By the public sector, for the public sector Finance Seminar Autumn 2015 Presented by Cathryn Walker.

By the public sector, for the public sector

Finance SeminarAutumn 2015

Presented byCathryn Walker


• FIRST SESSION

Agenda

Schools Finance Team2016-17 Budget Consultations2016-17 BudgetPupil PremiumEYSFF 2016-17High Needs Funding 2016-17Schools Forum

• SECOND SESSIONSchool Balances 2014-15Universal Infant FSM (UIFSM)CFRBudget Monitoring2016-17 LGSS SLAsAudit - SFVSAudit – Personnel & PayrollElectronic Reporting including Journals and VirementsHousekeepingOther


LGSS Schools Finance Staffing


Primary & Secondary Funding for 2016-17

• The funding formula consultation took place in September 2015 .

• 77 attended the 15th September briefing sessions.

• 187 responses were received by the 1st October deadline.

• The proposals were revised in response to the consultation feedback and these were discussed at the 13th October Forum meeting.



• The proposals created considerable debate and challenge regarding the recommendation to reduce the Secondary deprivation funding.

• Forum voted by a small majority, with abstentions, to approve the proposals including moving the savings from reducing Secondary deprivation funding into the Primary AWPU.



• Alex Hopkins has delegated power for The County Council final decision on the schools funding formula.

• Alex decided at this stage, given the pressures that exist, NOT to reduce Secondary funding.

• The following however should apply -


1. The existing formula funding factors will be continued in 2016-17.

2. The existing primary deprivation funding of £30.6m will be capped in 2016-17 by reducing the FSMever6 rate.

3. The existing secondary deprivation funding of £27.7m will also be capped in 2016-17 by reducing the FSMever6 rate.


4. Move towards a primary to secondary funding ratio of 1:1.30 (currently 1:1.34 in Northants and a national and statistical neighbours average of 1:1.28.).

5. Additional DSG schools block funding or ‘headroom’ from the DSG settlement will be applied towards this where possible.


2015-16 factors – no changes proposed in 2016-17

Description Used in 2015-16

Basic per pupil entitlement (AWPU) Yes (mandatory)

Deprivation (based on ever 6 FSM numbers)

Yes (mandatory)

Private Finance Initiative Yes

Split site Yes

Rates Yes

Lump sum Yes


Q4: Split Site and Pupil GrowthQuestion 4 - split site funding

This had a varied response with schools not receiving this funding currently feeling no increase was necessary or questioning the amounts paid to some schools. The feedback shows that further work is required on this area. This will take place with an aim that specific proposals are brought to either the December or January Forum meetings.

Questions 5 and 6 (Pupil growth fund) Proposals were supported Agreed to increase the staffing elements of the Pupil growth rates by 5% – at a cost of £75k to be funded from the 2016-17 schools block DSG settlement.


Q3: £1m Increased AP CostQ3 – funding the increased cost of £1million in AP.

The briefings and feedback identified concerns with this proposal from the majority of schools.

This proposal had the largest number of comments/feedback including proposals on how practicable improvements could be made in supporting schools with challenging pupils in the future.

The feedback has been shared with service colleagues so that the feedback can be utilised in order to support improvements in this area in the future.


Q3: £1m Increased AP CostQ3 – funding the increased cost of £1million in AP.

Discussions and responses also identified a need for schools to have better information on the cost implications and VFM of the current arrangements.

It was agreed by Forum that the additional £1 million cost of AP in 2016-17 is funded from previous years DSG carry forwards to allow both further work to be undertaken on this proposal including making schools better informed e.g. the funding of CE AP places (@ £10k) includes dual registered pupil places meaning an overall cost of approx £20k p.a. per Secondary pupil.


Increasing numbers of Permanent Exclusions

Proposals for utilising DSG carryforwards of £1.7 million in relation to addressing the number of permanent exclusions in the county were agreed by Schools Forum in July. It was also agreed following requests for this information that data about fixed term and permanent exclusions would be collated and circulated for use as a baseline. Permanent and fixed term exclusions figures from 2014 –15 were sent out to all schools on Friday 16th October. Data about fixed term and permanent exclusions in the current academic year will now be presented to Schools Forum at each meeting from 1st December 2015 identifying schools and growth across the year. This information will also be available for all schools.


School Budgets 2016-17

•Indicative budgets will be issued November 15 (based on Oct 14 numbers for the majority of schools).

