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View all peoplePublished by Tracy Morrison on 7 April 2020
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Last updated 7 April 2020
The Government have today (7 April) announced further financial support being provided to schools and academies during this unprecedented time. The guidance can be read in full here.
As we know, schools and academies are continuing to receive their core funding from both the Government and local authorities. For those schools that are special educational needs, this includes any top up funding and high needs funding you normally receive. All of this is designed to ensure schools can continue to pay their employees and meet their regular financial obligations.
However, the government is fully aware that by schools remaining open there are potential additional costs they will have to meet which would not have been expected if life was “normal”. The additional costs include the following:
In addition, if a school or academy faces other, extraordinary costs to deliver appropriate support to their pupils through this period that are not covered by the above and cannot be met by existing budgets, they should contact DfE.CoronavirusHelpline@education.gov.uk.
Access to the funding will become available in June when further guidance will be published on how schools and academies can inform the DfE of the additional costs they have incurred from their budgets. The funding is restricted however with limits being applied as per the table below. If schools exceed these limits they will have to put a case to the DfE for further funding.
Mainstream schools | |
250 pupils or fewer | £25,000 |
251 to 500 pupils | £30,000 |
501 to 1000 pupils | £50,000 |
Over 1000 pupils | £75,000 |
Special schools and alternative provision | |
All schools | £50,000 |
Pupil numbers will be defined by the following data:
The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) have published a cost calculator to help schools keep a log of additional costs, which can be found here.
The funding is available to schools and academies who cannot meet the costs through existing resources or by drawing down on their reserves and thus undermining their long-term financial sustainability. The DfE do not expect a claim to be made if schools or academies are anticipating that they will add to their reserves in 2020-21. Those in multi-academy trusts should be mindful that their reserves will be seen as “one Trust” and not on an individual school basis so do consider the Trust’s overall reserves before making a claim.
Before making any claim, records need to be kept in regards to the expenditure (invoices etc). In addition, the income directly linked to the costs should be easily identifiable in your accounts. Finally, the headteacher or school business manager should sign off the claim. As such we would recommend the school or academy compiling a folder of records associated with additional COVID-19 costs and retain this for future reference (including the claim submission). The DfE refer to potential spot checks being made in the future and the fact this information will be subject to standard audit checks.
Obviously if the budgets in your school or academy trust are so tight your current cashflow requirements will not allow for payments to be made on additional costs, you should consult with the ESFA (if an academy) or the local authority (if a maintained school) to look to receive additional support.
To discuss any of the topics explored in this article, contact us here.
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