Management Information Sheet

The Governing Bodies of LA maintained schools have just completed the third annual round of the mandatory ‘Schools Financial Value Standard’ self-assessment. It has been designed by the DfE with schools and Local Authorities, to assist in the oversight of financial management and to give assurance that all schools have secure financial management processes in place.

The deadline for submission of the self-assessment to the Local Authority is 31st March each year. As at 31st March 2015, 16 Norfolk LA maintained schools that did not meet the deadline and were issued a Red rag rating. These schools were also reported as non compliant without exemptions via our annual return to the DfE.

This was an improvement from the previous 12 months; however, the expectation from the DfE is that our return is 100% compliant.

Following discussions with the Finance Consultative Group, the LA has agreed to introduce an unofficial submission deadline of 28th February each year. This will enable the LA to identify any schools that are not on track to meet the official 31st March deadline and implement any targeted support that may be required. We understand that this is a very busy time of year, both for schools and for Schools Finance Team (SFT) and therefore believe that, by introducing an unofficial deadline, it will enable all schools and SFT to have a 100% compliant return.

Therefore, with effect from the 2015/2016 submission round, it is expected that all schools submit their SFVS self-assessment by the 28th February deadline or earlier. FSOs will be reminding schools of this revised deadline as part of the Autumn term 2015 visits.

If you have any questions relating to anything above or require any further guidance then please contact your school's Finance Support Officer in the first instance.