•February 2016 final individual school formula budget information will be placed onto the website updated with October 15 numbers.


Indicative School Budgets 2016-17The following indicative elements will either be added to the website in March 2016 or confirmed/allocated during 2016-17: - High Needs Place funding – Special Schools & Units / Resourced Provisionsa.Mainstream 6th form allocations - from the EFAb.Devolved Formula Capital (DFC)c.Allocations from the High Needs Paneld.Early Years Single Funding Formula (EYSFF) – 3 and 4, and 2 year olds formulaee.Pupil Premium – Main FSM Based on January 16 censusf.High needs top upsg.High needs element 3 top ups for pupils in SEN units or resourced provisionh.Special school high needs allocationsi.UIFSMj.Pupil Growth funding


School Budget 2016-17 Overview• The DfE arrangements on 2016-17 schools funding were

announced in July 2015.

• What we know from Government announcements is that:

1. DSG funding is ‘protected’ i.e. flat cash funding per school pupil; and

2. Additional funding will be passported to reflect increases in pupil numbers between October 2014 and October 2015.

• NCC have joined the f40 group of the lowest funded authorities. This lobby group is meeting with the Government and pushing for Education funding changes to be made. Schools have been sent information on this.


School Cost pressures Overview• Although in comparison to LAs, schools funding is deemed to

be ‘protected’, schools are expected/required to make efficiency savings in a period when they are expected by stakeholders to deliver more.

• Schools are experiencing unfunded cost pressures including:

1. Increased Employer contributions to the Teachers pension scheme from April 15 +2.4% (to 16.5%).

2. Teachers and Local Government pay awards.

3. General inflation/price increases.

4. Employers National Insurance increase of up to 3.7% (to 13.8%) from April 2016.


School Pressures Overview• As agreed with Forum schools will receive additional one-off

funding over 3 years starting in 2014-15. This means that in 2017-18 schools will experience the joint impact of the one-off funding ceasing and the impact of cost pressures.

• The Institute of Fiscal Studies* recently stated that over a 5 year period, unless any funding changes were made, schools were likely to experience real terms cuts in spending per pupil of between 9% and 12%.

• Respectively we need to plan for this and ensure sometimes difficult decisions are not delayed unnecessarily.

(Note - * - Source - presentation at Fair Funding Conference - Bristol – June 2015)


Schools Budgets 2016-17• Minimum Funding Guarantee of minus 1.5% on

Schools Block funding. Note – one off funding is outside the MFG/Cap.

• Cap level to be finalised in January 2016• Basis for funding:

– October 2015 Pupil Census for per pupil allocations – January 2016 Pupil Census for Pupil Premium grant


Additional One Off AllocationThe one off impact on the funding formula for 2016-17 only is as follows.


Changes to Unit Rates2015/16

base value

(£)

2015/16 One off increase

(£)

Total 2015/16

(£)

2016/17 One off increase

(£)

Primary AWPU 2,661 23 2,684 0

Sec KS3 AWPU 3,849 30 3,879 0

Sec KS4 AWPU 4,348 30 4,378 0

Primary lump sum

125,000 15,000 140,000 13,400

Secondary lump sum

125,000 50,000 175,000 50,000


De-Delegation of Services• De-delegation applies only to maintained schools.

• Where services are able to be de-delegated:o The budget is delegated to all schools and academies;o Services for de-delegation have to be approved by

Schools Forum (by maintained school representatives only and separately by phase); and

o If approved the funding will be de-delegated (removed) from maintained school budgets by phase before the final budgets are set.


De-delegation 2015-16 & 2016-17In 2015-16 two areas for Primary de-delegation were approved by Schools Forum and applied as set out below.

These were also approved by Schools Forum on the 13th October 2015 for 2016-17. This will be reflected in the indicative school budgets published in November 2015.

1 School Improvement – SIG £10 per pupil

2 Trade Union Officials £2.10 per pupil


Additional One Off Allocation – Nursery and Special schools

• Special and Nursery schools also to receive relevant share of final one-off allocation (£60k in total) in 2016-17

• Nursery schools – £2,100 to be included in 2016-17 EYSFF lump sum

• Special schools - £3,300 payment to be made in October 2016 transfers


Additional One Off Allocation• Importantly this additional delegation is outside of the MFG /

Cap meaning schools and Northamptonshire academies will get the full benefit of this additional one off funding.

