ESFA Update academies: 19 May 2021
Published 19 May 2021
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2021
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1. Latest information on coronavirus (COVID-19)
The Department for Education has published guidance about COVID-19 in educational settings for staff, parents and carers, pupils and students on GOV.UK.
Please check GOV.UK regularly for updates.
2. Information: introducing the academies FP Power Hour
The academies FP Power Hour is a new monthly event for finance professionals in academies and academy trusts. We have designed the format from feedback given at the ESFA finance event in January.
Each virtual event lasts around an hour with a specific topic covered and plenty of time for discussion and Q&A.
The first event, at 3pm on Thursday 17 June, will cover the budget forecast return. We’ll walk through the form, discuss top tips and common errors, and explain how ESFA uses the data.
Book your AFP Power Hour place now. You can also submit questions in advance and make suggestions for future sessions.
We hope that these events will help power up your knowledge and skills and share good practice.
3. Information: updated academies chart of accounts
The Department for Education has updated the academies chart of accounts for use in the academic year 2021 to 2022, incorporating a small number of necessary changes to the previous update.
Academy trusts that have already adopted the chart of accounts should ensure they update their own chart accounts with effect from 1 September 2021 to reflect the changes which can be found in section 4 of the guidance. Other trusts are encouraged to work with their software suppliers to adopt the chart of accounts.
Academy trusts that choose to adopt the standard chart of accounts will potentially benefit from future automated data transfer tools for financial returns.
4. Information: good practice guide for risk management in academy trusts
We have updated the good practice guide for risk management in academy trusts.
The guide will help trust boards and management to establish effective risk management arrangements for their academy trust. It explains the principles of risk management, practical steps to develop a risk management process and common pitfalls.
The good practice guides aim to support trustees, accounting officers, principals/executive leaders and chief financial officers to develop good practice in their trust.
We recommend that you read the guide on internal scrutiny in academy trusts in conjunction with the risk management guide.
5. Information: post-16 capacity fund now open for bids
The post-16 capacity fund was launched on Tuesday 18 May. Sixth form colleges, 16 to 19 academies, 16 to 19 free schools (inclusive of university technical colleges and maths schools), and further education colleges can bid for funding to add extra capacity where there is a pressing need for places for 16 to 19 year olds in their local area.
This fund will deliver the government’s 2020 Spending Review commitment to make available £83m in 2021 to 2022 to ensure that post-16 providers can accommodate the expected demographic increase in 16 to 19 year olds, and learners can gain the skills they need to progress and help the economy to grow.
We have published guidance, which sets out how eligible providers should bid for funding and the key criteria against which bids will be assessed. Good evidence of need for additional capacity will be expected.
All bid applications including all supporting documentation must be submitted by 11.59pm on 14 June 2021.
6. Information: EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
With the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) application deadline now less than 50 days away, the Home Office would appreciate your continued support in reminding parents, families, young people and staff that if they are an EU, EEA or Swiss citizen, they and their family members may be eligible to apply to the Settlement Scheme.
It is crucial that eligible parents apply to the Scheme themselves and check whether they need to do so on behalf of their children. Eligible children are required to have an application in their own right and no child of any age is covered by a parent’s application to the EUSS. There’s more information on this here on GOV.UK.
To provide additional guidance, an EUSS leaflet has been produced by the University of Liverpool, in partnership with the Home Office. It has been designed with children in mind and is intended to support both children and parents with information to help them apply to the EUSS. A set of accompanying FAQs are available too.
We would be grateful if you could signpost this leaflet and our other EUSS resources across your own communications channels to encourage eligible parents to apply on behalf of themselves and their children. A list of organisations providing additional EUSS guidance and information is available on GOV.UK.
Applications to the EUSS are free and can be made online at www.gov.uk/eusettlementscheme, where you can also find out more information about how to apply.