ESFA update academies: 18 September 2019
Published 18 September 2019
Applies to England
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Action: Institute of School Business Leadership (ISBL) workforce survey
ISBL will be conducting a sector-wide workforce survey #ISBLWFS19 to gain clarity and insight into school business professionals and their practice.
If you would like to participate in this landmark survey, please complete the ISBL School Business Professional Workforce Survey.
The survey closes on 29 September.
Information: academies accounts return for 2018 to 2019: counterparty list now published
The counterparty list has now been published for trusts to prepare the data required for the accounts return 2018 to 2019.
The online form for the academies accounts return will go live on 4 November 2019. The deadline for trusts to submit their accounts return is 20 January 2020.
Information: school places and spaces conference – 12 November 2019 in Birmingham
The Department for Education and the Educational Building and Development Officers Group (EBDOG) invite representatives from local authorities, large multi-academy trusts and dioceses, to the ‘School Places and Spaces’ conference. Hear from Lord Agnew, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the School System; Rory Kennedy, Director of Capital Directorate; and Andrew Warren, Regional Schools Commissioner for the West Midlands.
There will also be a range of workshops available throughout the day on topics such as:
- estate management for schools
- spending on school places
- energy efficiency and school maintenance
Your feedback: your experience working with ESFA
If you are an academy, school or local authority, the team want to hear about your experience of working with the agency.
If you’re interested in taking part in some research, and providing feedback on prototypes during October, please email CustomerExperience.ServiceDesign@education.gov.uk. Include your available dates and use the subject line ‘research’ and we will get in touch to arrange a suitable timeslot.
Information: land and buildings collection tool series (part 2 of 3)
This is the second part in a series of updates on the land and buildings collection tool (LBCT) return. This return is for academy trusts that were open on and prior to 31 August 2019. We will write to academy users in early October to confirm reporting arrangements for the LBCT.
In this edition we will cover:
- documentation required to be uploaded
- new to LBCT 2019: suggested data adjustments
Document store
It is essential that trusts upload documents in support of each occupation types entered in the LBCT return. For further guidance on occupation types, please see last week’s ESFA Update where we discussed occupation types.
The documents we would like trusts to upload are:
- annotated site maps showing your buildings and land occupations (see example site map below)
- lease and sublet agreements
- Land Registry titles to include registers and accompanying title plans
This year we would like academy users to tell us which documents relate to which occupation type by adding a comment box in the LBCT return with the document name.
For further guidance on the document store, see the academies land and buildings collection tool.
New to LBCT 2019: Data adjustments
Since last year’s collection, the DfE has reviewed all of the data submitted. To improve the overall data quality we have highlighted some aspects that may require further clarification.
This year we have included a data adjustments tab in the online return for trusts and academies with suggested data adjustments from our DfE review team. If your trust or academy has no suggested adjustments, this tab will not appear in your online return.
Suggested amendments can fall into 3 categories:
- add occupation type
- delete occupation type or asset
- change details of occupation type
For further guidance on data adjustments, including how to amend your data or reject the suggested amendments, please see the academies land and buildings collection tool or watch the LBCT data adjustments tutorial
Last week’s ESFA Update covered adding occupation routes and assets.
Next week we will be covering top tips on completing the LBCT return and hosting two Skype calls for users. The first of these will be aimed at new academy trusts and the second will be for all users. Please see our academies land and buildings collection tool for instructions on how to join the calls.