Archived decisions

Point

SfFM Paragraph / Section

Proposed change to SfFM

1.

Index and throughout the scheme

Replace Local Education Authority and LEA by Local Authority and LA. (Change arising from Education and Inspection Bill)

2.

1.1

The scheme below sets out the rules governing the financial relationship between the County Council (the LA) and its maintained schools.(Deleted text The scheme supersedes the financial elements of the Local Management scheme.) Schools have been consulted and the scheme approved by the Secretary of State.

3.

1.2

The scheme contains requirements relating to financial management and associated issues that are binding both on the County Council and on schools.( Deleted text From 1 April 1999 to 31 August 1999 the scheme applied to all county, voluntary, maintained special, N/a grant maintained and grant maintained special schools maintained by the County Council. From 1 September 1999 ) The scheme applies to. ( deleted text continued to apply to such schools when they become) community, voluntary, foundation, community special, foundation special and nursery schools. (Deleted text The scheme also covers the funding and management of nursery schools.)

4.

1.5

The County Council (Deleted text may retain an unallocated reserve within the ISB but must otherwise) has to distribute amounts from the ISB amongst maintained schools using a formula that accords with regulations made by the Secretary of State. Details of the formula, with current values, are given in the annual budget share guidance notes and part 3 of the local management scheme.

5.

2.6

Other useful guidance includes Schools Communication 1582 " Standards of Financial Management in Schools" and the forthcoming " Statement of Financial Expectations"

6.

3.1

Additional phrase The County Council will:

· expect schools to conform to the highest public service standards in their stewardship of funds

7.

3.2

Additional phrase The Governing Body will:

· adopt the highest public service standards for the conduct of the school's activities

8.

3.3

The governing body should consider the extent to which it wishes to delegate its financial powers to the Headteacher, and to record its decision (and any revisions) in its minutes. This should include the setting of set cash limits as to the decisions that can be made by the headteacher and other staff.

9.

3.3

The first formal budget plan of each year must be approved by the governing body or by a committee of the governing body under the Education (School Government) (Terms of Reference) (England) Regulations 2000 and the School Governance (Constitution) (England) Regulations 2003

10.

3.4

Additional phrase The Headteacher will :

· conduct the school's business in accordance with the highest public service standards

11.

4.1

Each school should have a strategic financial plan which links closely with the School Improvement Plan. The strategic financial plan should cover a minimum of three years, so it may act as a means of long-term financial planning , e.g. saving money in years one and two, to spend on a major item in year three or anticipating a future funding shortfall in advance. Thus the specific purposes for which balances are held and the intended amounts for each purpose should be part of the plan. The plan should be updated each year so it will act as a three year rolling document. Appendix E lists the main features of a strategic financial plan

12.

4.2

The plan should contain a realistic number of strategic priorities that are based upon robust and accurate self-evaluation processes that demonstrate that the school is fully aware of its strengths and weaknesses.

13.

4.3

With the introduction of multi-year budgets by the DfES from April 2006 schools will be able to plan ahead with greater certainty over future funding levels. Schools will therefore be able to submit their strategic financial plans to the county council more easily and certainly during the summer term.

14.

4.4

Each school must prepare a complete annual school budget (at General Ledger code level) within its total resources and must not plan an overspend. Total resources are defined as the current allocation (budget share),any balance brought forward, together with additional income streams the schools has access to. The County Council allows schools to take full account of estimated deficits and surpluses at the previous 31 March in their budget plan. When a realistic forecast suggests a school may be in danger of a deficit budget, the local Education Financial Services (EFS) office should be informed immediately. If it is not possible to balance the budget, then a plan should be agreed as for schools that have already incurred deficits. Any deficit incurred for whatever reason is a first call on the following financial year's budget share. The County Council may bar schools from adding to the size of a deficit (effectively putting a cap on the school's financial position) but may not bar spending on particular items of expenditure within the same overall total.

15.

4.5

Jun/Aug - Identification of new plans and priorities for the ensuing financial year (these should be reflected in the school improvement plan). Identification of main purposes for holding balances.

16.

