Correspondence

ESFA Update local authorities: 17 October 2018

Published 17 October 2018

This correspondence was withdrawn on 21 February 2020

This has been withdrawn as it’s out of date. Find the latest information from the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) in the latest ESFA Update.

Applies to England

1. Action: local authorities to submit grant return and use of funds statement by 31 October 2018

Local authorities must upload their grant return and use of funds statement, signed by their chief financial officer, to ESFA’s Information Exchange by 31 October 2018.

2. Action: condition spend data collection (CSDC) 2018

DfE is conducting a data collection, to understand the use made of the school condition allocation (SCA) for the 2017 to 2018 financial year.

Data can only be submitted using DfE’s online portal, we will send details via email to SCA recipients. We are unable to accept copies of the data sent by email.

Please refer to the user guide when completing the return.

The deadline for submitting data is Friday 30 November 2018.

If you have any queries, please contact: ConditionSpend.COLLECTION@education.gov.uk.

3. Action: schools and academies apprenticeship advice survey

We are conducting research into how careers advisors get information about apprenticeships.

The apprenticeship advice survey should only take between 5 and 10 minutes to complete. Your responses will help us to understand the effectiveness of the resources we provide.

4. Information: the bidding round for the 2019 Education Services Fund (ESF) closes on 19 October 2018

The Secretary of State for Defence has announced the extension of the ESF until 2019 to 2020. £3 million is available in 2018 to 2019, and £2 million is available in 2019 to 2020.

To be eligible for a grant a school must be in the UK and must have at least one service child, subject to exceptional mobility or deployment.

We accept applications from:

• maintained schools
• academies
• free schools
• sixth form colleges
• groups of any schools described above (referred to as ‘cluster bids’ and are strongly encouraged)
• local authorities on behalf of the publicly funded schools in their area

Full details of the Education Support Fund grant, and how to apply, are available on GOV.UK.

5. Information: funding for increases to Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) employer contributions

On 6 September 2018, HM Treasury published draft Directions departments must use in completing valuations of their pension schemes.

This included a review of the Office for Budget Responsibility fiscal outlook, which determined that the long-term GDP forecast had fallen. The discount rate used to set employer contributions will therefore be adjusted, and we estimate that the new rate for the TPS will increase to approximately 23.6%. The rate will be finalised in spring 2019.

We are conscious schools may be concerned about the budgetary impact. The Department for Education intends to fund fully the contribution increase for state funded schools and academies.

Recognising when schools set budgets, we have also worked with HM Treasury to delay the implementation of the change in contribution rate until September 2019.

We will now consult with sector representatives and announce decisions on distribution of this additional funding in good time before schools experience the pressures in September 2019.

6. Information: T levels provider list updated

We have updated the list of providers delivering T levels in 2020 to 2021 academic year.

This follows the opportunity to express an interest to deliver the Building planning, surveying and design T Level.

7. Information: EpiPen and EpiPen Junior shortage advice for schools

Due to the current shortage of EpiPens, the Department for Health and Social Care has issued EpiPen guidance for schools drawn up by NHS allergy experts.