This section of the Hub is intended to help education professionals with their responsibilities in meeting their statutory requirements around financial management.
Schools in Waltham Forest should follow our Scheme for financing schools and the Schools Finance Manual which take into account all of the DfE's information around finance.
For those who were familiar with Waltham Forest’s Financial Regulations document, which was last updated in 2021, both the updated Scheme for Financing Schools and the Schools Finance Manual have now replaced that document.
All of the appendices to the old regulations document have been updated and are now standalone templates and forms which are available in the Templates and Forms section.
The Department for Education (DfE) publishes updates regularly on all aspects of administration and finance for schools, including services available, guidance on regulation, policies, statistics and general news, so it is recommended that this be reviewed on a regular basis.
We are pleased to share the new Stronger Schools Financial Programme (SSFP) Policy and the accompanying Terms of Reference for Stronger Schools Financial Programme Meetings.
The Programme has been developed to provide a clear framework for how the Local Authority supports schools in maintaining and improving their financial sustainability while continuing to deliver high-quality education.
Many schools will recognise elements of the previous Schools Facing Financial Challenges programme. The SSFP builds on that approach, providing greater clarity around expectations, support arrangements and financial monitoring, while maintaining a proportionate approach based on each school's individual circumstances and level of financial risk.
A new Financial Budgeting and Recovery Plan template has been developed, which should be used when submitting the five-year budget forecast to the local authority.
If a deficit is forecast a recovery plan is required, and the template should also be used for that submission.
Included in the Financial Budgeting and Recovery Plan template is the licensed deficit form, which should be completed and returned to the Education Finance Team if a deficit is forecast in the current financial year.
A cash advance request form is also available within the template and only needs to be completed if a school is forecasting cash flow issues.
More information around budgeting, recovery plans, licensed deficits and cash advances can be found in the Stronger Schools Financial Programme Policy and the Schools Finance Manual.
To support schools in determining the level of savings achieved through a restructure and the impact that will have on the in-year financial position and recovery plan, a Restructure Workings Template has been developed.
It is highly recommended that this template be used. This will not only allow the Local Authority to quickly verify if the level of staffing savings from a restructure are worked through the recovery plan projections correctly, but will also be an excellent document for the Head Teacher to take to the Governing Body to clearly demonstrate the level of savings proposed to be delivered.
It will also support requests made to the Local Authority’s Redundancy Panel to fund redundancy payments incurred by schools.
Should restructure workings be provided in a different format and they are difficult to follow and do not clearly quantify the level of savings to be delivered with clear annual profiling, the Local Authority will ask that the Local Authority template be used.
The scheme for financing schools sets out the financial relationship between the Local Authority and the maintained schools that it funds.