4.5

Sep/Dec - Final cash-limited allocations will not be received until March each year (in future these will be multi-year allocations). However, any changes to allocations will be based largely on inflation and changes in pupil numbers. A school should be able to ascertain in the Autumn term whether its allocation is likely to alter much in real terms (i.e. ignoring inflation). Therefore, it should be able to start making budget decisions for the following year, e.g. on staffing levels

17.

4.5

Dec/Feb - Staffing levels to be approved by the governing body, or a committee of the governing body, with regard to pupil numbers and the School Improvement Plan. In the light of these decisions review purposes and amounts for intended balances.

18.

4.5

Mar - School receives firm cash-limited allocation. The allocation is based on pupil numbers on the January PLASC return .The final budget must be formally approved by the governing body or a committee of the governing body, minuted and a signed copy of the budget appended to the minutes.

19.

4.5

Apr - Schools firm up on purposes for which balances are held and submit return to county council by 1 May

20.

4.6

Each school must provide the County Council with details of expected and actual expenditure and income, in a form determined by the County Council. Accordingly, schools must submit a budget plan (at General Ledger code level) for the current financial year to the County Council by 31 May. This should be followed by the strategic financial plan by 30 June. Further details are given in section 21 - Reporting Requirements.

21.

4.7

Budgets should be prepared realistically and should allow a contingency for unforeseen circumstances. Balances not earmarked for a specific purpose should not be excessive. The County Council would not expect balances for unforeseen circumstances to exceed 3% of the annual budget share or £10,000 (whichever is the higher). Where a school sets a budget at the start of the financial year with a contingency, it would be expected practice for the school to review the potential to draw upon these funds to meet changing school needs during the year.

22.

4.8

This text currently part of the preceding paragraph is now a paragraph in its own right. The school may save/earmark additional funds for specific projects for the benefit of the current pupils. Balances accumulated for specific projects should not be at the expense of current provision and must be clearly documented as part of the school strategic financial plan.

23.

4.9

Most of the school budget will be to cover staffing costs, so it is essential that a school can accurately estimate the cost of the staff it employs. Budget planning aids are available for staffing (contact EFS for details).

24.

4.12

Schools are allowed to vire freely between budget headings in the expenditure of their budget shares.

25.

4.13

All schools aspire to the highest standards of financial management and hence they are expected to revise the school's budget during the year to reflect changed circumstances and more up to date information. Normally the budget should be revised during the autumn term and after agreement by the finance committee or the full governing body should be reported to the county council, either by entry on to SAP or by return by 30 November each year.

26.

4.15

The County Council will charge the budget share for a school in all cases where an agreement to receive the service and accept the charge has already been entered into; e.g. sign up to a Service Level Agreement with a part of the County Council.

27.

4.16

The plan for the recovery of any deficit should indicate the rate of improvement in the school's financial position that the plan will deliver. If immediate recovery is not possible, the plan should have provided for elimination of the deficit by the end of its third year. Further advice including a formal framework for reporting and monitoring is available from Education Financial Services.

28.

4.17

The recovery plan should be submitted to the Director of Children's Services by 31 July after the financial year in which the deficit was incurred, and an update report produced annually (by 31 May each year) until the deficit is cleared

29.

4.18

If a school considers a deficit cannot be recovered within three years, then formal approval needs to be sought from the Director of Children's Services. In no circumstances can the actual elimination of a deficit extend beyond five years. Schools that are not effective in reducing actual deficits will be actively considered for either the capping of current deficit levels and/or the suspension of delegated management and are very likely to attract a notice of concern..

30.

4.20

Any school whose actual deficit exceeds 8% of its budget share or £40,000 (whichever is the greater), will be examined with a view to suspending delegated management. Any school whose actual deficit exceeds 5% of its budget share or £25,000 (whichever is the greater) will be required to produce monthly financial reports to EFS and the County Council may require the the attendance, with full speaking rights, of a senior officer at the Governing Body's meetings .

31.

5.2

Schools not using SAP may continue with their existing financial system ( deleted text until the implementation of SAP is complete,) provided the financial system meets the minimum requirements set out in the County Council's "Information Supporting the Scheme for Financial Management" document in Appendix A. The system will be subject to internal audit review. These schools will be expected to provide a monthly data file so that financial information can be uploaded into the County Council's accounts in a timely manner (see Appendices D and E)

32.

