FE free meals conference agenda 10.40 FE free meals policy, funding - - PDF document

25-Jun-14 For more training and events visit www.lsect.com 1

FE free meals – rules, systems & solutions

June 25 2014 10:30 start 15:30 finish

An Lsect conference

FE free meals conference agenda

These slides will also be emailed to you later today

10.40 FE free meals policy, funding rules & sector survey results Nick Linford, aut hor of www.fundingguide.co.uk 12.00 Break for coffee & networking 12.20 Experience and tips from a school already delivering EF A funded free meals Micon Met calfe, Direct or of Finance and Business, Dunraven S chool 13.10 Break for Lunch, networking and time with the exhibitors 14.00 S martcard technologies and cashless payment systems in FE Robert Powell, S enior Part ner, Int egrat ed Payment S

• lut ions LLP

14.40 FE free meals recording in the ILR, audit, EF A Q&A and system pros and cons Nick Linford 15.30 Free meals in FE conference end

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FE free meals policy, funding rules & sector survey results

FE free meals announcement

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FE free meals allocations in mid-May

https:/ / www.gov.uk/ government/ publications/ further-education-free-meals-advice-for-fe-institutions

“ In the 2014/ 15 academic year, institutions will receive funding based on students being matched (by the EF A) as previous recipients of free school meals at the age of

• 15. We will use free school meals (FS

M) data for the 2011/ 12 academic year to match against the students in FE funded instit utions (for the academic year 2012/ 13) in

• rder to identify the number of potentially eligible students within each institution in

academic year 2014 to 2015. “ We will also provide one-off funding in the 2014 to 2015 academic year for start-up costs to enable institutions to put facilities and processes into place, for example, to arrange the supply of vouchers for meals etc.” “ We then apply the institution’s retention factor (i.e. that used in the mainstream allocation) to reflect the historic student drop-out rate within a particular

• institution. We will use the mode of attendance profile of each institution to

determine how many of the potentially eligible students attend on either a full-time

• r part-time basis. Taken together, these steps will produce an estimate of the

number of free meals that will be taken each institution in academic year 2014/ 15. In the event of FS M data not being available, for example because the institution is new or does not have historical data, we will use a local authority average to determine the potential number of students eligible for free meals.”

FE free meals survey – allocations

Plus one-off support fund set at 5%

• f main FE

meal allocation, with minimum £1k and maximum £6k

Colleges that responded to Lsect survey Free meals in FE allocation for 2014/15

Up to £500k allocation 88 college responses

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Free meals in FE survey –

already using cashless catering system?

Yes 18% No 82%

88 responses

Free meals in FE survey –

Allocation what you expected?

Less 65%

63 responses

More 6% Same 29%

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EFA FE free meals guidance (part 1)

https:/ / www.gov.uk/ government/ publications/ further-education-free-meals-advice-for-fe-institutions

This is departmental advice from the EF

• A. This

advice is non-statutory, and has been produced to help recipients understand their

• bligation to provide free meals to

disadvantaged 16 to 18 year old students in FE This advice will be kept under review as we approach the implementation of free meals in FE in S eptember 2014. Funding Agreements will be amended to place a legal duty on institutions to comply with this requirement. Free meals must be made available for all eligible students from S eptember 2014.

EFA FE free meals guidance (part 2)

https:/ / www.gov.uk/ government/ publications/ further-education-free-meals-advice-for-fe-institutions

In the 2014/ 15 academic year, institutions will receive funding at a rate equivalent to £2.41 per student per meal taken. Initial allocations will be based on students being matched as previous recipients of free school meals at the age of 15, and subsequent adj ustments will be made on a lagged student number basis.

Student eligibility FE free meal funding rate

S tudents must be aged between 16 and 18 on 31 August 2014 to be eligible for a free meal in the 2014/ 15 academic year. S tudents who turn 19 during their study programme will remain eligible for a free meal until the end of the academic year in which they turn 19 or to the end of their study programme, whichever is sooner.

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EFA FE free meals guidance (part 3)

https:/ / www.gov.uk/ government/ publications/ further-education-free-meals-advice-for-fe-institutions

S tudents aged between 19 and 25 who are subj ect to a Learning Difficulty Assessment (LDA) or Education Health and Care Plan (EHC Plan) and ES F students aged between 16 and 18 on 31 August 2014 are also entitled to a free meal while attending their provision if they meet the eligibility criteria.

