Correspondence

ESFA Update local authorities: 27 March 2019

Published 27 March 2019

This correspondence was withdrawn on 21 December 2020

This has been withdrawn as it’s out of date. Find the latest information from ESFA in the latest ESFA Update.

Applies to England

1. Reminder: reporting gender pay gap figures

The statutory deadline for reporting your gender pay gap figures for the 2018 to 2019 reporting year is Saturday 30 March 2019.

If you have not already done so, please register with the government’s gender pay gap reporting service as soon as possible and upload your figures before midnight on Saturday 30 March. Guidance on reporting your figures is available.

If you have previously registered to report but now do not think you are in scope of the regulations for this reporting year, please change your status on the reporting service by logging onto the reporting service.

Please do this before Saturday 30 March 2019 to ensure government records are accurate and to avoid any potential enforcement action for non-compliance.

2. Information: 16 to 19 revenue funding allocation statements

We have uploaded the majority of 16 to 19 revenue funding allocation statements to ESFA Information Exchange for all provider types. Any remaining statements are on hold due to institution data issues or where funding arrangements are yet to be confirmed. We will continue to upload these as they become available.

We are uploading allocation statements to the Document Exchange ‘revenue funding’ folder, under ‘AY 2019-2020 (2019/2020)’. We have published detailed guidance to help you understand your allocation. We will consider business cases where there is a significant error in the data you have returned.

The deadline for business cases is Tuesday 30 April 2019. We will apply standard minimum thresholds to decide whether we will consider your case. Please review the thresholds published in the supporting information before submitting your business case.

Please contact us using our online enquiry form if you have any questions.

3. Information: local authority summaries of sixth-form allocations for 2019 to 2020

We have uploaded local authority summary statements for sixth-form allocations to ESFA Information Exchange. The file is in Document Exchange ‘revenue funding’ folder, under ‘AY 2019-20 (2019/20)’.

You can access Document Exchange by logging into Information Exchange and choosing the Document Exchange tab at the top of the page. For support and guidance about Information Exchange, please visit our support page.

The statements show 16 to 19 revenue funding allocations for maintained and special schools in each area. They show the total funding for:

The statements show:

• 16 to 19 programme funding, student support funding, industry placement funding and advanced maths premium for maintained mainstream school sixth-forms
• student support funding for maintained special schools

We expect to upload a further summary showing student numbers for all types of institutions by the end of April.

If you have any queries please contact us using our online enquiry form.

4. Information: free school meals supplementary grant 2018 to 2019

A number of schools and local authorities have contacted us asking how the free schools meals supplementary grant is calculated.

We use the number of pupils eligible for free school meals in the October 2017 and October 2018 school census returns to calculate this grant. This includes pupils in reception to year 11, pupils in nursery or sixth form are not included.

You should use income code ‘I18: additional grant for schools’ for this grant in the consistent financial reporting return.

You can read more about the free school meals supplementary grant, and view allocations for the 2018 to 2019 financial year on GOV.UK.

5. Information: 16 to 19 capacity and delivery fund – updated guidance

We have updated the guidance for the capacity and delivery fund relating to academic year 2019 to 2020.

The guidance provides important information relating to industry placements for students with special needs, students on an applied general qualification, and the use of discretionary bursary to support students on an industry placement.

The updated documents are:

• industry placements: capacity and delivery fund (CDF) for 2019 to 2020 for providers in receipt of CDF in academic year 2018 to 2019
• industry placements: capacity and delivery fund (CDF) for 2019 to 2020 for providers not in receipt of CDF in 2018 to 2019 academic year

6. Information: adult education budget (AEB) update – grant determination letters

Today (Wednesday 27 March 2019) the Department for Education (DfE) published the grant determination letters issued to mayoral combined authorities and the Mayor of London for Greater London Authority. These letters confirm the AEB for each of the devolved areas for the 2019 to 2020 academic year.

More information is available in our AEB devolution guide.

7. Information: changes to the Student Bursary Support Service

ESFA has appointed a new provider to deliver the Student Bursary Support Service (SBSS). The SBSS is the online service that administers the Care to Learn scheme and claims for students in defined vulnerable groups from the 16 to 19 Bursary Fund. A new portal will be available in May 2019.

Key dates to note are:

• summer retainer applications to retain childcare places over summer 2019 - available through the new portal from Tuesday 7 May 2019
• Care to Learn 2019 to 2020 academic year applications – available through the new portal from Tuesday 7 May 2019
• funding claims for the bursary for students in defined vulnerable groups will be processed through the new portal from Sunday 1 September 2019

Please continue to use SBSS for applications and funding claims for the 2018 to 2019 academic year. We will update you again about changes that may affect you and give instructions about when to start using the new portal.