ESFA Update local authorities: 21 July 2021
Published 21 July 2021
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2021
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/esfa-update-21-july-2021/esfa-update-local-authorities-21-july-2021
1. Latest information on coronavirus (COVID-19)
The Department for Education has published guidance about COVID-19 in educational settings for staff, parents and carers, pupils and students on GOV.UK.
Please check GOV.UK regularly for updates.
2. Information: schools funding arrangements 2022 to 2023
On 19 July, the Minister of State for School Standards made a written statement setting out the schools, high needs and central school services national funding formulae (NFF) for 2022 to 2023.
Provisional 2022 to 2023 NFF allocation tables and technical notes have been published, along with the NFF policy document detailing changes. The school-level provisional allocations have also been published in an online tool.
We have written to our contacts at local authorities to let them know that we have published the schools operational guide for 2022 to 2023 for them to progress their planning.
3. Information: sustainable high needs systems – lessons learned from the ‘safety valve’ intervention programme
The Department for Education has published a reflective commentary which shares learning from the first round of the ‘safety valve’ intervention programme.
Through the programme, we worked with a small number of local authorities with the highest percentage DSG deficits to agree reforms which will make their high needs systems sustainable in future. The learning and themes from this are useful for all local authorities to consider as they manage their high needs block, supported by the funding increases since 2020 to 2021.
We have also published some case studies demonstrating examples of methods for reaching sustainability.
4. Information: updated 2021 to 2022 dedicated schools grant allocations
We have updated the 2021 to 2022 dedicated schools grant (DSG) allocations to reflect the:
- latest academies recoupment data including academy conversions as at 1 June 2021
- latest data on high needs places and import/export adjustments
5. Information: dedicated schools grant (DSG) deficit management plan
Please note that we have published the new DSG management template (v.4), which can be found on document exchange, alongside supporting guidance.
We have made the amendments to the existing template based on feedback from local authorities and through user research in order to help local authorities meet the requirements of the dedicated schools grant (DSG): conditions of grant 2021 to 2022.
Key changes include:
- clarification on the outturn and future forecasts positions in relation to recoupment
- updated benchmarking data had been updated
- new ‘Executive Summary’ sheet, providing the headline summary of end of year positions, headline savings and pressures
- the Financial Summary tab has been updated to reflect the relevant year and 2017 to 2018 has now been removed. Cells have been aligned to V3 for consistency
- the CYP tab and all placement tabs now show the year on year % increase in each category, separated out by age groups
- an additional tab called ‘HN Recoupment’ has been added to address concerns around comparing pre and post recoupment figures
- all placement tabs have been updated to reflect the relevant year, and 2017 to 2018 has now been removed
Local authorities are encouraged to download the most recent version (v.4) User input cells have not been affected so data can be easily copied and pasted into the new version.
If you have any questions, please contact us via email at Financial.MANAGEMENT@education.gov.uk.
6. Reminder: the Further Education Workforce Data Collection is now open
The Further Education Workforce Data Collection opened on Monday 12 July and will close on 24 September. We have published the technical specification and guidance on completing the return on GOV.UK.
Minister Keegan has written to FE providers about the importance of the collection.
You should complete a return if you receive funding through one or more of the following funding models, unless you are a school or academy which returns the school workforce census or an HE provider which returns the HESA staff record:
- 16-19 (excluding apprenticeships)
- Adult skills
- Apprenticeships (from 1 May 2017) including levy funding
- Community Learning
- European Social Funding (ESF)
- Other Adult
- Other 16-19
7. Information: funding eligibility for the repeat year offer for 2021 and 2022
On 2 June 2021, as part of the Education Recovery announcement, the Department for Education announced that schools or colleges will be able to offer students in year 13 (or equivalent) the option to repeat the year or part of the year if they have been particularly badly affected by the pandemic.
Schools and colleges will be funded by the department to help accommodate the additional student numbers.
This will take effect from September 2021 and is only available for the 2021 to 2022 academic year. It is open to 17, 18 and 19 year old students in all settings whose planned final year of study concludes at the end of the 2020 to 2021 academic year.