Student eligibility cont. Student not eligible

The following groups of student are not eligible for a free meal:

• students aged between 14 and 16 (these students are already covered by

different provision)

• students aged 19 or over at the start of their study programme, unless

they have an LDA or EHC Plan

• apprentices, including those with an LDA or EHC Plan

EFA FE free meals guidance (part 4)

https:/ / www.gov.uk/ government/ publications/ further-education-free-meals-advice-for-fe-institutions

Student eligibility cont.

• Income S

upport

• income-based Jobseekers Allowance
• income-related Employment and S

upport Allowance (ES A)

• support under part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• the guarantee element of S

tate Pension Credit

• Child Tax Credit (provided they are not entitled to Working Tax Credit) and

have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190, as assessed by Her Maj esty’s Revenue and Customs

• Working Tax Credit run-on - paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for

Working Tax Credit

• during the initial roll out of the benefit, Universal Credit

For the purposes of eligibility for free meals, ‘ disadvantage’ is defined by the students being in receipt of, or having parents who are in receipt of, one or more of the following benefits:

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EFA FE free meals guidance (part 5)

https:/ / www.gov.uk/ government/ publications/ further-education-free-meals-advice-for-fe-institutions

Verification of student eligibility

The student, or their parent/ guardian, must submit an application to the institution where they are enrolled. Institutions should develop their

• wn process for dealing with free meals applications. S
• me

may wish to use a paper application form, whilst others may wish to provide an on-line application option. As part of the applicat ion, institutions must ask the student (or their parent/ guardian) to provide evidence of the award of the qualifying benefits set out in paragraph 10, for example an award notice or letter from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) or HMRC. Institutions may want to consider using a combined application form and process for free meals and the 16-19 Bursary.

EFA FE free meals guidance (part 6)

https:/ / www.gov.uk/ government/ publications/ further-education-free-meals-advice-for-fe-institutions

Provision of free meals – daily credit/voucher for healthy and hot

Institutions are required to make provision for free meals to eligible students (ie those who are in receipt of the qualifying benefits and who make a successful application for free meals) for each day that the student attends their study programme. Institutions should encourage and support students in making healthy food choices and should also, where practical, seek to offer hot food options. Institutions are expected to provide a meal free of charge to eligible students, or to fund the free meal via an electronic credit or voucher which can be redeemed on-site or off-site where institutions have made arrangements with nearby food outlets. Electronic credits and vouchers must be worth a minimum value of £2.41.

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EFA FE free meals guidance (part 7)

https:/ / www.gov.uk/ government/ publications/ further-education-free-meals-advice-for-fe-institutions

Provision of free meals – special dietary requirements

Institutions are best placed to make decisions in the case of students who have special dietary requirements, taking into account local circumstances. Institutions are expected to make reasonable adj ustments for students with these requirements. The S chool Food Plan’s UIFS M toolkit was developed to help schools implement universal free school meals for infant pupils, but it contains advice on how to cater for pupils with special dietary requirements, which may be helpful to institutions. http:/ / www.schoolfoodplan.com/ toolkit/

EFA FE free meals guidance (part 8)

https:/ / www.gov.uk/ government/ publications/ further-education-free-meals-advice-for-fe-institutions

Provision of free meals – time and location

The overwhelming maj ority of students will require a free meal at lunch time to fit in with usual study/ attendance patterns. However, institutions may exceptionally choose to make provision for a free meal at an alternative time, for example, as a breakfast, depending on the study pattern of individual students. Institutions must ensure that they also make free meals provision for students

• n days when they are off-site as part of their study programme, for instance

attending a work placement or work experience [including Traineeships]. Wherever possible, institutions should provide a voucher that can be used at a nearby food outlet or make arrangements with the work placement or work experience provider to provide a meal.

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EFA FE free meals guidance (part 9)

https:/ / www.gov.uk/ government/ publications/ further-education-free-meals-advice-for-fe-institutions

Provision of free meals – offering cash

The expectation is that a meal, voucher or credit will be provided to eligible

• students. However, this may not be practical in some situations. Institutions

will therefore be permitted to offer cash in the following exceptional circumstances.

• S

tudents attending institutions which meet all of the following criteria:

• have fewer than 50 students in total on roll
• do not have catering or kitchen facilities on site
• have no suitable food outlets locally that will agree to take part in a credit
• r voucher scheme
• S

tudents who are off-site – for example undertaking work placement or work experience as part of their study programme – where the host

• rganisation is unable or unwilling to provide a meal and there is no suitable

food outlet locally that will accept a voucher. Institutions can also apply to give cash to the learner – see next two slides

Applications to give learners cash (part 1)

The EF A expects that institutions will offer a meal, voucher or credit to eligible

• students. However, we recognise that in a limited number of circumstances

this may not be practical. Institutions will therefore be allowed to offer cash to eligible students in some circumstances. The ‘ FE free meals guide for the 2014 to 2015 academic year’ sets out these circumstances, and is available

