM summit, a full-day event showcasing all aspects of the SRM offer with speeches from Minister Walker and the interim CEO of the ESFA. You can access recordings of these sessions by registering here.

If you’d like to learn more about the tools, then check out our new collection of SRM case studies which illustrate how the SRM offer has been used in practice by particular schools and academy trusts.

You can access the full SRM offer, including the new SRM strategy, at the school resource management page.

9. Information: 16 to 19 Bursary Fund

We have made an update to the 16 to 19 Bursary Fund rules about the annual checking of household income. This follows discussions with providers and recognises the administrative burden of handling large numbers of bursary applications in a short space of time, and our desire to maximise retention of students facing financial disadvantage.

We have also added some further clarification about use of the bursary fund in individual cases of severe hardship relating to food support.

Both changes are set out in more detail in the Bursary fund guide for the 2022 to 2023 academic year.

10. Information: advice for schools in preparation for planned RMT Industrial Strike Action

Face to Face learning to continue during Rail Union RMT Industrial Strike Action OR Advice for schools in preparation for planned RMT Industrial Strike Action: 21, 23 and 25 June.

On 7 June 2022, Rail union RMT announced 3 days of national strike action across the railway network, which is planned to take place on 21, 23 and 25 June. The London Underground will strike on 21 June as part of a separate mandate.

Only a small proportion of children and young people across the country travel to school by train, but those that do may be understandably concerned about the impact the industrial action planned for next week - particularly if they are due to take exams that week.

We are extremely grateful for the work that education settings are putting in to ensure children and young people continue to receive high quality, face to face education and care. One of the biggest lessons we have learned from the pandemic is that the classroom is the best place for children and young people. Schools should deliver face-to-face learning where possible during the planned strike action, rather than default back to online learning. Children have been incredibly resilient these last few years and are bouncing back with the help of their teachers.

We know that schools and colleges will make every effort to ensure that examinations for all pupils go ahead as usual and, will draw on their existing contingency arrangements in place to manage any possible disruption, including late arrival of staff or students. If this might be difficult, schools and colleges should consult awarding organisations at the earliest opportunity.

Schools and colleges may wish to revisit the JCQ additional guidance.) for centres managing exams this summer, outlining existing flexibilities as well as changes to the normal rules for conducting examinations to support centres experiencing disruption. The guidance includes additional flexibility around invigilation numbers and published start times, which could be used if an invigilator is delayed by transport disruption.

Where students arrive late, exam centres should consult awarding organisations guidance on what to do. In most cases, centres should allow students to take the paper, and exam boards will determine whether that paper can be accepted.

For VTQs, centres should consult the guidance from their specific awarding organisation.

11. Your feedback: user survey for the post-16 monitoring reports dashboard

All post-16 providers and MCAs/GLA can give feedback on the post-16 monitoring reports dashboard or from the dashboard landing page until the 24 June 2022 so take a moment to tell us what’s working and suggest changes that may make your dashboard experience even better.

Following last year’s feedback, we added the category ‘Employer provider’ to the VYED sign in page, simplified graphical and tabular displays, and incorporated the Known Issues log.

This is your opportunity to tell us how you find your way around the funding monitoring reports and guidance, manage to download and filter data, and how useful the graphs and tables are.

So far, we’ve received wide ranging feedback and would like to encourage providers to perhaps consult their colleagues, view the dashboard together, consider their answers carefully and submit a team reply.