EFA e-bulletin for academies: 21 April 2016
Published 21 April 2016
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/efa-e-bulletin-21-april-2016-issue-125/efa-e-bulletin-for-academies-14-april-2016
1. Reminder: March accounts return live webinar - 26 April 2016
Don’t forget to register for our March AR live webinar at 3pm on 26 April 2016.
Anyone can register, and we strongly recommend that colleagues in trusts that have recently opened new academies attend.
This will be a question and answer session. You can submit questions in advance and during the live session.
A guide to completing and submitting the return, and a series of training videos are now available.
The March accounts return deadline is 31 May 2016.
2. Information: national non-domestic rates claims
Academies are now able to claim funding for national non-domestic rates for financial year 2016 to 2017.
If you need to make additional claims for buildings that have been revalued before the financial year 2015 to 2016, you should contact us using our enquiry form. When completing the enquiry form please attach affected invoices relating to the revaluations.
3. Information: review of the 2013 to 2014 data submitted against the core principles of the study programme
Last year we reviewed the end of year data for academic year 2013 to 2014 for all EFA funded institutions against the core principles of study programmes.
As part of this review, we contacted the institutions whose provision appeared to be non-standard to understand the reasons for the delivery patterns. We have reviewed these and have outlined the reasons for the delivery patterns being non-standard as well as the actions we are taking on GOV.UK.
4. Information: register of people with significant control (PSC) including changes to annual filing requirements at Companies House
The Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 introduced a new part 21A in the Companies Act. This requires UK companies to maintain a register of persons who have significant control over the company from 6 April 2016. As companies limited by guarantee, academy trusts are included in the requirement.
From 30 June 2016, companies must file information on the register with Companies House as part of a new annual confirmation statement which replaces the annual return.
Companies House has published PSC guidance for companies, LLPs and SEs, including information on excepted roles (paragraph 7.5.3).
We encourage you to talk to your professional advisors about the new requirements. For more information you can email the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills policy team or call them on 0207 215 3807.
5. Reminder: Document Exchange folder removal
At the end of April 2016 we’ll be deleting the ‘AY 2013-14’ folders in Document Exchange.
These are the folders in EFA Information Exchange where you received information relating to the 2013 to 2014 academic year. This does not affect folders for later years.
We’ll begin the folder removal on 29 April 2016. Please take a moment to log into EFA Information Exchange to check your folders and download any files you need before this date.
If you have any issues accessing EFA Information Exchange or Document Exchange, please see our online guidance.
6. Information: Teachers’ Pensions monthly data collection
From April 2016, Teachers’ Pensions will be offering all employers the opportunity to join monthly data collection (MDC).
This is a replacement for the Teachers’ Pensions annual service return. MDC requires less data and removes the need for many of the forms you currently have to send. It also saves time and provides more up-to-date information for your members.
To start using the MDC, please complete the delegation form and return it to MDC@teacherspensions.co.uk.
7. Information: teacher workload review group reports
The Department for Education has published 3 teacher workload review group reports covering:
You can also read letters from the teacher workload review groups and the Secretary of State for Education.
8. Information: school governance training programmes
The Chairs of Governors Leadership Development Programme has been extended to September 2017 and will include a summer term of workshops.
To find out about what’s going on in your area, visit the professional development for school governors page on GOV.UK.