• nline : http:/ / tinyurl.com/ qf3hzcn

The EF A expects that most students requiring a cash award will be covered by the circumstances in the guide. One-off funding has also been provided in the 2014 to 2015 academic year to enable institutions to put facilities and processes into place, for example, to arrange the supply of vouchers for meals

• etc. If institutions do experience exceptional circumstances that are not

covered by the guide, they can request EF A approval to make cash payments by completing this form. Institutions should bear in mind that the EF A expects there to be an extremely small number of instances when it is necessary to apply for an

• exception. No exception can be guaranteed and institutions must not issue

cash to students in any circumstances which are not defined in the guide without agreement from the EF A.

https:/ / www.gov.uk/ government/ uploads/ system/ uploads/ attachment_data/ file/ 321504/ Free_meals_in_FE_funded_instit utions_factsheet .docx

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Applications to give learners cash (part 2)

The form must be returned to your EFA territory by email. North ypnorthern.efa@education.gsi.gov.uk South ypsouthern.efa@education.gsi.gov.uk Central and South West ypcentralsw.efa@education.gsi.gov.uk

Institution name UPIN Contact name Contact email Contact telephone Total number of students receiving free meals Number of students to receive cash award Period that cash awards will cover Reason that electronic credits or vouchers cannot be used Please give full det ails on why a cash award is t he only possible opt ion, including what alt ernat ives have been explored and why t he one-off st art up funding has not enabled

• t her facilit ies and processes t o have been put in place .

EFA FE free meals guidance (part 10)

https:/ / www.gov.uk/ government/ publications/ further-education-free-meals-advice-for-fe-institutions

Marketing and student communication

Institutions are responsible for ensuring that their students are aware of the eligibility criteria for free meals and should encourage students who think they meet the criteria to make an application for a free meal. Institutions should ensure that their free meal provision is clearly set out for students and parents, for example by publishing a statement on their website, providing information at enrolment days, sending letters home to parents, etc. S tudents do better in their studies when they have access to proper, regular

• meals. Institutions are therefore encouraged to support students in the

making of healthy food choices by making them aware of relevant information and guidance

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Free School Meals

Micon Metcalfe June 2014

The context

• Schools have always offered Free

School Meals for all students

• Logical to continue to offer Post

16 in college

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Eligibility

• Knowing who is eligible
• Income Support
• Income‐based Jobseekers Allowance
• Income‐related Employment and Support Allowance
• Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• the guaranteed element of State Pension Credit
• Child Tax Credit (provided you’re not also entitled to Working Tax

Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190)

• Working Tax Credit run‐on ‐ paid for 4 weeks after you stop

qualifying for Working Tax Credit

• Universal Credit
• Children who get any of the above benefits in their own right

How to Check Eligibility

• Assessing and Recording

eligibility

• Does LA have an on‐line system

you can access

• Use of MIS and reports for dates
• Audit processes

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How to Check Eligibility How to deliver

• Meal Deal/Sandwich of the Day
• Availability – lunch break only
• Use of smart cards (ID/entry

cards)

• Linking Catering tills with MIS info

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Delivery Issues

• ICT infrastructure
• Catering contract
• Menu Offer
• Student uptake
• Staffing

Funding Issues

• Allocation is based on notional

figures

• It is not ring‐fenced
• Plated cost of meal offered
• ICT costs
• Other funding streams

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Checklist

• Ways of identifying and recording

those eligible

• Means of following up
• Catering contract set up

Questions

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S martcard technologies and cashless payment systems in FE

Robert Powell S enior Partner, Integrated Payment S

• lutions LLP

Cashless Payments in FE

• Why issuing free school meals should not be a HUGE

challenge, but perhaps seen as an opportunity: Do we just want to deal with Free meals in FE or Bursaries etc

• The Challenge is the deployment and administration –

Use new and existing technology in a strategic manner Don’t panic and go cashless

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What We Are Trying to Achieve where cashless has been deployed

Improve service to your customer Modernising your infrastructure Increase student satisfaction and experience Improve efficiency Save money and time wherever possible Make staff jobs easier and more enjoyable

College’s versus schools The history – Cards, philosophy The technology‐ IT resources, structure What has happened in other Colleges‐ Mid Kent, Conel, Ruskin, Sandwell.

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Onsite payments – Finance systems Online/Offsite payments

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Facilities management/Access control

Card Management

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Blue sky thinking from IPS, not re‐inventing the wheel

Just modernising the way you deliver.

