Quarterly update for academies from the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) - July

Each week, ESFA publishes information for academies on the GOV.UK website which lays out the latest updates, things to be actioned and reminders on previous updates. 

Below, our expert Academies Team has provided a round-up of everything you need to know from a financial perspective from May and June 2024.

May 2024

• Academies Chart of Accounts and Automation (ACoA) - ESFA have updated the chart of accounts and associated mappings to cope with changes to the budget forecast return (BFR).
• PE and Sport Premium monitoring tool - The National Governance Association (NGA) has developed a monitoring tool, in partnership with the DfE and the Local Government Association (LGA), which sets out areas of focus for governing boards evaluating PE and sport premium spending decisions.
• Benchmarking tools updated - DfE’s free benchmarking tools, view my financial insights (VMFI) and the schools financial benchmarking (SFB) website, have been updated with the latest data from the 2022 to 2023 Accounts Return, Budget Forecast Return for academies, and the Consistent Financial Reporting (CFR) return for maintained schools.
• Use your 16 to 19 tuition funding before the end of the 2023 to 2024 academic year - You have until the end of the 2023 to 2024 academic year to spend your 16 to 19 tuition fund allocation - this is the final year for this funding and ESFA will review the end of year spend and recover any unspent funding. Refer to ESFA guidance for a full list of eligible activities and spend. Summer schools have been added to the list of eligible activities.
• 16 to 19 Bursary Fund and Care to Learn guides for academic year 2024 to 2025 - ESFA published updated guides to set out the funding rules for the schemes: 
  • 16 to 19 Bursary Fund - remember that trusts cannot carry forward unspent bursary funds for more than one year.
  • Care to Learn
• Buying for Schools blog on Transforming Public Procurement (TPP) - The blog includes information to support those buying for schools and trusts, given that the new Procurement Act 2023 takes effect on 28 October 2024.
• Pupil Premium allocations for the 2024 to 2025 financial year - ESFA published the pupil premium allocations for the 2024 to 2025 financial year.
• ESFA published the conditions of grant and supporting information for:
  • 16 to 19 teachers’ pension scheme employer contribution grant 2024 to 2025
  • Teachers’ pay additional grant financial year 2024 to 2025 (TPAG)
  • Teachers’ pension employer contribution grant financial year 2024 to 2025 (TPECG) Methodologies and conditions of grant vary by setting.
• Election delays - In a letter to Accounting Officers, ESFA announced that the pre-election period would result in a delay to the publication of the 2024 Academy Trust Handbook.
• Budget Forecast Return - (BFR) is now live with a submission deadline of Thursday 29 August 2024.

June 2024

• Universal infant free school meals (UIFSM) - New policies and funding rates for UIFSM were delayed due to the pre-election period. Interim measures are put in place to pay the first 2024 to 2025 allocations, these are based on the 2023 to 2024 funding rates.
• National professional qualifications targeted support fund 2023 to 2024 allocations - ESFA published the national professional qualification (NPQ) targeted support funding 2023 to 2024 grant allocations for participants who started in the 2023 to 2024 academic year. A sweep-up payment will be made in autumn 2024. Allocations will be paid to academies and maintained schools in June 2024.
• New version of Academies Chart of Accounts (ACoA) published - The new ACoA covers the financial year 2024 to 2025 and includes updated guidance.
• COVID-19 recovery premium - Final grant allocations for the recovery premium for 2023 to 2024 academic year are published.

There have also been a couple of Notices to Improve issued recently that we wanted to particularly highlight around financial governance:

• Case one - The notice states that the trust has failed to bring about financial improvement and stability following a Financial Notice to Improve (FNtI) warning letter issued in November 2020. The trust’s most recent 2023 Budget Forecast Return predicted that it would remain in a cumulative deficit position until 2024/25 and there are concerns over inconsistent forecasting.
• Case two - The notice raises concerns over poor record keeping, decision making and retrospective reporting of Related Party Transactions (RPT) to ESFA. There were six RPT highlighted over a four-year period with the trust’s then sponsor which totalled £554,000. The notice acknowledged that the RPT requirements within the Academy Trust Handbook 2023 have now changed.
• Case three - The notice raises concerns over unspecified financial governance and financial management issues. Although no details are provided, the reported breaches relate to procurement, notably; spending public funds for the purpose intended, novel, contentious and/or repercussive transactions, RPT.

If you work for an academy trust and are looking for support - whether it’s external audit, internal scrutiny, VAT, cyber-security, budget forecast, charitable objects or pensions - our expert team can help. 

Visit our service page or get in touch to find out more.