Earlier this week the Education Funding Agency (EFA) updated its pre-16 Funding Allocation Pack to accompany final allocations, which are being issued to academies.
As the Agency says, the purpose of the Funding Allocation Pack (FAP) is to present the component parts of an academy’s funding for 2013/14 and the arrangements from next month are the first steps towards the development of a national funding formula for schools, which will be simpler and more transparent than the current formula.
An academy’s FAP contains a General Annual Grant Statement for 2013/14 made up of a number of tables. These are the School Budget Share 2013/14, the Minimum Funding Guarantee Statement, the Education Services Grant, an Insurance Top Up statement and a Pupil Number Matrix.
Tables that are only relevant to specialist academies include a Start-Up Funding one for Sponsored Academies only and Pre and Post16 High Needs Funding tables for Designated High Needs Units only.
However, there are some funding streams that will not be included in the Statement, which are Pupil Premium (PP), Rates and Devolved Formula Capital.
The Pupil Premium allocation is calculated and paid separately to the main allocation and academies will be notified of their PP allocation by early summer this year.
The system for funding National Non-Domestic Rates (NNDR) rates will change from April to a less bureaucratic, more transparent and easier to understand one. Instead of the EFA using information provided by local authorities, academies will be able to submit a claim for NNDR direct to the Agency for the funding required instead.
Devolved Formula Capital will still be payable in 2013/14 but further guidance on this will be published in May.
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