Correspondence

ESFA Update further education: 27 November 2019

Published 27 November 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This correspondence was withdrawn on 21 December 2020

This has been withdrawn as it’s out of date.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. Action: adult education budget, 19 to 24 traineeships and 16 to 18 traineeships review point 1

We have published a form for Contract for Services providers to submit requests for virements between their procured adult skills and learner support allocations.

To request a virement, please forward your completed virement request form via email to Provider.PerformanceManagement@education.gov.uk before 5.00pm on Friday 6 December.

We will also measure the performance of your 16 to 18 and 19 to 24 traineeship contract value against a standard national profile using your R04 data. We will increase your contract value if your performance against the standard national profile meets requirements.

For further information or for related queries, please contact your territorial manager.

2. Reminder: subcontractor declaration for adult delivery, including apprenticeships and traineeships, and for the first time, for 16 to 19 provision

The deadline for making subcontractor declarations has been extended to close of business on Friday 29 November. Thank you to the majority of providers who have made their declarations.

We set out the detail of this in Update on 23 October 2019. This is the:

• first ever collection for 16 to 19 provision and covers the period from August 2019 to July 2020
• second collection for levy and non-levy funded apprenticeship delivery for the year from April 2019 to March 2020
• first collection for all other adult delivery for the year from August 2019 to July 2020

Schools and academies are not required to complete this declaration for their 16 to 19 provision. If you have any questions, please contact us via the ESFA online contact form.

3. Information: requesting a 19 to 24 traineeship allocation for the 2019 to 2020 funding year deadline

As set out in the adult education budget (AEB) funding and performance-management rules, you can request a maximum allocation of £25,000 for 19 to 24 traineeships if you had an AEB contract for the 2018 to 2019 funding year and have not been issued with a 19 to 24 traineeships allocation because you have not delivered traineeships historically.

Requests must be submitted using the ESFA online form by Friday 6 December 2019. Please include your rationale and how much you are requesting on the form.

We will not consider any requests from providers who did not have an AEB contract for the 2018 to 2019 funding year.

If you have any queries, please use the ESFA online form.

4. Information: 2018 to 2019 final reconciliation statements

Following submission of your 2018 to 2019 final funding claim, the reconciliation statements will shortly be available for you to view on the Manage your Education Skills and Funding. They set out the final position for 2018 to 2019 and inform you of any funding that you will be required to repay (if applicable) or any additional funding that we will pay.

Statements were published for submitted funding claims if you received funds through a:

• grant for your adult education budget (AEB)
• grant with an Advanced Learner Loans Bursary contract
• Learner Support (for procured AEB) contract

Final reconciliation adjustments for 2018 to 2019 will be processed in December 2019 and any under-delivery will be recovered against your payments from the December 2019 payment.

5. Information: contract capping release, over-delivery, for 2018 to 2019

As detailed in the relevant funding and performance rules for 2018 to 2019, following the R14 data submission:

Adult education budget (AEB)

• We have issued variations to increase AEB, traineeships and other learning funding in-line with earnings.

Advanced Learner Loans Bursary (ALLB)

• We have issued variations to increase Advanced Learner Loans bursary and/or career learning pilots funding in-line with earnings.

Apprenticeships

• As detailed in the ESFA Update on 24 April 2019, we have issued variations to increase procured non levy apprenticeship funding (for the period April 2018 to March 2019) in line with earnings.
• As detailed in the apprenticeship performance management rules for training providers August 2018 to March 2020 and the funding guidance for young people 2018 to 2019 we have issued variations to increase apprenticeship carry-in and 16 to 18 traineeships funding in line with earnings.

If these contract variations are signed by 5 December 2019 the additional payments will be made in the December 2019 payment run.

6. Information: training providers helping to test the apprenticeship service

Concluding the 2019 test phase for smaller employers, who do not pay the apprenticeship levy, and ensuring payment for apprenticeships added during the test period

We are grateful to the smaller employers, who do not pay the apprenticeship levy, and their related training providers, who have participated in the recent test of the apprenticeship service.

We are now looking at the steps that need to be taken to bring this part of testing to a close. We have written to all participating training providers and employers to explain what they need to do to conclude their test activity and to ensure that providers receive the right payment via the service.

If you were part of the testing, please ensure that you complete the required actions detailed in the letter we have sent. Further information can be found online.

Transition and testing – next steps

We recently announced further details for smaller employers who do not pay the levy on accessing the apprenticeship service from 2020. As we move through the transition phase we will continue to test the apprenticeship service for employers that do not pay the apprenticeship levy and their associated training providers. This will be additional testing, therefore it is important that we take the steps described above to bring the current test to a close before we open the service more widely early next year.

For any queries, call the apprenticeship service on 0800 015 0600 or email helpdesk@manage-apprenticeships.service.gov.uk.