5.4

Consistent financial reporting (CFR) was introduced in 2002/03 as a standard to provide data to the DfES for integration onto the national benchmarking data base. Schools have a legal requirement to provide this data, and they have the option of completing returns themselves, or requesting the County Council to complete the information on their behalf (through Education Financial Services). For schools using SAP, the reports needed for CFR can be generated by the system. The legal basis of CFR means that schools using other systems have to be able to report their annual figures in accordance with the CFR framework and within the timetable set by DfES. This legal requirement applies whether a school's CFR return is made by the school directly or via the County Council

33.

5.5

This data is available for schools to view annually in September covering the previous financial year. This is available through the website at: http://sfb.teachernet.gov.uk/login.aspx

34.

5.13

If a school has elected to use an external provider, then all associated responsibilities - such as effective administration, payments and submission of returns - will rest with the school. This will include submitting information to the County Council as specified in Information Supporting the Scheme for Financial Management (Appendix B) and getting cleared funds into the County Council's bank account by the due dates. If the school fails to provide this, or similar information specified by the County Treasurer, it may result in a notice of concern and/or a charge against the school's budget (see sections 13 and 14) or even the suspension of delegated funding to the school

35.

5.14

All payments to employees, except cash reimbursements, must be made via the payroll service. Car allowances to employees also have to be handled through payroll. In no circumstances should payments to staff for work done be made through petty cash.

36.

6.3

Schools who fully subscribe to the EFS Service Level Agreement will receive advice and support from Education Financial Services including access to the Manual of Financial Practice and Procedures, a copy of which is on the County Council website at http://intranet.hants.gov.uk/childrens-services/efs/efs-publications/efs-financemanual.htm They may purchase additional advice and support from the same source either through a Service Level Agreement or on a Pay As You Use basis.

37.

6.4

Schools may also purchase additional internal audit services (e.g. annual reviews) from the County Council if they wish (contact Audit Services, County Treasurer's Department). Furthermore, schools may if they wish purchase financial advice or external audit to provide the governing body with assurance on the financial management of the school, in addition to the assurance gained from internal and external audit paid for centrally. Additional financial advice and independent external audit must be purchased from the school's budget share.

38.

6.5

Schools must provide audit certificates for voluntary and private funds held, and for any trading organisations controlled by the school. These returns are required by 31 August following the end of the financial year.

39.

7.1

All schools can choose to manage payments locally. Schools keep all interest earned but bear the cost of all bank charges. Schools are not permitted to overdraw their accounts, in this situation the school will be required to close their local bank account and open an imprest account with the County Council.

40.

7.5

The governing body decides whether to opt in or out of the cheque book scheme. The decision should be formally minuted. Any school opting in to or out of the cheque book scheme, or making any change on this matter, must notify the LMS Team, Children's Services Department by 1 December for arrangements to take effect in the following April, or by 31 March for arrangements to take effect from September.

41.

7.15

Any former Grant Maintained Schools which paid their staff before the last working day of each month prior to 1 April 1999, and who asked for their monthly advances to be paid before the penultimate banking day of each month since then, may continue having their cash advances paid early. An interest charge will be made for this.

42.

7.16

If a school chooses to have its monthly advance before the last working day of the month, the additional lost interest deduction will simply be the number of days early divided by 365 x base rate x the advance amount. So, assuming a base rate of 4.5%, if a school wants to receive a £125,000 advance four days early, the deduction would be:

4/365 x 4.50% x £125,000 = £62 (where the base rate is 4.50%)

43.

11.4

Some schools have entered into formal agreements with the County Council which set out arrangements for managing community use of the school, including any community facilities provided with support from funding partners, such as local authorities and Lottery distributors. The agreements establish management committees operating on behalf of the County Council and the schools' governing bodies. The committees are required to propose an annual budget which is subject to approval by parties to the agreement. These budgets should be entered into the SAP system by 1 May each year. The use of any surpluses carried forward is also subject to approval. The accounting arrangements are detailed in the agreements.

44.

11.10

Early Years Centres / Children's Centres

In the early phases of the development of children's centres the County Council gave some specific primary school governing bodies responsibility for the oversight and management of a children's centre . This responsibility is outside the powers of the primary school governing body in respect of its budget share and full account has to be taken of specific children's centre requirements set out by the County Council. The development and approval of governance and financial management frameworks for children's centres will mean changes in the role of the governing body in respect of such centres. ( These changes will not have the same effect on the integrated management of the three maintained nursery schools with children's centres ) In the meantime the terms of this scheme and the supplementary guidance apply.