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To bear in mind

97% of households with children have internet use 75% secondary schools have cashless catering On a recent survey at East Kent College 85% of students surveyed wanted a cashless system The number of cards re-printed is reduced by 95% in Colleges where the card is used for catering and access.

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Why IPS

Our Background As A Company

Innovative Development Partnering with FE and Higher Education Sectors Delivering Solutions showing that we care for our customers

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Demos

• TRIPS
• MY ST
• ONLINE PAYMENTS
• IPS Admin

FE free meals recording in the ILR, audit, EF A Q&A and system pros and cons

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ILR provider support manual

published 13th June http:/ / tinyurl.com/ puv3okd

Free meals eligibility For 14-15 year old learners, code FME1 should be recorded if the learner is eligible or free meals at any point during the teaching year. If the learner becomes ineligible during the year then this indicator should not be removed until the start of the following teaching year. For 16-19 year old EF A funded learners, 16-18 year old ES F funded learners and 19- 24 year old students who are subj ect to a Learning Difficulty Assessment (LDA) or Education Health Care Plan (EHC Plan) who are funded by the EF A, code FME2 should be recorded if the learner is eligible for and has taken up free meals at any point during the teaching year. If the learner becomes ineligible during the year or is no longer receiving free meals then this indicator should not be removed until the start of the following teaching year. This data must be reviewed and updated annually to make sure it reflects the learner’s eligibility during the current teaching year.

ILR specification 2014/15 v3

published 13th June http://tinyurl.com/ly2kovf “ Only record students who are eligible and have taken up the free

• meal. S

tudents who may have received funding for meals by means of a discretionary 16 to 19 Bursary Fund award should not be recorded in the free meals field.

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Use of the ILR and provider funding

“ There will be no routine end of year reconciliation of free meals funding. Instead, the EF A will analyse data returned by institutions via the Individualised Learner Record (ILR) about the actual number of meals taken, and generate future allocations on a lagged student number basis. Despite there being no routine end of year reconciliation “ as institutions are already permitted to use up to 5%

• f their 16 to 19 Bursary Fund allocation

for the administrative costs associated with verifying student eligibility (receipt of qualifying benefits, household income assessment, etc) no further administrative contribution may be taken from the free meals funding allocation” “ Free meals funding for the 2014 to 2015 academic year will be paid to institutions in two parts: approximately two thirds in S eptember 2014 and up to one third in April 2015.”

FE free meals audit

“ Institutions should maintain accurate and up to date records that:

• evidence which students receive free meals funding
• confirm student eligibility for funding
• demonstrate appropriate use of funds”

Administration and allocation of free meal funding will be subj ect to the institution’s normal governance and audit regimes. Free meals funding is also subj ect to assurance as part of the normal assurance arrangements for 16 to 19 education and training. Institutions should note that, following an audit, funding may be recovered where free meals payments are found to have been made where the student was ineligible for a free meal.

25-Jun-14 For more training and events visit www.lsect.com 26 London Free College Meals (FE) Working Group London Free College Meals (FE) Working Group

Riikka Vihriala Nick Steward Andrew Smith Sandra Ross Yvonne Hayward Ita Leavy Alan Crosthwaite

25-Jun-14 For more training and events visit www.lsect.com 27 London Free College Meals (FE) Working Group London Free College Meals (FE) Working Group

Group set up at Heads of Student Services Network meeting on 20 May 2014. Aims:

• To discuss where colleges are with their

plans for the implementation of the free college meals funding

• To share knowledge / outcomes across

the network

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All colleges in group currently in process of developing their systems. 4/6 aiming to use automated card-based system

1. Greenwich Commmunity College 2. Richmond upon Thames College 3. BSix 4. Tower Hamlets

2/6 opting initially for paper voucher-based system

1. Westminster Kingsway College 2. City of Westminster College

London Free College Meals (FE) Working Group

One system will not fit all colleges Factors which will influence the implementation are:

• Does your college have on-site facilities?
• Are those facilities provided either directly by or in

partnership with the College?

• Are there local outlets that will accept vouchers?
• Does the college have more than one site?
• Placements, visits, etc

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Automated card-based systems

• Developed in-house or externally using smart cards
• One college has already developed its own ‘Free Meals Tracker’*
• Future options for students to upload money on their account
• Most systems only available for those using college facilities. Involving

providers can leverage providers with a further incentive to encourage healthier options

• Some may include the creation of a system as part of contract
• Some colleges will link the card system with current info. Sys
• In some systems daily amount (£2.41) cannot roll over.
• Some systems will include the canteen staff checking the identity of the

card user (picture and ID card details visible for them)

• Some systems will collect data on what time students are eating their

meals (to capture demand)

• A paper-based backup system will serve as back-up

Things to consider: should the maximum daily amount of free college meals funding via smart card be £2.41 or could there be a week’s worth of funding on the card (and an expectation students will know to spend their money wisely to have enough for every day of the week)?

