|
CIPFA Bulletin 05 Closure
of the 2019/20 Financial Statements
CIPFA Bulletin 05, Closure of the 2019/20 Financial
Statements has now been published. Accounts closure in 2019/20
will of course be impacted upon by the emerging consequences of
COVID-19 pandemic. CIPFA has ensured that the publication date of
this bulletin has enabled practitioners to be provided with as much
current advice as is possible. This year’s bulletin therefore
contains additional information to that normally provided. We would
also like to draw the attention of practitioners in England to the
guidance on the changes to the financial reporting deadlines for
2019/20. There is also helpful advice within the bulletin on the
financial reporting issues associated with the COVID-19 pandemic
and Pension Fund valuations.
Demand Led Services: Plans
that Better Match Reality on The Ground - Webinar 21 July
In 4 out of 5 councils
spending was more than budget for Children's Services in 2018-19. This
was also true for nearly half of councils in Adult Social Care. A
pattern seen over many years. Is this the best we can expect from
demand led services?
How can we prepare service
and financial plans that better match reality on the ground? How
can we ensure that plans deliver good outcomes and value with
increasing and volatile demand? What can we learn from those
councils whose plans do this?
In this specialist CIPFA
event, our associate Phil Harding will draw on fresh research that
addresses these questions. Advice that will be included in new
CIPFA guidance to be published shortly before these events take
place.
Public Accounts Committee
publishes SEND Inquiry Report
The government
substantially changed the system for supporting children and young
people with SEND in September 2014. The aims of the reforms were
for: children’s needs to be identified earlier; families to be more
involved in decisions affecting them; education, health and social
care services to be better integrated; and support to remain in
place up to the age of 25 where appropriate.
The NAO have found that,
since 2014, the number of children with the greatest needs has been
growing and that more of them now have an EHC plan. However, the
NAO has also found that Government funding has not been keeping
pace with this increase. This means that councils are regularly
overspending their budgets for supporting SEND pupils and this
makes the system unsustainable.
The report warns many
pupils with SEND are not getting the support they need, and calls
for swift action from government to right this injustice. Six
recommendations were made to the DfE within the report:
- Urgently publish the SEND review
- Develop a better understanding of
disparities in support
- Set out plans to reduce exclusions
of SEND pupils
- Use intel from RSCs, parent groups
and heads
- Use funding mechanisms more
effectively
- Analyse school places demand and
develop a costed plan to meet need
Read the full report here.
COVID-19: Adult social care
action plan
The government has
published its COVID-19 adult social care action plan setting
out how it will support the adult social care sector and workforce
in England. It sets out the government’s plan for:
- Controlling the spread of
infection in care settings
- Supporting the workforce
- Supporting independence,
supporting people at the end of their lives, and responding to
individual needs
- Supporting local authorities and
the providers of care
The plan applies to all
settings and contexts in which people receive adult social care.
This includes people’s own homes, residential care homes and
nursing homes, and other community settings. It applies to people
with direct payments and personal budgets, and those who fund their
own care.
New support app for social
care staff
A new app is available for
the adult social care workforce in England to support staff during
the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Care Workforce app will act as a single digital
hub for social care workers to access relevant updates, guidance,
support and discounts from their phone or smart device.
Developed by NHSX and the
NHS Business Services Authority, it will provide:
- The latest guidance, wellbeing
support and advice needed to protect themselves from COVID-19
and keep themselves well
- Access to learning resources on
infection control as well as practical advice and support for
mental wellbeing
- Offers available to NHS and social
care staff
- Information on free access apps
like Silvercloud, Daylight and Sleepio, which can help boost
users’ mental wellbeing through programmes covering sleep,
stress and resilience
The app will be available
for anyone working in social care in England and you can download
from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, as well as being
accessible online.
Children’s charity
threatens DfE with legal action over loss of legal protections for
children in care
Article 39 have formally
threatened legal action against DfE if it does not withdraw ‘The Adoption and Children (Coronavirus)(Amendment)
Regulations 2020’; a statutory instrument which they claim
makes sweeping changes to safeguards for children in care in
England.
The new emergency
legislation was passed by parliament on 24 April, bypassing the
usual 21-day consultation rule and on 6 May, DfE then published
updated guidance around the changes. The guidance relaxes councils’
statutory duties to vulnerable children but also states that any
use of the new flexibilities, which cover issues including
children’s social care processes, adoption, foster care and
residential placements, should only be used in specific
circumstances.
In a statement, Article 39
said that the government had acted unlawfully in its failure to
consult on the changes and in not giving any time for Parliamentary
scrutiny. They are focusing their legal challenge on six specific
changes:
- The dilution of duties relating to
social worker visits to children in care, where even a
six-weekly telephone call is no longer mandatory
- The removal of the duty to hold
six-monthly reviews of children in care;
- The loss of safeguards for
children placed out of area with people who are not connected
to them;
- The loss of safeguards in relation
to short breaks, particularly affecting disabled children;
- The loss of independent scrutiny
(pre-court stage) and other safeguards in adoption; and
- The dilution of the duty on
children’s homes to ensure independent visits and reports on
children’s welfare there.
