Welcome to the latest edition of Heads-Up, Winckworth Sherwood’s Education Newsletter.
In this edition we discuss the latest Employment Update, Managing Complaints, the updated Academies Financial Handbook, new membership rules for the RPA and an updated guidance from the DfE on Keeping Children Safe in Education.
In our experience what is most helping our clients manage these difficult times is having an effective network to fall back on, whether that’s through a religious affiliation, local school support group, multi academy trust or simply by having access to good advice developed through collaboration. You can find more on collaboration by visiting this section of our site
We are also delighted to be collaborating with our strategic partners; The Education Space, Grebot Donnelly, Centre for Education and Finance Management and Strictly Education on a number of workshops across a range of themes. More details can be found here.
If you have any questions please get in touch with the authors who are happy to discuss these topics further. Alternatively you can visit our School Support Service pages located here.
Employment Update
Further developments regarding Holiday Pay claims, Section 1 particulars, Pay and Conditions 2020, COVID quarantine and new rules on Public Sector Exit Payments.
New Membership Rules for the Risk Protection Arrangement (RPA) scheme
On 1st April 2020 the ESFA’s RPA was extended to all schools. Updated Membership Rules for academies were published on 1st September 2020.
Updated Keeping Children Safe in Education guidance
On 1 September 2020 the DfE published the updated September 2020 version of “Keeping Children Safe in Education”.
Updated Academies Financial Handbook and new salary disclosures for maintained schools
In accordance with normal practice, a new version of the Academies Financial Handbook has been launched to coincide with the start of the new year.
The Fiduciary Role of the Member
We have noted earlier the increasing emphasis on the role of the Members (see Update on the Academies Financial Handbook). For the first time the Supreme Court in the case of Lehtimaki v Cooper has considered the extent of the role of a member of a charitable company and whether this role is a fiduciary one or not. We have prepared a detailed briefing on this important judgment which will be of relevance not just to academy trusts but also dioceses, diocesan boards of education, other religious organisations and foundation bodies.
Click here to download a copy.
Managing Complaints – Best Practice Guidance
Perhaps as a sign of the times, the DfE have issued new guidance for academies, following similar guidance for maintained schools, on how to manage complaints. As well as information on reviewing your complaints policy and procedures, the guidance explains the role of the ESFA in relation to complaints.