• 2016-17 is the third and FINAL year of the agreed 3 year release of reserves. Therefore, schools should note 2016-17 will be the final year when one-off funding will be released on a similar scale and should plan their budget accordingly.

• PLEASE MAKE ALL PEERS/COLLEAGUES AWARE OF THIS FINAL DISTRIBUTION. At every opportunity we are emphasising that 2016-17 is the last year of the one-off funding distribution and that schools need to plan ahead, please help us pass on the information.


Pupil Premium• Pupil Premium values are still to be announced

for 2016-17

Pupil Premium Category 2015/16£

2016/17£

Change £

Primary 1,320 ? ?

Secondary 935 ? ?

Looked After Children (Pupil Premium Plus)

1,900 ? ?

Service Child 300 ? ?


Pupil premium• Schools will receive £1,320? per primary pupil who is currently

eligible for free school meals (FSM) or has been eligible for FSM in the past 6 years (FSM ‘Ever 6’) and £935 for secondary FSM ‘Ever 6’ pupils. Note this will be based on the January 2016 school census return.

• An estimated amount (2015-16 allocation adjusted for any change in the pupil premium rate per eligible pupil) will be shown in schools 2016-17 indicative budgets.

• If schools are aware of changes in eligible numbers and therefore likely pupil premium funding they should reflect this in their 2016-17 budget submission.


Pupil premium – Falling numbers?• A number of Infant and primary schools have seen the impact of

falling registration of new UIFSM from reception onwards

• This impacts on schools allocation of pupil premium funding.

• Schools need to be pro-active in ensuring parents do register for FSM and are taking up a FSM for the January census.

• Some schools are more successful than others at this so schools are advised to liaise with other schools in their cluster to see what approaches have been taken and to decide what approaches would work best with their school’s parents and pupils.


Pupil premium (cont)• Rate of £1,900? for looked-after children (LAC). The eligibility

criteria includes those pupils who have been in care for one day or more.

• The LAC funding is allocated to schools through the budget top ups on a termly basis via the Virtual Schools team. The allocation to a school is dependent on the school having an agreed PEP for the LAC child they are supporting.

• Schools will also receive £1,900 for eligible pupils who have been registered on the January school census as having been adopted from care or leaving care under a special guardianship or residence order.

• Note - The above is NOT reflected in schools indicative budget information.


Primary PE and Sports Grant

The EFA have published funding allocations for the PE and sport premium which primary schools will receive in the academic year 2015 to 2016.Local authorities are required to pass the PE and Sports Grant funding onto participating maintained schools within one month of receipt. They have revised the grant conditions this year. The most significant changes include:ways in which the premium should not be spentwebsite reporting requirements


Primary PE and Sports Grant The premium must be spent by schools on making additional and sustainable improvements to the provision of PE and sport for the benefit of all pupils to encourage the development of healthy, active lifestyles. The Secretary of State does not consider the following expenditure as falling within the scope of additional or sustainable improvement:

•employing coaches or specialist teachers to cover planning preparation and assessment (PPA) arrangements - these should come out of schools’ core staffing budgets •teaching the minimum requirements of the national curriculum PE programmes of study - including those specified for swimming.


Primary PE and Sports Grant Schools must use the funding to make additional and sustainable improvements to the quality of PE and sport they offer.This means that you should use the premium to:develop or add to the PE and sport activities that your school already offersmake improvements now that will benefit pupils joining the school in future years For example, you can use your funding to:•hire qualified sports coaches to work with teachers •provide existing staff with training or resources to help them teach PE and sport more effectively•introduce new sports or activities and encourage more pupils to take up sport•support and involve the least active children by running or extending school sports clubs, holiday clubs and Change4Life clubs•run sport competitions•increase pupils’ participation in the School Games •run sports activities with other schools


Primary PE and Sports Grant Maintained schools, including those that convert to academies, must publish information about their use of the premium on their website by 4 April 2016. Schools should publish the amount of premium received; a full breakdown of how it has been spent (or will be spent); what impact the school has seen on pupils’ PE and sport participation and attainment and how the improvements will be sustainable in the future

Schools will receive the funding across 2 financial years

•7/12 of the funding allocation in November 2015•5/12 of the funding allocation in May 2016


EYSFF 2016/17• 3-4 year olds EYSFF includes EY pupil premium

(53p per hour per eligible child = £300 p.a)

• Main EYSFF being reviewed for 2016-17. Consultation started in October 2015

• Discussed at Forum Oct and Dec 15, Jan and March 2016.