45.

11.12

Other wider activities

The same standards and procedures as apply to a school's own budget and expenditure also apply to all joint arrangements with other schools. Whether the arrangements take the form of a Cluster, a Collaboration, a soft or hard Federation under the terms of the Education Act 2002 or some locally determined approach all the terms of this scheme still apply. There is a particular onus on any schools handling funds on behalf of the group to follow the highest standards of financial management so that the wider accountability is discharged effectively.

46.

12.3

The County Council defines borrowing as:

· loans, whereby lenders make available to schools a sum of money which schools use for specific purposes (this includes increasing the term of existing loans or drawing down additional amounts within a facility provided by a bank)

· finance leases and hire purchase contracts.

47.

13.1

The County Council expects every secondary school to be able to demonstrate that it has achieved and is maintaining the Financial Management Standard in Schools (FMSiS) as published by the DfES. It has not made external assessment compulsory but where such assessment is undertaken it has to be funded from a school's budget share.

48.

13.2

The County Council expects all other schools to have achieved the standard by 2010. In the meantime it represents the standard which all schools should aspire to and many will achieve. A phased approach to achievement has been agreed with representatives of such schools.

49.

13.3

The County Council will issue a notice of concern to the governing body of a school when in the opinion of the Chief Finance Officer and the Director of Children's Services, the school has failed to comply with any provisions of this scheme, or where actions need to be taken to safeguard the financial position of the local authority or the school. The notice will set out the reasons and evidence for it being issued.

50.

13.4

The County Council will set out the requirements on the governing body in relation to the management of funds, including actions, restrictions, limitations or prohibitions that it must comply with. These requirements may include:

· insisting that relevant staff and governors undertake appropriate training to address any identified weaknesses in the financial management of the school;

· insisting that an appropriately trained/qualified person chairs the finance committee of the governing body;

· insisting that support is purchased from a financial provider to ensure that school staff have access to financial advice;

· requiring the school to be externally assessed against the FMSiS standards and to implement any remedial action identified as being needed to bring the school up to the standards;

· placing more stringent restrictions or conditions on the day to day financial management of a school than the scheme requires for all schools (e.g. provision of monthly accounts to the County Council) ;

· insisting on regular financial monitoring meetings at the school attended by local authority officers;

· requiring the governing body to buy into SAP where it does not already do so;

· requiring notification of all decisions including contracts of employment and the placing of orders which commit the school to more than £5,000;

· imposing restrictions or limitations on the manner in which the school manages extended school activity funded from within its delegated budget share - for example by requiring the school to submit income projections and/or financial monitoring reports on such activities;

· requiring the attendance, with full speaking rights, of the County Treasurer's representative at the meetings of the governing body and all relevant committees;

· submission of financial forecasts covering each year of a multi-year budget period.

51.

13.5

The notice will state the time by which such requirements must be complied with in order for the notice to be withdrawn. It will also state the actions that the county council may take where the governing body does not comply with the notice.

52.

13.6

The School Standards and Framework Act 1998 allows the County Council to suspend a governing body's right to a delegated budget if it fails to comply with requirements or mismanages the funds. The County Council may do this if the provisions of the scheme for financial management of schools , including the requirements attached to a notice of concern (or rules applied by the scheme) have been substantially or persistently breached, or if the budget share has not been managed satisfactorily. There is a right of appeal to the Secretary of State. A school's right to a delegated budget share may also be suspended for other reasons as stated in section 17 of the Act, but in that case there is no right of appeal. Alternatively, or in addition, schools may receive a charge against their school budget for any liabilities incurred (see section 14 of this scheme).

53.

15.5

Schools may also charge for:

· board and lodging. Income from boarding charges is collected on behalf of the LA and should not exceed that needed to provide board and lodging for the pupils concerned.

· public examinations where the pupil has not been prepared by the school, or where the pupil fails without good reason to complete the examination requirements

· wilful damage to school property, or the misuse or loss of books and equipment.

54.

