The LA are required to submit statutory returns and publish certain financial records and statistics in respect of schools. This includes:
Section 251 Budget & Outturn Statements – The statements cover expenditure for education and children’s social care functions. They are the primary means of informing schools and the public in general about local authority funding and expenditure plans. They provide detailed information in a form that allows benchmarking by schools forums and local authorities. Click for Section 251 detailed information
Consistent Financial Reporting (CFR) – The CFR framework aims to provide a standard framework for schools to collect information about their income and expenditure to support benchmarking and enable simple reports to be produced for governors and local authorities. The DfE sets the definitions for each CFR code.
Click for detailed CFR information
CFR benchmarking provides schools with detailed data and allows greater opportunities to compare and contrast financial decisions in relation to similar schools. It also provides schools with the opportunity to analyse specific areas of finance over time to help evaluate the direct impact on pupils’ learning. CFR data reduces the number of demands made on schools to provide data and information. Click for CFR Benchmarking – Please note that you will be requested for log in details.
School Financial Value Standard (SFVS) – The standard is a mandatory requirement for local authority maintained schools. Other schools are welcome to use any of the material associated with the standard, if they would find it useful. Governing bodies of maintained schools or management committees of pupil referral units (PRUs) have formal responsibility for the financial management of their schools, and so the standard is primarily aimed at governors or management committees.
The standard consists of a checklist and a dashboard, the checklist asks 29 questions of governing bodies over 6 areas of resource management. While the dashboard shows how a school’s data compares to thresholds on a range of statistics identified by the Department for Education (DfE) as indicators of good resource management and outcomes. The LA is required to submit an annual statement, certified by the Chief Finance Officer to confirm SFVS compliance / non compliance for all Suffolk maintained schools and PRUs,
Click for detailed SFVS information
Authorty Proforma Tool Submission – The Education Funding Agency has developed the authority proforma tool (APT) that will enable the local authority to detail schools block funding formulae in accordance with the arrangements set out by the Secretary of State for Education.Click for Schools Block funding informationClick for Suffolk’s APT submission
Pupil Premium Grant Return – The local authority are required to certify that they have passed on the correct amount of funding to schools or, where funding has been spent centrally, that it has been spent in line with the conditions of grant. Click for Pupil Premium Conditions of Grant
DSG Return – Following notification of the final allocation of DSG for each year the authority is required to submit a statement certified by its Chief Finance Officer that the DSG is being deployed in support of the Schools Budget. At year end the Chief Finance Officer is required to confirm final deployment of the DSG in support of the Schools Budget.
Statement of Accounts – The DSG received from the DfE and its deployment between central expenditure and the Individual School Budgets should be clearly identifiable within the notes to the local authority’s Statement of Accounts to demonstrate compliance with the limit on central items. Click for Suffolk County Council Statutory Accounts
16-19 Grant Return – For learners over the age of 16 the local authority Chief Finance Officer is required to submit grant returns and use of funds statements to EFA in two stages:
1. In April, completing the first-stage grant return covering EFA and SFA funds received.
2. A second-stage detailed grant return, covering EFA funds only, usually by 31st October.