• http://www.northamptonshire.gov.uk/en/councilservices/educationandlearning/services/schlfin/pages/schoolsforum.aspx


EYSFF 2016/17• EYSFF rates and elements decided and published,

including indicative budgets (excl 2 year olds) , March 2016.

• The initial data from the Autumn 2015 headcount indicates current take up at around 1,940 2 year olds

• The Northants rate paid to providers is £4.85 per hour.

• This means there is £0.05 or 1% of the £4.90 DSG funding contribution to central costs


Early Years future funding – DfE announcements

• The early years block per pupil unit of funding in 2016 to 2017 will be confirmed after the spending review and will continue to be based on participation.

• The Government are committed to making schools and early education funding fairer and will put forward proposals in due course.

• The Government recognise the links between funding for early education, schools and pupils with high cost Special Educational Needs. These are complex issues to consider, and they will consult extensively with the sector and the public on them.


Calls for Evidence – Cost of Providing Childcare

• The Government has committed to give working parents, of three and four-year-olds, 30 hours of free childcare a week.

• The government is carrying out a review of the cost of providing childcare. It has committed to increasing the average childcare funding rates paid to providers.

• The announced increase in entitlement from September 2017 has major implications and the call for evidence, looking at the costs of provision, is just one element of this.


High Needs Funding 2016/17

• High Needs EFA DSG 2016-17 funding announcement in December

• Schools Forum January and March 2016 discussion on high needs pressures, funding and high needs funding rates

• Working with FACE to create a new RAS (Resource Allocation System) to use across all of high needs including Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans and reviewing existing statements. An update report will be taken to the 1st December Schools Forum meeting.


High Needs Funding 2016-17• Arrangements for High Needs funding were announced on the

24th September 2015 (follow the link below):

arrangements for high needs funding in 2016 to 2017

• Headlines are as follows:

•Anticipate no additional high needs DSG funding for 2016-17 (unlike previous years when additional funding was provided).

•High needs place change request form to be submitted by 16th November 2015.


Schools ForumBelow is a link to the link to the website to see the latest information.

•Schools Forum - Northamptonshire County Council

Schools are recommended to read Forum Matters when published to keep up to date with latest developments.


School Balances 2014-15

• Information on maintained schools balances presented and discussed with schools forum.

• Summarised information on maintained school balances by sector included in Schools Outturn report to Cabinet in June.


DSG 2014-15 School balances

School sector 2013-14 (£m) 2014-15 (£m) Movement (£m)Nursery 0.15 0.20 0.05Primary 2.12 2.98 0.86Secondary 0.65 0.06 -0.59Special 0.42 0.52 0.10Total 3.34 3.75 0.41

• CAPITAL BALANCES


DSG 2014-15 School balances• COMMUNITY FOCUSSED RESERVES

School

Sector

2013-14

Children’s

Centres

(£m)

2013-14

Other

(£m)

2014-15

Children’s

Centres

(£m)

2014-15

Other

(£m)

Total Move-ment (£m)

Nursery 0.48 0.46 0.00 0.81 -0.13 Primary 0.31 0.17 0.00 0.08 -0.40 Secondary 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 Special 0 0 0.00 0.00 0.00 Total 0.79 0.63 0.00 0.89 -0.53


DSG 2014-15 School balances• COMMITTED REVENUE BALANCES

School sector2013-14

(£m)2014-15

(£m)Movement

(£m)

Nursery 0.98 0.34 -0.64 Primary 4.59 6.51 1.92Secondary 1.02 0.55 -0.47 Special 1.08 0.98 -0.10 Total 7.67 8.38 0.71


DSG 2014-15 School balances• UNCOMMITTED REVENUE BALANCES

School sector2013-14

(£m)2014-15

(£m)Movement

(£m)Nursery 0.18 0.18 0.00Primary 7.53 9.32 1.79Secondary 0.26 -0.09 -0.35Special 0.58 0.47 -0.11Total 8.55 9.88 1.33


Balances

• Schools need to be thinking about year end carryforwards and Committed / Uncommitted revenue balances.

• To calculate the 8% or 5% Uncommitted balance permitted take the current Oracle Report (total Revised Budget column) minus previous years carryforward (column 1 “Balances”) then multiply by the relevant percentage.



School Balances 2015-16• A number of changes to the balances scheme were

made for 2014-15.

• Currently no major changes are planned for 2015-16.

