Teachers Pensions Grant Supplementary Fund Update

In our 15 November 2019 e-bulletin, we provided details on the additional funding which will be available to support the increase in employer contributions to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme to 23.48%.

The DfE have now published further online guidance on how Primary and Secondary schools can access the supplementary fund, where the grant allocation falls short of the actual pension costs increase by more than 0.05% of the school’s overall budget for the period. We encourage all schools to check their eligibility for this supplementary fund to avoid a shortfall in funding.

All Primary and Secondary schools should apply directly to the ESFA supplementary fund through an online application form. The deadline for submitting your claim is 17 January 2020. We are anticipating paying any successful claims in the March 2020 advance however this will be dependent on the ESFA providing enough information to make the payment. The ESFA are managing this process therefore if you do have any queries regarding the supplementary fund or the online form please contact the ESFA directly through the online enquiry form.

Special Schools and Pupil Referral Units (PRUs) should not use this online application form. The ESFA have requested applications to the supplementary fund are made by the local authority on behalf of these schools as a single application. Separate guidance has been emailed directly to the affected school and units. Many thanks to those schools who have responded to this email. For those schools who have not yet actioned this email please can you do so before the end of term to ensure final payments are made in respect of the Teachers’ Pension Grant in the January 2020 advance for all Special Schools and PRUs.

Please note, funding for future years has not yet been confirmed however to aid with future planning a calculator has been added to Kelsi to estimate the grant funding for 2021-22 and 2022-23 assuming the current arrangements continue. This is included within the budget page.

Contact Details

Karen Stone, Finance Manager (Schools, High Needs and Early Years)
Email: Karen.Stone02@kent.gov.uk
Telephone: 03000 41 67 33