16.1

Schools will carry forward from year to year both underspendings and overspendings on individual school budgets. When a school decides to invest with the County Treasurer some or all of the unspent money brought forward, it will receive interest on the sum concerned at a rate set by the County Treasurer, after consultation with school representatives. (Deleted text currently 0.5% below base rate for secondary schools and 0.1% for primary and special schools - see paragraph 7.4).

55.

16.2

New text based on relocated paragraph 7.4. After consulting Headteachers, primary, nursery and special schools are paid nominal interest of 0.1% on balances carried forward. The balance of the interest payable on all primary, nursery and special school balances is then used to support all those schools' delegated budgets. Secondary schools will receive interest equivalent to the base rate less 0.5% on any part of their balance carried forward and invested with the County Council.

56.

16.3

All monies due to a school's official funds from other sources, e.g. : Governors funds, unofficial funds, PTA ; must be paid into the official fund before the 31 of March each year so that a true carry forward figure can be determined.

57.

16.4

A deficit is defined as a cumulative deficit such that expenditure has exceeded total resources made available including any surplus balance brought forward from previous years. A school's surplus or deficit balance at the end of the financial year is equal to that at the beginning of the new financial year. In addition, any formal agreement for eliminating a deficit balance agreed between the County Council (normally Education Financial Services) and a school, must continue to be followed.

58.

16.5

A school facing an overspend is expected to discuss it with the County Council (Education Financial Services) before incurring a deficit. In the case of an actual overspend, (Deleted text if the amount in any one year exceeds 3% of the school's budget share,) the County Council would expect to agree with the school a plan of action to eliminate the deficit over a reasonable period. This is an important management discipline, aiming to help the school to manage its own affairs. Similarly, if a school overspent in consecutive years it would again be necessary to discuss why and agree corrective action. In practice, schools must discuss all budget deficits with Education Financial Services.

59.

16.8

The County Council has no powers to write off the deficit balance of any school's budget.

60.

16.9

Existing text of (16.7 If a school's end-of-financial-year balance exceeds 5% of the budget share or £25,000 (whichever is greater), then the governing body must submit a report by 31 July of that year to the local Education Financial Services office, explaining how it intends to use the balance.) is deleted.

61.

16. 9

Surplus balances held by schools as permitted under this scheme are subject to the following restrictions with effect from 1 April 2007:

· the County Council will calculate by 31 May each year the surplus balance, if any, held by each school as at the preceding 31 March. For this purpose the balance will be the recurrent balance as defined in the Consistent Financial Reporting Framework;

· the County Council will deduct from the calculated balance any amounts for which the school has a prior year commitment to pay from the surplus balance and any identified unspent Standards Fund grant for the previous financial year;

· the County Council will then deduct from the resulting sum any amounts which the governing body of the school has declared to be assigned for specific purposes permitted by the authority as listed at Appendix F of the scheme, and which the authority is satisfied are properly assigned. To count as properly assigned, amounts must not be retained beyond the period stipulated for the purpose in question, expected periods are also given in Appendix F , without the consent of the County Council. In considering whether any sums are properly assigned due account will also be taken of any previously declared assignment of such sums but any change in planned assignments will not be taken as the sole reason for considering that a sum is not properly assigned;

· if the result of these steps is a sum greater than 4% of the current year's budget share (secondary schools) or whichever is the greater of 5% or £25,000 (primary, nursery and special schools), then the Authority shall deduct from the current year's budget share an amount equivalent to the excess.

Funds deriving from sources other than the County Council will be taken into account in this calculation if paid into the budget share account of the school, whether under provisions in this scheme or otherwise.

Funds held in relation to a school's exercise of powers under s.27 of the Education Act 2002 (community facilities) will not be taken into account unless added to the budget share surplus by the school as permitted by the County Council .

62.

16.10

In order to meet this timetable all school governing bodies with balances or anticipated balances must submit a report (or complete a form designed by the County Council) by 1 May of that year to the local Education Financial Services office, explaining how and when it intends to use the balance i.e. what are the specific purposes for which it has been assigned and the timescales involved. When no such information is received the entire balance will be regarded as unassigned and uncommitted.

63.

16.11

The total of any amounts deducted from schools' budget shares by the County Council under this provision will be applied to the Schools Budget as determined by Schools Forum.

