Correspondence

ESFA Update academies: 30 October 2019

Published 30 October 2019

This correspondence was withdrawn on 21 December 2020

This has been withdrawn as it’s out of date. Find the latest information from ESFA in the latest ESFA Update.

Applies to England

1. Action: land and building tool is open for completion by Monday 4 November 2019

This is the last week of the collection period for the land and buildings collection tool (LBCT). The deadline to submit the LBCT return is Monday 4 November 2019.

Thank you to all trusts who have submitted their returns so far. If your trust has still not completed its return, please do so before the deadline.

This week’s top tip:

Your LBCT return will only be submitted to the Department for Education (DfE) once you have pressed the green ‘Submit to DfE’ button on the dashboard. For further guidance on who will submit your trust’s return, please see our 2019 guidance.

As it is the last week before the deadline, we are holding daily Skype calls from 10:00 to 10:30, with the last Skype call being hosted on deadline day, Monday 4 November. We would encourage users to use both this platform and others available to ask us any questions to help meet the deadline.

If you fail to meet the deadline your trust will be in scope of the ESFA’s policy on publishing the names of academy trusts who are late, or do not submit, two or more financial returns during the academic year.

2. Action: response to ESFA letter about subcontracting the delivery of education and training using post-16 funds

Thank you to the large number of schools, academies, colleges, and other providers that have responded to the letter from Eileen Milner about subcontracting the delivery of education and training using post-16 funds.

We would like to remind those organisations who haven’t responded yet, to do so no later than Friday 01 November 2019 via the webform.

If you have any questions about this letter or need support to complete the return please get in touch with us via ESFA.SUBCONTRACTING@education.gov.uk.

3. Reminder: autumn school census

The deadline for approved submissions for the autumn school census 2019 is today, Wednesday 30 October 2019.

The database will close to amendments from schools and local authorities on Wednesday 27 November 2019.

Have a look at our short video, for a quick reminder about the COLLECT reports.

COLLECT video

We would like to remind all schools with a return status in COLLECT of ‘loaded and validated’ or ‘amended by source’ that, until your return has been ‘submitted’ in COLLECT, it will be deemed outstanding and will not be processed further by DfE.

When you have completed any validation or editing of your return, and the status has changed to ‘loaded and validated’ or ‘amended by source’, you must press the ‘submit’ button in COLLECT to confirm you are content for your return to be processed by DfE.

4. Information: Teachers’ pay and teachers’ pension employer contribution grants for 2019 to 2020

We have published the Teachers’ pay grant (TPG) allocations for September 2019 to March 2020 at school and local authority level. We have also updated the published TPG methodology.

We have published the Teachers’ pension employer contribution grant (TPECG) allocations and conditions of grant for September 2019 to March 2020, including information on the supplementary fund. We have also updated the TPECG methodology.

You can also read the written ministerial statement that announced these allocations.

5. Information: PE and sport premium allocations and conditions of grant for 2019 to 2020

We have published the PE and sport premium conditions of grant for 2019 to 2020, you can also view the published allocations.

6. Information: funding methodology for the 16 to 19 discretionary bursary fund is changing from academic year 2020 to 2021

The government published its response and next steps to the 16 to 19 discretionary bursary fund allocations methodology consultation in September 2019. This means, we are making changes to the funding methodology from academic year 2020 to 2021.

We want you to understand how the new methodology will affect your allocation for 2020 to 2021. Your discretionary bursary fund allocation will not change for 2019 to 2020.

We have uploaded your indicative allocation to Document Exchange showing what your allocation for 2019 to 2020 would have been if we had used the new funding methodology.

You will find your statement in the Revenue Funding folder, under ‘AY 2019-20’. We have noticed that the GOV.UK links in the indicative allocation files are incorrect. We are working to fix this and will re-upload files with the correct link shortly. In the meantime, use these links to the guidance and 2 videos to help you understand your indicative allocation.

If you have any questions after reading the supporting information, please contact us using our online enquiry form.

7. Information: free training for school leaders in integrated curriculum and financial planning

DfE are offering free training on integrated curriculum and financial planning (ICFP) for all school leaders (headteachers, school business professionals, governors and other relevant school staff).

ICFP is a process that helps schools plan the best curriculum for their pupils with the funding they have available. This training will help to develop their basic skills and knowledge of ICFP, and help you to feel comfortable with the key principles of ICFP so you can start using it in your school.

You can book onto the training now and sessions will run from mid-November to the end of March 2020. Training will be delivered through webinars and half-day workshops, available across a range of time and locations to support accessibility.

To find out more and book a place on this course visit the ISBL website or email training@isbl.org.uk.