Correspondence

ESFA Update local authorities: 8 February 2023

Published 8 February 2023

Applies to England

1. Action: mid-year funding claim for 2022 to 2023

The mid-year funding claim window opened at 9am on Wednesday 8 February 2023.

Please submit your mid-year funding claim by 5pm on Monday 13 February 2023. The claim form will be available on submit learner data. The funding claims user guide is available to help you complete the form.

You will need to submit a claim if you receive funds through these contracts:

• grant funded - ESFA funded adult education budget (AEB) (adult skills, community learning, 19 to 24 traineeships and national skills fund Level 3 adult offer (Level 3 Free Courses for Jobs))
• grant funded - advanced learner loans bursary (ALLB)

Please be aware that 16 to 19 providers do not need to submit a mid-year claim.

Once you have submitted your mid-year funding claim on submit learner data, you will also be able to view it on Manage your education and skills funding.

If you have any queries, please use ESFA help centre to contact us.

2. Information: 16 to 19 and adult education budget (AEB) grant funding payment profiles

We said we’re amending payment profiles for institutions who receive 16 to 19 and non-devolved adult education budget (AEB) grant funding. We set out full details of who this applies to in our January news item.

This is to remind you that you will receive the first payment on 17 February and the second on 17 March.

The 2 extra payments will total:

• 6.11% of your 16 to 19 funding for academic year 2022 to 2023
• 4.02% of your ESFA (non-devolved) AEB funding for academic year 2022 to 2023

We will recoup the additional payments in April and May 2023.

3. Information: Reinforced Autoclaves Aerated Concrete (RAAC) questionnaire and survey update

You should have received an invitation to respond to a questionnaire on Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC).

Surveys of reported RAAC have now started. To make sure your school or college is considered for inclusion please respond to the questionnaire by Tuesday 28 February at the latest.

All school responsible bodies (RB) and college corporations have been asked to complete an online RAAC questionnaire for all schools and colleges in their estate. The purpose of the questionnaire is to identify buildings where RAAC is present so DfE can commission a survey if needed.

All RBs and corporations have been sent log in information to the DfE Portal and questionnaire. However, if you do not have this, please request an account.

Returns are to be made by the RB and not individual schools or colleges. Please contact RAAC.AWARENESS@EDUCATION.GOV.UK with any queries.

4. Information: RPA members – if an incident were to happen, is your school cyber secure and are you covered?

It’s almost a year since cyber cover became part of the RPA and in our latest Buying for schools blog post, Katy O’Connor, RPA Future Projects Strategy and Delivery Lead checks in on progress to complete the four conditions to make sure your school is covered.

5. Information: are you looking at buying cleaning services for your school?

A new DfE-approved ESPO cleaning framework is now available on Find a Framework

Total cleaning service solution includes:

• general cleaning, inclusive of window cleaning and external cleaning
• deep and specialist cleaning
• hydrogen peroxide vapour (HPV) systems and ultraviolet – C (UVC) systems for decontamination

The framework is broken down by geographical region so that there is a local supplier network option.

6. Information: book a 1:1 chat to discuss your school’s buying needs – spaces available on 15 February

Schools Commercial Team are offering the opportunity for a free, virtual 1:1 conversation with a member of the team, to see how we can support you.

You can speak to us about anything you like to help you make informed buying choices for your school.

There is no pressure or obligation to take any of our recommendations forward following the conversation. Book your 1:1 conversation now.