64.

18.1

The County Council may allocate funds,(Deleted text such as the Standards Fund), in addition to the schools' budget shares.

65.

18.3

The allocations which schools receive from specific grants, such as the Standards Fund School Development Grant, are subject to the grant conditions set by the DfES or other government body.

66.

20.2

When Governors' contributions to capital schemes are involved the funding arrangements must be planned to ensure that the cash flow implications do not cause the school's revenue budget to be overspent.

67.

21.1

Accurate and timely financial reporting is an indication of good financial management. Where schools fail to meet the reporting timetables they are likely to fall short of the FMSiS standards. A repetition of a failure to meet the reporting requirements, particularly if it affects statutory deadlines e.g. : final accounts, VAT, NI, pensions, would be a reason for the issue of a notice of concern.

68.

21.2

All schools are required to submit the following financial returns:

· Annual approved budget by 31 May- see below

· Strategic Financial Plan by 30 June - see Appendix E for some further details

· Approved revised budget for the year by 30 November- see below

· Assignment of balances as at 31 March to specific purposes by 1 May

69.

21.3

Financial returns - County Council System Users (SAP)

Schools operating SAP must submit their revenue budget for the current financial year to SAP by 31 May each year, and revised budget agreed by Governors to SAP by no later than 30 November each year. The only other information required, (except for cheque book schools using SAP), as long as SAP records are kept up to date, will be the balance assignment notification and the copy of the strategic financial plans. All budgets entered onto the County Council's financial system (SAP) must be recorded at General Ledger (GL) code level.

70.

21.4

Cheque book schools using SAP must produce a monthly bank reconciliation between the bank statement and the bank balance shown on SAP. Further guidance outlining the timetable for submitting financial returns for schools operating SAP can be found in Appendix E.

71.

21.5

Financial returns - Non-SAP

Specific financial returns are required from schools not operating SAP, as well as the ones required of all schools. An explanation of returns required is given in Information Supporting the Scheme for Financial Management (Appendix D) with further guidance in Appendix E of the same document. The County Council will not request income and expenditure reports more often than the monthly frequency needed to meet the statutory VAT, NI and pension obligations. These reports will also provide the information to keep the County Council's accounts up to date.

72.

22.3

Audit certificates must be provided to the local Education Financial Services office for private or voluntary funds held by the school, and for any accounts of trading organisations controlled by the school. A copy must also be retained at the school. Annual audited accounts are required by 31 August after the year end

73.

24.5.3

Bodies with plans covering the community to be served by the facility or services should be consulted and the degree of fit with the relevant planning frameworks and policies assessed. In particular the following should be consulted if their work could be affected :

· The Sure Start Strategic Plan published by the local Early Years Development and Child Care Partnership, where any developments affecting early years education or child care are proposed. Schools should also consult local providers of childcare services and be satisfied that the proposals will not undermine the financial viability of existing services.

· The local parish/town councils (where they exist) and the local district council. These will have relevant planning policies. Community development plans and the priorities contained therein will be very important for community facility developments. There may also be specific plans for young people, area regeneration, leisure facilities and / or arts/sports plans and so on.

· Agencies such as Sports England, Arts Council will have policies and strategies in addition to specific plans that will affect not only their funding attitudes but also set their priorities.

· All the schools within the cluster and neighbouring secondary schools.

· The County Council's Adult and Community Learning Unit's three year Development Plan for Adult and Community Learning, which is updated annually for the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. Local adult and community learning providers including colleges should also be consulted.

74.

24.6.1

The provision of community facilities in many schools may be secured through a funding agreement with one or more third parties which will be supplying funding and/or being a party to the management of provision. A very wide range of bodies and organisations are potentially involved.

75.

24.7.1

Best practice in respect of the financial management of community facilities, is to use the same accounting and reporting systems as are used for the school's main budget share but with the activities separately identified on a full cost basis. This includes the submission of budgets onto SAP by 1^st May each year. However where this is not practicable then schools which exercise the community facilities power must provide a summary statement every six months , showing the income and expenditure for the school arising from the facilities in question for the previous six months and on an estimated basis, for the next six months. The form of these statements will be notified to schools and the forms will be returned to Head of Adult and Community Learning. These schools must also provide an approved annual budget by the 1 May deadline.

