Correspondence

ESFA Update academies: 8 March 2023

Published 8 March 2023

Applies to England

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1. Action: submit your school resource management self-assessment checklist

This is a final reminder that the school resource management self-assessment checklist is now open for academy trusts to complete and return by Tuesday 15 March 2023.

All academy trusts with an open academy on 31 December 2022 must submit a checklist.

2. Information: academy finance professionals March Power Hour – Local Government Pension Scheme

Would you like to know more about pensions? Join the next Power Hour on Thursday 23 March 3pm to 4pm.

This month’s Power Hour will be jointly led by the ESFA Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) Team and Academy Sector LGPS representatives.

The session will include:

  • Overview of LGPS and how academies operate in this sector.
  • DfE Academy LGPS guarantee and updated policy to support academies when outsourcing services.
  • Sector representatives sharing details about their roles and an overview of the current work of the LGPS Scheme Advisory Board.
  • LGPS best practice for academies.
  • The newly created LGPS Working Group.

There will be the opportunity to ask questions during the event. Register now to guarantee your place.

3. Information: free webinars on buying electricity and mains gas for your school

On Thursday 16 March, the Schools Commercial Team (SCT) team are hosting two free webinars on buying electricity and gas for your school. Join us and find out how you could save yourself time and help your school get value for money. Click on the links to book your place:

4. Information: are you looking to buy cloud-based computing services for your school?

Sign up for this free webinar and find out everything you need to know about the CCS Digital marketplace (G-Cloud 13) framework including information on:

  • the services covered by the framework
  • the choice of solutions
  • how to access the framework and use the service

It will also be an opportunity to ask any questions you may have directly to the provider.

Book your place now.

5. Information: buying quality school meals using DfE-approved frameworks

International School Meals Day 2023 is on 9 March and as we celebrate, you might be thinking about retendering your own catering contracts ready for the next academic year. You can use our Find a Framework tool to explore the range of DfE-approved frameworks that offer catering solutions.

In our latest Buying for Schools blog post, Charlotte Springthorpe, Customer Relationship Manager at Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation (ESPO), highlights two new, DfE-approved, ESPO catering frameworks.

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