Buckinghamshire County Council SFVS TRAINING Schools Accountancy Support

Buckinghamshire County Council SFVS TRAINING Schools Accountancy Support Team Autumn 2019

Buckinghamshire County Council AIMS The Schools Financial Value Standard helps to provide governing bodies with assurance that the school is meeting basic standards necessary to achieve a good level of financial and resource management Our aim today: To provide an overview of the SFVS Self Assessment form to help delegates identify possible areas for change 2

Buckinghamshire County Council OUTCOMES • Demonstrate knowledge of the objectives of the SFVS • Confident to prepare SFVS check list and review dashboard • Confident to identify action required 3

Buckinghamshire County Council Governors’ Financial Responsibilities The DFE Governance handbook – core role and functions of the governing board • • LA’s section 151 officer Internal audit Governors core responsibilities • • • Accountable body Hold the executive to account Asking the right questions • https: //www. gov. uk/government/publications/governance-handbook 4

Buckinghamshire County Council Why do we do the SFVS? Statement of SFVS Compliance Assurance on Financial Management SFVS Schools – monitor delegated budgets and optimise resources 5

Buckinghamshire County Council Governors’ Responsibility and Sign off • Last sheet to be completed • Effectively the sign off sheet – same information as previous returns – Requires the signature of the Chair of Governors – The date the assessment was discussed by the governing body – Date sent to the schools accountancy support team – Most important part – The action plan 6

Buckinghamshire County Council DASHBOARD • Section A: School data • Section B: Spending as % of expenditure • Section C: In year balance as % of income • Section D: Average teacher cost/ utilisation and pupil numbers • Section E : Learning and achievement data 7

Buckinghamshire County Council Dashboard Ratings Red Significantly out of line with similar schools Amber Considerably out of line with similar schools Light Green In line with the majority of other schools Dark Green Close to middle of similar schools It is important to remember that red ratings do not always equate to poor financial management but are an indication of the budgetary pressures a school is facing. 8

Buckinghamshire County Council The Threshold Analysis • This not a traditional benchmarking exercise it’s a financial management tool. • • Benchmarking looks at specific historical data i. e. last years data Threshold analysis combines historical data over a number of years and trend analysis to determine groupings for the threshold • Main difference – single point historical data can change significantly year on year – threshold tend to remain more static because of the larger data set. • Be careful if you have a nursery within your school – this is not a recognised phase within the dashboard 9

Buckinghamshire County Council Completing the dashboard • Data to be used is projected outturn for the financial year 2019/20 prepared for provisional budget 2020/21. • Understand which threshold is triggering a red or amber rating • Important – use the findings of this analysis to identify areas to investigate • Revisit these areas when agreeing your final budget submission in May • Do it online and the ratings will automatically be calculated. 10

Buckinghamshire County Council Raw Data Input Sheet 11

Buckinghamshire County Council DASHBOARD: SECTION A This triggers the characteristics for your school There are drop down boxes for phase and region other data is manually input. 12

Buckinghamshire County Council DASHBOARD – SECTION B The dashboard looks at ongoing costs not capital costs It important to use the same groupings as the Df. E dashboard otherwise the comparators will not be consistent Consider the treatment of material one off expenditure – should it be included 13

Buckinghamshire County Council DASHBOARD SECTION C Guidance does not refer to community revenue/ balances but looks at all revenue balances therefore you should include community balances as well Community costs are included in the expenditure analysis under other costs. 14

Buckinghamshire County Council SECTION D Note most financial data is based on 2017/18 data but teacher costs can vary year on year so costs have been uplifted so that benchmarking for 2019/20 teachers pay can be compared correctly. However if you then use the financial benchmarking website for further investigation, the data was updated in October for 2018/19 data. 15

Buckinghamshire County Council SECTION E: Performance https: //www. compare-school-performance. service. gov. uk. 16

Buckinghamshire County Council Section F; Commentary Please complete this as it contains useful narrative for future comparisons when the final budget is submitted in May 17

Buckinghamshire County Council Questions to ask Why have we been given this rating? Is it a surprise? What follow up action should we take? Are these actions we thought were already in place? Do we need further investigation e. g. benchmarking websites for finance or school performance? Have we chosen similar schools for specific areas? Have we previously taken action? How will we monitor the action we take? Do we need to make changes? What are the timescales for change? Who is responsible for actioning the change? Who in the governing body is responsible for ensuring the change is actioned? 18

Buckinghamshire County Council The CHECKLIST • The standard requires schools to demonstrate the quality of management in 6 main areas • • A Governance (5) B Strategy (3) C Setting the annual budget (5) D Staffing (3) E Value for money (6) F Protecting Public Money (6) G Dashboard (1) (29 questions) Drop down box – answers are Yes No or In Part – No and In part questions should be followed up with an action plan detailed in the Introduction tab 19

Buckinghamshire County Council GOVERNANCE 1. Financial Skills of the Governing Body 2. Finance Committee (or equivalent) Terms of Reference and an experienced chair 3. Clear and concise budget monitoring reports at least 6 times a year 4. Register of Business Interests (avoiding conflicts of interest) 5. Access to adequate level of financial expertise 20

Buckinghamshire County Council SCHOOL STRATEGY 6. 3 year Financial Plans – Salary Modeller and School Budget Share Modeller 7. Clear and demonstrable link between School Development Plan and Financial Plan) 8. Appropriate business continuity or disaster plan, asset register and adequate insurance » » » Risk Assessment Plan Training Exercise Review 21

Buckinghamshire County Council SETTING THE ANNUAL BUDGET 9. Well informed and balanced financial plan 10. Challenge and scrutiny is there time? 11. Pupil numbers 12. Variance between actual outturn and in year forecasts 13. Reasonable balances: Excessive surpluses are defined as 15% or more (on all the school’s income) for the last 5 years and at least £ 10, 000 each year. 22

Buckinghamshire County Council STAFFING 14. Regular review of the establishment list 15. Independent advice for headteacher’s pay 16. Benchmarking senior leadership team size 23

Buckinghamshire County Council VALUE FOR MONEY 17. Benchmark expenditure 18. Purchasing procedures 19. Challenging new contracts and renewals 20. Collaboration 21. Non payroll expenditure benchmarked 22. Capital expenditure and maintenance 24

Buckinghamshire County Council PROTECTING PUBLIC MONEY 23. Audit reports/ internal controls reviews 24. Related Party transactions 25. Prevention of fraud 26. Whistleblowing 27. Accounting systems 28. Audit of voluntary funds 25

Buckinghamshire County Council SELF ASSESSMENT - RECAP • • • Determine the position of the school for each of the 29 questions of the Standard Determine how the schools data compares to the thresholds within the dashboard. A detailed report should be given to the full GB or Management committee Although not required, a record of where supporting evidence can be found in your school is useful Ensure that the agreed remedial action is reviewed regularly and completed within the timescale Send your completed form signed by the Chair of Governors to the Schools Accountancy Support Team by the required deadline and keep a copy for your school 26

Buckinghamshire County Council Any Questions? We will circulate the answers to key questions if we don’t have time to respond to all queries 27

Buckinghamshire County Council Timetable Time Line Action September 2019 – SFVS forms available online Make sure you have chosen the right form January/ February 2020 – preparation and review of SFVS This review can be run concurrently with the preparation for the provisional plan 28 February – Submit SFVS to Authority Same date as submission of provisional plan • 28

Buckinghamshire County Council RECAP OF COURSE OUTCOMES • Demonstrate knowledge of the objectives of the SFVS • Confident to prepare SFVS check list and review dashboard • Confident to identify action required Deadline for submission 28 February 2020 29