Post-16 funding: transitional protection of specialist provision in 2015 to 2016
Information for post-16 institutions about the transitional protection of specialist provision in 2015 to 2016
Background
Transitional protection for specialist provision was introduced in response to a specific concern that, as a result of the high needs funding reforms, there might be a reduction in the number of students placed in specialist provision between 2013 to 2014 and 2014 to 2015 and that, in turn, might result in a loss of specialist capacity whilst the wider reforms introduced by the Children and Families Act 2014 are bedding in.
Having reviewed the current arrangements with Natspec and AoC, the Education Funding Agency (EFA) will provide an additional year of transitional protection for specialist provision, with up to £10 million available in 2015 to 2016. Although this is less than in previous years it will provide an additional year of protection for institutions whilst reducing their reliance upon it, better preparing them for when it ends in 2016 to 2017.
There are some key differences between the current published arrangements for 2014 to 2015 and how the scheme will work in 2015 to 2016. The result is a simpler set of arrangements and earlier confirmation of the amounts to be paid to each institution, enabling them to make earlier decisions about their EFA funding and provision ahead of the 2015 to 2016 academic year.
Eligibility of institutions in 2015 to 2016
In 2015 to 2016, transitional protection funding will be paid to the special post-16 institutions (SPI) and FE institutions that received transitional protection in 2014 to 2015 and that had more than 5 local authority commissioned high needs students in that year. These institutions are listed below and are the only institutions that will receive transitional protection in 2015 to 2016.
As this is the third and final year of the scheme, institutions that did not receive the funding in 2014 to 2015 will not be eligible to receive it in 2015 to 2016. We do not want to bring institutions into scope for payment and extend reliance upon transitional protection in the final year of the scheme.
Payment arrangements
We will not require institutions to make a template return declaring the number of agreed local authority commissioned high needs places as we have done in previous years. Instead, each institution will receive 50% of the funding that it received in 2014 to 2015. The guidance on the 2014 to 2015 transitional protection scheme, and how we calculated payment amounts for that year, tells you more about this.
For special post-16 institutions, payment will be made in two equal instalments in September 2015 and January 2016. For FE institutions a single payment will be made in January 2016. This is in line with the timescales of the 2014 to 2015 arrangements. Contract documentation for 2015 to 2016 will be prepared accordingly.
We contacted all eligible institutions between Friday 13th March 2015 and Monday 16th March 2015 to confirm the payment amounts and timescales for their payments.
Reconciliation
There will be no reconciliation at the end of the 2015 to 2016 academic year as there has been in 2013 to 2014 and will be in 2014 to 2015. This is because the payment amounts for 2015 to 2016 have been derived from the payments we have made in 2014 to 2015, as opposed to the volume of high needs students occupying places in an institution.
Use of funds
Institutions should consider how best to use transitional protection funding to secure the long term future of provision, supporting restructuring where that is needed to accommodate changes patterns of demand. We encourage institutions to work with Natspec and AoC to facilitate the sharing of best practice on the use of transitional protection in this third and final year.
However, there are some restrictions on the use of the fund in 2015 to 2016, as there have been in previous years namely that transitional protection cannot be used to fund the recruitment of high needs students whose placements are not supported by their home local authority. Any additional enquiries about use of funds should be directed to the appropriate EFA territorial mailbox listed below.
All EFA funding is subject to audit and may be looked at as part of a sample during routine audit activity.
Eligible institutions for transitional protection in 2015 to 2016
| Eligible institutions for transitional protection in 2015 to 2016 |
|---|
| Abingdon and Witney College, Oxfordshire |
| Arden College (Speciality Care), Sefton |
| Bridge College, Manchester |
| Bridgwater College, Somerset |
| City College Plymouth, Plymouth |
| Condover College Limited, Shropshire |
| Derwen College, Shropshire |
| Dorton College, Kent |
| Education and Services for People with Autism Limited, Sunderland |
| Exeter Royal Academy for Deaf Education, Devon |
| Farleigh Further Education College - Frome, Somerset |
| Farleigh Further Education College - Swindon, Swindon |
| Foxes Academy Limited, Somerset |
| Freeman College, Sheffield |
| Henshaw’s College, North Yorkshire |
| Hereward College of Further Education, Coventry |
| Langdon College, Salford |
| Leicester College, Leicester |
| Linkage College, Lincolnshire |
| Lufton College of Further Education, Somerset |
| National Star College, Gloucestershire |
| Oakwood Court College, Devon |
| Pengwern College, Wales |
| Pennine Camphill Community Limited (The), Wakefield |
| Ruskin Mill College, Gloucestershire |
| Southend-on-Sea Borough Council, Southend-on-Sea |
| St John Rigby Roman Catholic Sixth Form College, Wigan |
| The David Lewis Centre, Cheshire |
| The Fortune Centre of Riding Therapy, Hampshire |
| The Mount Camphill Community Limited, East Sussex |
| The Royal National College for the Blind, Herefordshire |
| Treloar College, Hampshire |
| Walsall College, Walsall |
| Westgate College, Kent |
| Weston College, North Somerset |
| William Morris (Camphill) Community Limited, Gloucestershire |
Who to contact for more information
For more information contact:
ESFA enquiries
Contact form https://form.education...
For all enquiries for the Education and Skills Funding Agency