EFA e-bulletin for academies: 7 July 2016
Published 7 July 2016
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1. Information: Academies Financial Handbook 2016 published
We have published the 2016 edition of the Academies Financial Handbook. It applies to the accounting period beginning on 1 September 2016.
The changes in the 2016 edition are summarised on pages 5 and 6 of the new handbook.
We are grateful to members of the academies finance and assurance steering group and its working groups for helping us to develop this edition of the handbook.
2. Information: year 7 literacy and numeracy catch-up premium 2016 to 2017
The Department for Education (DfE) has published details of funding allocations for the year 7 literacy and numeracy catch-up premium for 2016 to 2017.
3. Information: early years capital funding application round
Capital funding is being made available through a local authority bidding process. Funding is to support the delivery of the government commitment to provide 30 hours free childcare for working parents of 3- and 4-year-olds from September 2017. The priority of this fund is to target areas within local authorities most in need of capital funding to deliver 30 hours of free childcare.
On 3 April 2016, the Department for Education (DfE) called for an expression of interest (EOI) from local authorities who want to work with local childcare providers to bid for this capital funding to expand childcare provision in their area. This includes schools that currently offer, or plan to offer, provision for 3- and 4-year-olds.
On 21 June 2016, we invited local authorities that submitted an EOI to take part in the full bidding process.
Local authorities can submit applications for early years capital funding for individual projects in their area until 31 August 2016.
4. Information: update on business cases for 2016 to 2017 academic year post-16 funding allocations
We have reviewed and confirmed the outcomes of business cases received relating to post-16 funding allocations for the 2016 to 2017 academic year, unless we are waiting for additional information from institutions.
Where allocations have been updated following a business case, revised allocation statements will be uploaded to EFA Information Exchange. These can be found in Document Exchange in the ‘revenue funding’ folder.
If you have any queries about the outcome of your case, please contact us via our online enquiry form.
5. Information: national database of governors
The Department for Education (DfE) has confirmed arrangements for implementing a national database of governors by extending the information collected via EduBase.
These new arrangements aim to increase transparency on who governs our schools.
Single and multi-academy trusts should now use EduBase to check their entries, make any updates, and populate any fields that are empty.
To reduce duplication we have transferred information already provided by academy trusts to EduBase.
We will no longer collect information using the My Contact Information feature of EFA Information Exchange for academies and academy trusts (including free schools, UTCs and studio schools). However, you can still log into EFA Information Exchange to exchange documents with EFA, use the online calendar, and find answers to frequently asked questions in Knowledge Centre.
6. Information: schools financial health and efficiency
We’ve expanded our range of materials covering schools financial health and efficiency to support schools to make the most of the funding they receive. New materials include:
- a financial health checks structure and a directory of suppliers to help schools to identify external advice available to help them operate more efficiently
- new case studies and videos showing examples of effective financial management practice
- cloud computing guidance to help schools understand some of the key considerations when moving ICT to cloud based service provision
Good financial health is essential to delivering educational excellence. At the same time, budget pressures mean there is a greater need than ever for schools to ensure their budgets deliver the best value for money.
We encourage school leaders, business managers and boards to make use of the tools and support that is available.