Shocking Development Revealed: ESFA Local Authorities Update: You Won’t Believe What Happened on October 11, 2023!

1. Action: Deadline this Friday 13 October to submit your 16 to 19 year old school fund spending from 2022 to 2023 and tell us how you used your additional hours

You will need to submit a digital form if your organization received 16 to 19 tuition funds for the 2022 through 2023 academic year and/or received the Additional Hours Baseline Data Report, based on your reporting institution in the academic year from 2020 to 2021. We have provided you with the baseline data report of additional hours in June 2022.

Please note: Failure to submit a Tuition Fund Expenditure Report 16 to 19 will result in 100% recovery of tuition funding for the 2022-2023 academic year.

We have produced a digital form so you can tell us:

• how much school fund did you spend in the 2022-2023 academic year
• what your institution used the additional hours for and takes into account how you achieved the expected average increases in hours

You must send the form as soon as possible and in any case by 11.59pm on 13 October 2023.

Access the digital form.

Guide on how to fill out the form can be found on GOV.UK.

2. Action: Tax Fund 16-19 2023-2024 digital form

The second window of the 16 to 19 year old Tuition Fund from 2023 to 2024 is now active.

The deadline for submission is October 20, 2023 at 11:59 pm.

We published guide to log in and help you fill out the form.

You can read more about 16-19 tuition fund 2023-2024 Web page.

3. Action: process of changing places with high needs from 2024 to 2025

The process of changing places with high needs for 2024-2025 is now open.

Please confirm the number of your high-needs places in ESFA-funded schools and colleges for 2024-2025 by 10 November 2023. You can do this using the MS Excel workbook accessed via the GalaxKey system. We have sent an email notification to local authority contacts detailing how to access the file via GalaxKey.

We have published a guide on process of changing the place with high needs AND how to complete the change of location workbook.

You can also submit requests for changes to hospital training funding via the workbook. THE guide to financing hospital training explains the criteria.

We published the Spring 2022 census data for the number of pupils with high needs in special academies and free schools, and the seat numbers from 2022 to 2023 and from 2023 to 2024. from 2022 to 2023. We released the R06 data to local authorities, with the import/export adjustment for the financial year 2023 to 2024, in June 2023. You can use it to inform local discussions on commission arrangements for the period 2024 to 2025.

4. Reminder: Please review qualification and non-qualification delivery times from 4pm to 7pm before submitting your final ILR data return

We have identified some areas prior to the ILR R14 return that need review where we can see numerous providers with potential errors in their data. To help you reduce data errors at R14 and your chance of being selected for audit, use post-16 monitoring reports control Panel to examine these reports:

• FRM43 – Students from 16 to 19 courses of study with qualifications without scheduled learning hours (PLH)

• FRM56 – 16 to 19 study programs with PLH but no regulated qualifications

• FRM69 – The proportion of planned work, enrichment and pastoral (EEP) hours is greater than or equal to 50% of the total planned hours and the student is not identified as requiring additional learning support.

You must ensure that your PLH and EEP accurately reflect the amount of qualifying and non-qualifying activities delivered in the current academic year. The PLH field should reflect the total scheduled scheduled hours spent on DfE approved qualifications only. A zero PLH value is returned only if the student participates only in employment, enrichment and pastoral activities during the year.

##Information: update of the national funding formula for schools for the period 2024-2025

The National School Funding Formula (NFF) was updated on 6 October and we sent an email with fuller details on the same day.

The Department of Education (the Department) published the school NFF for 2024-2025 in July. However, the department discovered an error made by DfE officials during the initial NFF calculations. Specifically, there was an error in the processing of forecasts on the number of pupils, which means that the overall budget cost of central schools would be 0.62% higher than that allocated. The department then issued new NFF allocations to correct that mistake while continuing to deliver, in full, the promised primary schools budget of £59.6 billion.

The recalculation of funding does not affect the total budget amount of central schools in 2024-2025. Nor does it affect the High Needs NFF, the Central School Services Block (CSSB) or other funding streams outside the NFF, including teacher pay. additional grant (TPAG).

All the details on the recalculation can be found on GOV.UK.

We have posted an update operational guide for schools from 2024 to 2025 to reflect the revised NFF and have issued an updated Authority Proforma Tool (APT) to local authorities.

If you have any questions about this, please contact us via our Request form.

5. Information: Funding for pre-16 schools: new digital opt-out form and guidance now available

We have launched a digital de-application proforma for the period 2024-2025 for local authorities to submit applications.

This new proforma provides an improved user journey guiding local authorities through the process and what is needed at each stage to support requests. This allows the department to process and understand the specific details of each request more quickly.

You can find further details in our funding for pre-16 schools: local authority guidance for 2024-2025, together with user guide.

6. Information: Free contract management training for schools and trusts

DfE is launching a new Foundation training group on contract management in autumn 2023.

This free Cabinet Office Foundation Level training will provide schools and trusts with the fundamental principles of contract management.

This is a flexible online learning program suitable for anyone responsible for purchasing goods or services for their school or business, not just those in a specific business role.

For further information and to express interest, send your name and qualification to ESCC.PROJECT@education.gov.uk.

7. Information: Cambridge and York School Business Professional (SBP) roundtables – spaces available

There are spaces available at our Cambridge and York roundtables.

If you would like to join other SBPs from across the region to network, share your procurement issues and priorities and find out more about the free procurement support available from the DfE, book your place now:

8. Information: Are you a school business professional purchasing goods and services for your school?

The schools commercial team hosts regular webinars on how using DfE approved frameworks can help your school achieve value for money. Click on the links to find out more and book your place:

You can find the full webinar schedule for the fall semester at Fall 2023 webinar page. Visit the page to find out more and book your place.

9. Information: How can School Resource Management Consultants (SRMA) help you?

In our latest Blog post Shopping for schoolsLindsey Roberts, Engagement and Outreach Coordinator for the School Resource Management team, explains how the DfE’s School Resource Management Adviser (SRMA) program can support you in managing the finances or resources of your school or academic trust.

“SRMAs are not inspectors, they work with or rely on you and your school to help you achieve the best outcomes for your pupils.”

To find out more, read Lindsey’s blog post on GOV.UK.