• All UIFSM schools will be able to identify if they owe or are owed UIFSM grant funding for the period September 2015 to March 2016 which can then be reflected on the SB1 form.

• Where possible the maximum figure allowed will be shown on each relevant row on the SB1 form. Schools must take account of this information.








•Funding information and guidance on NCC website•http://www.northamptonshire.gov.uk/en/councilservices/educationandlearning/services/schlfin/pages/budget_funding.aspx In the 2015 to 2016 academic year schools will be paid funding at a flat rate of £2.30 for each meal taken by newly eligible pupils. Schools will be expected to fund existing free school meals under the existing criteria that they do currently.

For the academic year 2015 to 2016, a provisional allocation of UIFSM grant to schools will be based on the final allocation for academic year 2014 to 2015. A final allocation for academic year 2015 to 2016 will be calculated in June 2016, based on take-up recorded in the October 2015 and January 2016 school censuses.

Universal FSM for Infants


• From September 2015 all schools including those whose meals are provided by Nourish are being charged for FSM, UIFSM and other meals based on actual volumes.

•This means that schools will need to monitor this area carefully as there will be differences between budget and actual costs

•FSM – if spending more than budget this is a pressure that needs to be covered from elsewhere in the school budget.•UIFSM – actual volumes will differ to the indicative funding/numbers allocated by the EFA. This ‘difference’ needs to be identified and recorded by the school as it should be picked up when the EFA update the allocation for the 2015-16 academic year (in June 2016) to reflect actual UIFSM numbers in each school. (see SB1 slides)

Universal FSM for Infants


CFR Reporting 2014-15• Errors on submission

– Schools still not entering an e-mail address.– Opening Balances differed from previous years

closing balances.– Notes not entered against Yellow warning

triangles.– Positive amounts on income codes and negatives on

expenditure


CFR Reporting 2015-16• Schools should be checking the current report is correct when

compared to Oracle and the Cumulative Expense Analysis report.• Schools should be checking that the CFR apportionment has been

actioned correctly – Warning messages when going into the report.• School should check the Validation report for codes not mapped and

missing expenditure / PFI Charges / Bad Debt.• Schools should check that income codes are in credit and expenditure

codes are positive. Usually due to accruals.• Schools will have a red X against Insurance due to the schools not yet

being invoiced for this but will correct itself in due course if applicable.


Budget Monitoring• Schools should be checking the current Oracle report and

comparing to the Cumulative Expense Analysis report.• There has been issues with differences between the

budget top up file and where the budget was loaded onto SIMS/Oracle. So we would suggest the school completes a virement form to amend Oracle.

• Don’t forget to vire Pupil Premium as per the budget proposal form if appropriate. This process will need to be repeated when the 7/12ths funding is devolved in January.


LGSS 16-17The 2016/17 schools and academies brochures• We understand plan is to publish 1st week December 2015.

• The brochures will be available through:o the new schools and academies enewsletter which will be emailed to all

Northamptonshire schools and academies.o www.lgss.co.uko www.northamptonshire.gov.uk - the traded services to schools page

• There will be no prices in the brochure for 2016/17 . • Bespoke charges will be sent to schools/academies who purchased LGSS services

in 2015/16.• New customers: please contact LGSS for a bespoke charge [email protected]


Governance and Financial Management and Compliance with the Schools Financial Value Standard (SFVS) –2015/2016

Recently a thematic audit was carried out on the above areas and the main strategic recommendations relevant to governors are below. The prosecution of a school bursar in 2012 and a second one in 2014, together with a number of school related special investigations have highlighted the need to ensure that appropriate management controls are in place in schools. There needs to be sufficient evidence of these being implemented by Headteachers and appropriate checks completed by Governing Bodies.It is recommended that your finance committee reviews these recommendations against your governance procedures in financial management.Governance documents and proceduresSchools should be reminded of the following: •The Governing Body should review any powers and duties it is delegating to a committee annually i.e. Terms of Reference. •Where a review has been completed by the committee the terms of reference must then be presented to the Governing Body for approval i.e. a committee cannot approve its own terms of reference.


Medium Term PlanningSchools should be reminded of the need to make medium term development plans and for these to be approved by their

Governing Body. • Schools should be reminded that the Governing Body have a statutory duty to monitor the school development plan and to

do this there should be a formal agreement of the plan against which performance is to be measured. School Development Plans will evolve over time and any subsequent agreed revisions of the plan should be approved and minuted.