Further details and an
analysis of the changes can be found in the news section below.
COVID-19 advice portal for
local authorities
Essential guidance for
local authorities on all aspects of coronavirus support can be
found on the GOV.UK website. It is being regularly updated and
should act as the definitive reference point for councils: COVID-19 guidance for local government
CIPFA also has its own
webpage dedicated to providing COVID-19 advice and guidance which
can also be found on CIPFA’s COVID-19 hub, plus the SCAN network has a collection of
COVID-19 related guidance specific to those in adult and children’s social care or education.
Message of Thanks website
launched
A new digital message board
has been set up by TrustedCare and the Care Workers Charity (CWC),
that allows the British public to share warm wishes to those who
work in social care, letting them know they are valued and
supported.
The Message of Thanks portal is simply a giant
message board on which anyone can leave a message or upload a
picture of support to their local care service, or the sector in
general.
Within the first 24 hours
of launching, the platform received over 2,600 visitors and 350
messages of support. The goal is to reach 50,000 messages of
support for the social care community over the coming weeks.
COVID-19 Funding
Announcements
15.05.2020 - £600m adult social care infection control fund.
Will be paid to councils in two equal instalments with 75% to be
paid directly to care homes with the remaining 25% used at the
discretion of councils
02.05.2020 – Emergency funding to support most vulnerable in
society during pandemic. Communities Secretary
announces £76 million extra funding to support survivors
of domestic abuse, sexual violence and vulnerable children and
their families and victims of modern slavery.
18.04.2020 – Further £1.6 billion for councils.
Unringfenced but intended to help support the most vulnerable
during the pandemic.
10.04.2020 – Covid-19 adoption support fund scheme to help
vulnerable families. Up to £8 million in
funding that can be used by local authorities and regional adoption
agencies to pay for activities such as virtual peer to peer
support, access to helplines, couples therapy and online
counselling.
07.04.2020 - School funding: exceptional costs associated with
coronavirus (COVID-19) for the period March to July 2020
19.03.2020 - £2.9 billion funding to strengthen care for the
vulnerable. £1.6 billion for local authorities
to help them respond to other coronavirus (COVID-19) pressures
across all the services they deliver. This includes increasing
support for the adult social care workforce and for services
helping the most vulnerable, including homeless people. £1.3
billion will be used to enhance the NHS discharge process so
patients who no longer need urgent treatment can return home safely
and quickly.
Government Releases
A full set of government
guidance on COVID-19 relating to health and social care can be
found
here.
Letter to Councils from Helen Whately MP, Minister
of State for Care – Support for Care Homes
How Government will work
with Local Authorities to support Care Homes
14 May 2020
Special educational needs: analysis and summary of
data sources
Analysis and links to data
sources on children and young people with special educational needs
(SEN) or a disability in England.
7 May 2020: Updated with
latest release of 'Special educational needs and disability: an
analysis and summary of data sources'.
Schools block funding allocations
The schools block
allocations for individual maintained schools and academies.
6 May 2020: Added link to
the schools block funding allocations 2018 to 2019 transparency
publication.
Schools block funding formulae
Information and data
showing current and historical local authority school funding
formula factors.
6 May 2020: Updated to
include a link to the schools block funding formulae for 2019 to
2020.
Section 251: 2020 to 2021
Information for local
authorities, schools and the general public about local authority
education funding and expenditure plans for 2020 to 2021.
28 April 2020: We have
updated the section on budget guidance. LAs do not now need to
submit a budget statement for 2020 to 2021, due to coronavirus
(COVID-19)
Teachers’ pay grant: allocations for 2020 to 2021
financial year
Allocations and conditions
of grant for schools and local authorities for the teachers' pay
grant for April 2020 to March 2021.
27 April 2020: First
Published
Teachers’ pension grant: 2020 to 2021 allocations
Teachers' pension employer
contribution grant allocations for April 2020 to August 2020.
27 April 2020: First
Published
Local authorities adult education budget and
apprenticeship funds return and 16 to 19 funds return 2019 to 2020
A guide for local
authorities explaining how to complete their returns relating to
the Education Skills Funding Agency funding and submit it by Friday
22 May 2020.
27 April 2020: First
Published
Basic need allocations
Basic need capital funding
allocated to each local authority to create new places from 2011 to
2022.
15 April 2020: Updated
basic need allocations, explanatory note and quality assurance note
for 2022.
School capital funding
An overview of school
capital funding, who it's for, current and past allocations, how
it's calculated and spending guidance.
15 April 2020: Added school
capital funding allocations, condition spend guidance and
methodology for 2020 to 2021.
|
