SRF Consultancy Ltd
www.srfconsultancy.co.uk
info@srfconsultancy.co.uk
June 2014
Who are SRF?
 Experts in Education Compliance
 “Making the Complicated Simple”
 Over £80 million in SFA / EFA funds monitored
 Record of First Class Performance at SFA Audit
 Knowledge of Rules
 Knowledge of what works in the field
 Today’s Session:
 Golden Rules of Safeguarding Adult Skills Budget Funding
 Funding Basics
 Common Errors
 Safeguarding Funding (How to reduce risk)
The Basics
(para 21 , Funding Rules v3 14/15)
 Only eligible learners can be funded by SFA
 Learner must exist
 Must be eligible for programme,
 Must be eligible for the rate of the programme
 That the education and training is taking place or taken place
 That achievement of aims is certified
 Must prove eligibility and existence with the threshold for
funding
 Must provide achievement evidence within three months
 So it’s simple right?
The Basics
 Aims are funded individually
 Funding affected by age, location of delivery, learner home



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address, prior learning, size of employer
Funding split between start and planned end
Learners who do not achieve will not receive full funding
If a learner leaves early, only entitled to funding up to
withdrawal
The start dates of aims are equally important as if they leave
early you may have claimed for too much
What can go wrong?
 Eligibility
 Suitability for programme
 Funding Rate (Full or co-funding)
 Adjustments for Prior Learning
 Start Dates
 Planned end dates
 Aims
 Minimum Durations
 Actual end and Achievement dates
 Activity
 The Programme itself (framework compliance)
 How will SFA know about it?
Agency Audit
 Provider Financial Assurance (PFA)
 Two main components: PDSAT & Main Learner Sample
 Tests funding appearing in an academic year
 Tests all aims for that learner in that year
 Where there is no evidence there is an overclaim
 DSAT errors separate to Main Sample
 If value of error in main sample is over 5% then the whole




contract value can be extrapolated
£1000 error in £10,000 sample = 10%
Contract Value = £10,000,000
Extrapolated amount = £1,000,000
Only as strong as your weakest file
So how can it go wrong?
 Four stages of risk
Pre-Start
Start
Activity
Exit
 How do you get learner data?
 Application
 The enrolment
 The learning agreement
 How does it get processed to the data?
 Who updates
 When updates
 What controls do you have to check what’s processed?
Key Risks
 Pre-Start
 Start
 Activity
 Eligibility
 Learning
 Evidencing
 Suitability
Agreement
 Setting the
planned end
date
 Individual Aim
Start
 Meeting the
start threshold
 Learning
Support
ongoing
learning
 Timescales for
contact
 Identifying
learners at risk
 Learning
Support
 Prior Learning
 APL
 RPL
 Employer data
 FFI Status
 ILR compliance
 Maths and
English
assessment
Key Risks
 End
 Error Values (% of total funds)
 Last attendance
 Eligibility = 100%
 Timescales for
 Suitability = 50 to 100%
identifying
 Aim
Achievement
 Framework
achievement
 Minimum
Durations
 Progression
 Certification
 Withdrawal date = 0 to 100%
 RPL or APL = 0 to 100%
 Aim Accuracy = 0 to 100%
 Achievement = 20%+
Subcontracting
 A Magnification of Risk
 How do you control data?
 How do you ensure authenticity?
 Timescales for data
 Direct data input or time delay in process?
 How can you be assured of ongoing activity?
 Internal Audit
 How effective is your monitoring?
 Do you use DSAT?
Avoiding
Errors
 Strengthen the four stages of risk
Pre-Start
Start
Activity
Exit
 Timescales for receiving and processing data
 Accuracy of data when inputted (Design of core
documents)
 Identification of at risk learners
 Use of DSATs & internal MIS monitoring controls
 Use of internal audit
 File Checks – a whole lot more than does a document exist
 Sufficient samples to pick out the anomaly
Questions?
SRF Consultancy
www.srfconsultancy.co.uk
If you want to get in touch?
David Hawkins: 07881923093
davidh@srfconsultancy.co.uk