• Schools should be reminded to prepare premises plans that can be linked to their three year financial projections.

Financial Management• In 20% of schools there was insufficient evidence that the Headteacher had checked that the budget and expenditure on

the school’s local accounting system had been reconciled to the NCC records on Oracle• The reconciliation of the budget and expenditure each month is fundamental to good budget management and monitoring.

Headteachers are responsible for completing a management check to ensure that this task has been completed by the Bursar/Business Manager.

• In 13% of the schools they had not checked that staff travelling on school business e.g. to courses and meetings, had appropriate cover on their motor insurance policies. Schools should be reminded to ensure that these checks undertaken.

• In 15% of the schools that hired out their premises checks had not been completed to confirm that the hirers of the premises had third party indemnity in place to meet any claims that could arise. In some cases policies were on file but they were out of date. Schools should be reminded of the requirement to check that appropriate insurance is in place prior to allowing access to the premises.


Protecting the school against theft and fraud• The Schools Financial Management Handbook states that the audited accounts of the school fund should

be presented to Governors.• Schools should be reminded that in addition to reporting to Governors that the Private Fund accounts

have been audited, evidence of this should be provided to the Governors and that the accounts should be presented for review and discussion.

Business Continuity• The Governing Body should review and challenge the Business Continuity Plan and when satisfied that it

is fit for purpose its approval should be minuted.

Thematic Audits• Schools should be reminded of the value in completing self assessments by using the thematic audit

templates which are updated as and when regulations change.

• The results of the thematic audits should be reported to governors i.e. good practice identified and areas where controls need to be improved.

• An action plan should be prepared to address any weaknesses and its implementation should be monitored by the Finance Committee or Governing Body


Limited assurance was given for the personnel and payroll processes carried out in the Primary Schools within the sample. Whilst being able to provide substantial assurance with regards to the governance processes and moderate assurance for some aspects of payroll, the overall system of control is weak and there is evidence of non-compliance with the controls that do exist which may result in the relevant risks not being managed.

• The table below provides a breakdown on the level of assurance for the fifteen schools audited.

Personnel and Payroll Thematic Audit of Primary Schools – 2014/15

Personnel and Payroll Level of Assurance

Limited Moderate Substantial

7 5 3


Employment of Relatives• Seven of the fifteen schools audited employed staff who were related.

Two of these schools could not demonstrate that an appropriate segregation of duties was in place for the payment of staff who were related.

• An appropriate segregation of duties is critical to effective internal control; it reduces the risk of both fraud and inappropriate activity.

RecommendationsIn order to comply with Financial Regulations, schools should be strongly

advised that:• an appropriate segregation of duties must be in place for all financial

processes; and• no individual should authorise any payments relating to themselves or a

relative.


Employees – Payroll Checking and Monitoring• In two of the fifteen schools audited, there was a lack of documentary

evidence to confirm that the Bursar / School Business Manager checked the payroll reports to confirm if new starters, staff whose contracts had changed and additional hours had been paid correctly.

• Ten of the fifteen schools audited had purchased LGSS Payroll Services. Appropriate checks were not evidenced on the payroll validation reports in three of the ten schools. In addition, an appropriate management check was not evidenced on the payroll validation reports in seven of the ten schools.

• In seven of the fifteen schools there was no evidence that the payroll reports had been presented to the Headteacher for a management check to be completed.

• There was a lack of documentary evidence that the salaries on SIMS and Oracle were reconciled each month in two of the fifteen schools.


Appropriate preventative and detective controls must be in place if School Management are to reduce the risk of fraud, budget overspends and reputational damage to the school.

Such controls include a segregation of duties and appropriate management checks on financial reports.

RecommendationsIn order to comply with Financial Regulations and the Schools Financial Value

Standard, schools should be strongly advised to:• carry out appropriate checks on all of the payroll reports;• present the payroll reports to the Headteacher who should complete a

management check and sign the reports to confirm this has been done; • ensure that a segregation of duties is in place for all financial activities; and• ensure that the salaries on SIMS and Oracle are reconciled each month.