76.

24.7.2

If the County Council believes there to be cause for concern as to the school's management of the financial consequences of the exercise of the community facilities power then it may, after giving notice to the school, require financial statements to be supplied every three months or in certain instances monthly.

77.

24.8.2

The school must ensure that no deficit arises from the operation of the community facility. Where a deficit balance exists at the end of a financial year this must be recovered from future income as part of a formal recovery plan (see section 4 on deficits).

78.

24.9.1

As with existing community activities schools may only reclaim VAT for expenditure on community facilities where this is funded from local authority funds. Expenditure from funds obtained direct by schools from private (or indeed, central government) sources is not covered by the VAT reclaim procedures. Information is available in the updated VAT manual for schools and is available on the County Treasurer's website at http://intranet.hants.gov.uk/ctdept/treasurers-vatmanual.htm .

79.

24.9.2

Schools are reminded that if any member of staff employed by the school or LA in connection with community facilities at the school is paid from funds held in a school's own bank account, the school is likely to be held liable for payment of income tax and National Insurance, in line with Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) rules.

80.

24.11.2

The governing body are responsible for the costs of securing Criminal Records Bureau clearance for all adults involved in community activities taking place during the school day. The governing body would be free to pass on such costs to a funding partner as part of an agreement with that partner.

81.

27

Add to list of guidance documents

Schools Communication 1582 " Standards of Financial Management in Schools"

Statement of Financial Expectations

82.

Appendix B

Simplification by treating all schools with external payroll providers the same and using the requirements 1 to 9 which appear first in the current (2003) version and deleting the subsequent 1 to 4.3

83.

Appendix B

Updating :

· CSDFU for EFU,

· the HR Payroll Service Centre for the County Treasurer's Payroll Services Section

· HMRC for Inland Revenue or HM Inspector of Taxes

· SUPERBOD.XLS for SUPERBOD.wk4

84.

Appendix B 3.2

All PEN forms (new appointment details, retirement applications etc) are to be sent to (deleted Payroll) Pension Services Section, County Treasurers Department, The Castle, Winchester, SO23 8UB as the situation requires.

85.

Appendix B 4.2

4.2 Annual Return

Following 31 March each year an annual return must be submitted to the Pension Services Section. The return requires details of employees total pension contributions and earnings upon which contracted out national insurance has been paid. A formal request will be sent in February each year by Pension services detailing both the information and the format required. This data must be supplied in the specific format requested in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet or for a school with less than 12 employees form SUP/12/99/AXIS can be used. The information must be submitted by 12 May each year.

86.

Appendix B 4.3

4. 3 Scheme administration

Information affecting pensions, which would usually be provided by Payroll Services - e.g. notification of new appointments, changes of employment hours and terminations of appointments - must be sent on the relevant forms, as set out in the employers guide, to the Pensions Services Section of County Treasurer's immediately these situations arise. Further information specifying the exact requirements of the Pensions Services Section and the employers guide are on the Pensions Services website (http://www3.hants.gov.uk/finance/pensions.htm )

87.

Appendix B 5.2

Contact Pension Services for advice on procedures if any support staff wish to pay AVCs to Zurich (Eagle Star).

88.

Appendix B 6

6.1 Each year in early May blank spreadsheets (with appropriate columns and headings) are circulated to schools by Payroll Technical Services. Schools must enter details of all their teaching staff in accordance with Teachers' Pension's instructions for completion of the Annual Return. The completed spreadsheet must be returned to Payroll Technical Services by mid June.

89.

Appendix B 6

6.2 Payroll Technical Services check the quality of data i.e. That the relevant fields appear to conform to TP requirements. They do not validate the data as to its correctness which is the responsibility of the school. If there appears to be a problem, Payroll Technical Services will contact the school for clarification and amendment

90.

Appendix B 6

6.3 Once all schools have satisfactorily completed the spreadsheet Payroll Technical Services will forward the return to Teachers Pensions before the deadline of 31 August.

91.

Appendix D

Whole Appendix

92.

Appendix E

Whole Appendix

93.

Appendix F

Entirely New

94.

Reordering of Scheme

See Reordering Annex. This reordering will be applied after all the earlier changes have been made.