This intervention is only for those who have been particularly badly affected by the pandemic; the vast majority of eligible students should be encouraged to progress to a suitable destination in education, training or the workplace. It is expected that this option is unlikely to be needed for more than 5% of eligible students.
Guidance has been produced to outline scope, eligibility, and actions required if offering this intervention to more than 5% of eligible students. Further details on how this will be funded will be included in forthcoming updates to the funding regulations.
8. Information: update to the 16 to 19 tuition fund guidance
We have updated the 16 to 19 tuition fund guidance to reflect tuition funding in academic year 2021 to 2022.
The update includes:
- the policy for the funding in 2021 to 2022
- content detail for the opt in process for 2021 to 2022 funding
- content detail on the carry over process for 2020 to 2021 funding
- how the allocations will be calculated for 2021 to 2022
- definition of small group tuition
If you have any questions after reading the guidance, please contact us using our online enquiry form.
9. Information: ESFA adult education (AEB) funding and performance management rules 2021 to 2022
We have published version 2 of the AEB funding rules and the main changes are:
- National Skills Fund – level 3 adult offer addresses eligibility for short course qualifications
- Digital skills entitlement – non-regulated provision must be aligned with national standards for essential digital skills
- New section 4: performance management
Section 4 includes rules for all AEB allocation lines, including 19 to 24 traineeships and National Skills Fund. We have changed the format of this section. It is now split by the funding agreement you have with the ESFA with subheadings for payments, reconciliation, increases and reductions. Also included are the arrangements for accessing additional National Skills Fund during the year.
We have included a full breakdown of the changes on the What’s New page of the rules. If you have any questions, please contact us sing our enquiry form.
10. Information: ESFA funded adult education budget (AEB) performance management review 2021 to 2022
We are conducting a performance review for ESFA funded AEB. Providers will have the opportunity to request a first time request for 19 to 24 traineeships or ESFA funded National Skills Fund allocation up to the value of £45,000 – or a top up increase to an existing 16 to 18 traineeships, 19 to 24 traineeships, or ESFA funded National Skills Fund allocation if it is below £45,000.
Full details are within the request form. The submission deadline is 5pm on 3 August.
The form can be found on our AEB performance management requests page.
If you have any queries about this process, please contact your territorial team lead.
11. Information: Reception Baseline Assessment
The Reception Baseline Assessment (RBA) will be statutory in all maintained primary, infant and first schools in England from September 2021. It is a short, activity-based assessment of pupils’ early mathematics, literacy, communication and language skills, taken within the first weeks of starting reception.
Its purpose is to form the starting point for cohort-level primary school progress measures, to help build a fairer progress measure for schools, and give teachers recognition for the work they do with pupils throughout primary school. There are no routine LA monitoring arrangements for this assessment.
Claire Harnden, Deputy CEO at South Farnham Educational Trust, shares her experiences of piloting the RBA. Further details about the assessment and how it will work can be found in the information video.
A parent information leaflet is available to use with parents, which explains what the RBA is and what it means for their child.
12. Information: EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
The deadline for EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) applications passed on 30 June 2021. Where there are reasonable grounds, there is still an opportunity for late EUSS applications to be made, including applications for children.
As we move into the summer break, the Home Office values your continued support in reminding parents and families to check to see whether they are eligible and to make an application on behalf of their child(ren) who will not be covered by their parent’s application or status.
Further information on late applications is available in a new information guide on GOV.UK, whilst updated social media assets - including one about applications for children - can be downloaded from Brandworkz for use on your own communications channels.
For parents requiring additional assistance to make an application, a list of organisations providing additional EUSS guidance and information is also available.
Applications to the EUSS are free and can be made online on GOV.UK. Successful applicants get either settled status or pre-settled status.
For questions about applications, call 0300 123 7379 or +44 (0) 20 3080 0010 from outside the UK (Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm and Saturday to Sunday, 9.30am to 4.30pm). Find out about call charges.