Audit PointsAreas of Good Practice:GOVERNANCE •The committee that dealt with personnel issues had appropriate Terms of Reference in place (93%);•The responsibility for appointing staff, creating new posts and re-grading of staff had been appropriately delegated (93%);•Headteachers reported regularly to Governors on staffing changes and issues (93%);•Governors had agreed a Pay policy for the school (100%);•Governors had adopted the NCC Whistle Blowing policy (100%);•Staff had been made aware of the Whistle Blowing policy (93%); •At least one member of the Recruitment Panel had attended Safer Recruitment training (93%); and•Personnel records were retained for the appropriate time (100%).EMPLOYEES – STAFF RECRUITMENT• Personnel files were stored in a secure area (100%);•Qualifications were checked / held on file for qualified staff (100%);•The SENCO Coordinator was a qualified Teacher who had either achieved, or was working towards achieving the SENCO qualification (where applicable – 100%);•Schools maintained a central log of pre-employment checks (100%);•The identity of new employees was checked (100%); and•DBS clearance was confirmed for agency staff (where applicable - 100%).


Audit PointsAreas of Good Practice:EMPLOYEES – PAYROLL •Payroll records were held securely and access to the payroll provider was appropriately controlled (93%); and•Safeguarding checks were carried out for self employed individuals who provided services to the school (100%).

EMPLOYEES – VARIATIONS TO CONTRACT •Additional payments such as SIP work and Honarariums were approved by the Governors (100%). EMPLOYEES – PAYROLL CHECKING AND MONITORING AND OWN PAYROLL SCHOOLS •Salary costs were checked for accuracy each month (93%); and•Adequate controls were in place in the two schools where they processed their own payroll (100%).


Journals & Virements

Please be aware that there are new forms to complete when submitting the above.

These can be found on the Schools Finance website under the forms library.

These should then be returned to Finance as attachments to e-mails.


Journals


Journals


Virements


HousekeepingSalary Scales on FMS

The Teacher pay scales are now available from our website. Attached to the Personnel 7 update notes and how to action this on SIMS with effect from 1st September.

Teachers Pension

The actual rate applicable from 1 September 2015 is 16.48% not 16.4% as already notified. This can be amended in SIMS.Net via Tools/Staff/Superannuation thereby removing the couple of pound variation in FMS.


Housekeeping Contd• Submittals via email attachments as 1 pdf file not individual

documents. Checking that the file does contain all the required information and is readable and has not slipped when scanning – Also we will not accept FMS reports exported to Excel. Please note that with regards to the journal/virement templates these stay in the Excel format.

• LB26 – schools responsibility to identify errors and correct the problem. We can advise how to correct on FMS but should not be undertaking this work on the schools behalf.


Top Tips• Now is the time to be checking to see if you are able to

streamline the structure. You will not be able to do this if you have used the Cost Centre in this financial year. De-link the ledger code and then delete the Cost Centre.

• Within FMS you have the ability to pay a supplier normally paid by BACS by cheque. This is of benefit if your “inputter” is absent and to prevent late payments charges. Example on next slide



FMS UpgradeAbility to Hide and Unhide Cost Centre Ledger Code Combinations

• Tools | General Ledger Setup | Tab 6: C/Centre Ledger Code Links• It is now possible to hide or unhide cost centre, ledger and fund code combinations that are

no longer required.• Once hidden, these combinations will not be available when processing new transactions in

Accounts Payable, Petty Cash or Service Term Mappings. The combinations will still appear on reports, but where there is no balance on the combination, zero balances can be hidden when running the report. This applies to EX and ES codes.

Modification to Default Bank Code in Cash Book Journal and VAT Reimbursement Entry

• Focus | General Ledger | Manual Journal Processing - Cash Book Journal Entry• When entering a cash book journal or VAT reimbursement, the Bank Ledger Code field now

defaults to a bank account if only one bank account exists. If more than one bank account exists, the field remains blank, ensuring the wrong bank account cannot be selected accidentally.


FMS UpgradeReports Produced in New Reporting Engine

• Reports | New Reports | General Ledger | Audit | Audit Trail• Reports | New Reports | General Ledger | Audit | Journal Audit Trail• Reports | New Reports | General Ledger Setup | Chart of Account Listing• The Audit Trail, Journal Audit Trail and Chart of Account Listing reports have been produced

in the new reporting engine and will replace the existing reports in the FMS 2016 Summer Release.

Retirement of Old Format Reports• Focus | General Ledger | Chart of Accounts Review• Focus | Personnel Links | Salary Projection• The reports that can be produced from the Chart of Accounts Review and Salary Projection

areas can now be produced using the new reporting engine only.


Questions?

Date post:	17-Jan-2016
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By the public sector, for the public sector Finance Seminar Autumn 2015 Presented by Cathryn Walker.

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