London Free College Meals (FE) Working Group

Voucher-based systems

• One college working with Luncheon Vouchers to design bespoke vouchers

(including college logos and restrictions where the money can be used)

• Will aim to give out termly ‘batch’ to include students’ names on vouchers.
• Plans to do spot checks in internal canteens to make sure the person

using the voucher is the correct person. (However, this will not be possible at external venues).

• There is no possibility to monitor what students have bought with the

vouchers but colleges aim to encourage healthy choices through education.

Things to consider: how to avoid other students taking the vouchers from free meals recipients through bullying?

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Funding concerns

Some colleges felt uncertain whether the funding was sufficient - whether patterns of attendance mean that more funding is required is yet to be established Challenge: slight disparity between bursary and free meals recipients – whilst encouraging healthy eating is one of the aims, it would simpler in future to ‘top up’ the bursary. One college had already been using bursary for free meals.

EFA Q&A

(based on NAMSS questions from members and responses from EFA)

• Q1. What happens if we go over our allocation? The guidance states we are

required to provide a free meal for all eligible students, so what happens if this is more than the allocation?

• A1. This is the first year of free meals allocations and we have no lagged

institution data to use – this is why we have used matched data from the Y

• ung People’s Administrative Dataset (YPMAD). In the longer term, we will

use each institution’s lagged data, based on their ILR return on the number of eligible students who claimed a free meal, to generate allocations. Because we cannot use lagged institution data in the 2014/ 15 academic year, we have reserved a small contingency fund and will look at the actual number of eligible students who are claiming a free meal, as declared at R04 return without uplift. Where there is a maj or discrepancy in the numbers actually claiming and the numbers used in the allocations methodology, we will use the contingency fund to make in-year adj ustments subj ect to affordability.

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EFA Q&A

(based on NAMSS questions from members and responses from EFA)

• Q2. I can’ t see anything in the guidance regarding part time learners. Do we

assume free meals are for full and part time students?

• A2. The free meals guide explains that the number of part time and full time

students at an institution have been considered in generating the funding

• allocation. The allocation statement and the explanatory note set out in

more detail that the allocation has an element for full time students and an element for part time students based on different numbers of average days per week for each of these two groups.

EFA Q&A

(based on NAMSS questions from members and responses from EFA)

• Q3. If we give vouchers will we need to give out daily. If we give

upfront and then they don’ t attend – what happens!

• A3. This is for institutions to determine.

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EFA Q&A

(based on NAMSS questions from members and responses from EFA)

• Q4. Will we have to give all students 5 x £2.41 if they are not full-time

everyday?

• A4. Institutions must provide a meal for each day they deem appropriate. For

example, if a part time student attends for five days a week, 9am to 3pm, for part of their course then the institution should be providing five free meals. S imilarly, if a full time student has two days a week when they only attend 9am to 10am, then the institution does not have to provide meals on those

• days. Institutions should already have some attendance monitoring in place as

part of their quality assurance processes. It is for the institution to determine whether they take unplanned absences into account in their administration of the free meals policy.

EFA Q&A

(based on NAMSS questions from members and responses from EFA)

• Q5. How does the free meals relate to Vulnerable Y
• ung People and the bursary
• A5. S

tudents who are eligible for a free meal may also receive additional support from the 16 to 19 Bursary Fund, if the institution assesses that they meet the criteria for a defined vulnerable group bursary or that they are facing significant financial barriers to participation and require additional support from their discretionary bursary allocation. Institutions should, however, ensure that the provision of a free meal or the funding provided to the student for the free meal is considered when assessing their need for support – this point applies both to the vulnerable group bursary and discretionary bursary. Institutions may also use discretionary bursary funds, as they do now, to provide support for meals to students who are not eligible for free meals but for whom the absence of regular meals is providing a barrier to their participation and achievement.

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EFA Q&A

(based on NAMSS questions from members and responses from EFA)

• Q6. It is unlikely that everyone who is eligible for the free college meals will have

100% attendance, so those who may have only 80% will have an underspend on the allocation, what will happen to that?

• A6. If institutions do not have eligible students then they should contact the EF

A to return their free meals allocation. There will be no end of year reconciliation

• f funds; instead the EF

A will analyse data returned by institutions via the Individualised Learner Record (ILR) and generate future allocations on a lagged student number basis.

For more training events visit www.lsect.com

Final Q&A