ESFA Update local authorities: 25 August 2021
Published 25 August 2021
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2021
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/esfa-update-25-august-2021/esfa-update-local-authorities-25-august-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. Reminder: post-16 funding from ESFA 2020 to 2021 Chief Finance Officers Certification
On 2 July 2021 we wrote to you about our requirement for the authorities’ Chief Finance Officers Certification regarding ESFA’s post-16 funding received by the local authority for 2020 to 2021 financial year.
The deadline for this return was 31 July 2021.
If you haven’t submitted your return, please plan for the return to be submitted as soon as possible. This return forms the basis of ESFA’s assurance to the NAO.
2.1 Submit your return
The local authority should return the “CFO/202021cert”, return to academiesfinancialmonitoring.efa@education.gov.uk.
3. Information: high needs funding operational guide 2022 to 2023
We have published the high needs funding operational guide 2022 to 2023 which sets out the following:
- changes to the high needs funding system in 2022 to 2023
- a summary of key dates and actions for local authorities and all types of providers
- how the 2022 to 2023 financial and academic year high needs funding system will work for all types of provision.
We will be publishing separate guidance: 2022 to 2023 local authority funding for special free schools adjustments in autumn 2021.
4. Information: business rates consultation results published
We have published the government response following our consultation on centralising the payment of business rates. This confirms that, from 1 April 2022, ESFA will pay business rates directly to billing authorities on behalf of schools for 5 to 16-year-olds.
From next year, academies will no longer need to submit rates claims via the national non-domestic rates (NNDR) portal to recoup their rates. The consultation response contains further details on the changes, and how centralisation of payments will be implemented.
5. Information: removing funding approval from qualifications with low or no ESFA-funded enrolments
From 1 August 2022, we will remove funding approval from qualifications that had low (1-99) or no ESFA-funded enrolments in the funding years 2016 to 2017, 2017 to 2018, and 2018 to 2019. Removing funding approval means that we will not fund any students starting on these qualifications from 1 August 2022. This does not affect students already receiving funding for these qualifications before 1 August 2022.
We have published the list of these qualifications on GOV.UK. The list is the outcome from a review process that we announced in December 2020, to support the review of post-16 qualifications at level 3 and below.
If you have any further queries, please use our contact form.
6. Information: attendance expectations
School attendance is mandatory for all pupils of compulsory school age. The usual rules on school attendance continue to apply.
To support strong attendance, we expect local authorities to work with schools to:
- communicate clear and consistent expectations around attendance to families
- identify pupils who are reluctant to attend, at risk of disengagement or previously persistently absent, and develop plans to re-engage them.
Local authorities should make full use of their attendance teams and wider services to support re-engagement and assist the most vulnerable families and children in the return to regular attendance. As usual, they should also consider the use of legal intervention and enforcement measures to support attendance.
We have published best practice advice to support schools and local authorities to maximise attendance.
6.1 Pupils not attending in circumstances related to coronavirus (COVID-19) in the 2021 to 2022 academic year
We have amended regulations to enable schools to continue to record where pupils do not attend in circumstances related to coronavirus. The latest guidance about recording.