Governance and Financial Management

Alyson Gerner

Education Funding Agency

Executive Agency of the Department for Education

We manage £54 billion of funding a year to support all state-provided education for 8 million children aged 3 to 16, and 1.6 million young people aged 16 to 19. We also provide educational support to those with high need.Chief Executive; Peter Lauener

Underlying accountability framework

Framework documents

What do the EFA require for assurance? The overriding principle in reporting financial performance in public services is that the reporting organisation

needs to demonstrate that public funds have been spent on the purposes intended and that resources have not been wasted.

There are a number of returns:

Budget forecast

FMGS

March return

Annual report and financial statements

Accounts return

VfM statement

Why do we need them:

Consolidation

Assurance

Where problems sometimes occur? The overriding principle in reporting financial performance in public services is that the reporting organisation

needs to demonstrate that public funds have been spent on the purposes intended and that resources have not been waste

Lack of strong governance linked to lack of control systems

Misuse of funds – using academy funds for personal gain

Misuse of funds – not what parliament intended

Related party transactions/recruitment - not complying with requirements and not recruiting through open and transparent means

Procurement – not complying with EU regulations, not seeking competition where there is a market, not complying with own policy

More Information

EFA training videos GOV.UK - Academy

Funding EFA e-Bulletin Guide to estimating

your allocation