Guidance Coronavirus (COVID-19): financial support for education, early years and children’s social care
Independent schools
Further education and apprenticeships
Further education and apprenticeship providers include further education
colleges, sixth form colleges, designated institutions, independent training
providers, adult and community learning providers, and higher education
institutions to the extent that they provide further education or
apprenticeships. They are funded in 3 main ways: by grant; under a direct
contract for services with ESFA; or through a funding agreement with the ESFA
(where provision is delivered under a contract for services between a levy
paying employer and an apprenticeships training provider, or advanced learner
loan funded learning).
Where the provider is continuing to receive public funding through any of
these routes they should continue delivering this provision where feasible,
including through remote delivery. They should not furlough staff whose
salaries are paid from continuing Education and Skills Funding Agency (or any
other public) income. This applies to both teaching and non-teaching staff.
We recognise that many providers rely on funding from a mix of public sources
and other income streams such as fees, employer contributions and commercial
income. Where public income has reduced or non-public income has ceased or
reduced, it may be appropriate for providers to seek support from the
Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme to furlough staff. Providers should only
furlough employees if they meet the following conditions:

the employee works in an area of business where services are temporarily not required and whose salary is not covered by public funding
the employee would otherwise be made redundant or laid off
the employee is not involved in delivering provision that has already been funded
(where appropriate) the employee is not required to deliver provision for a child of a critical worker and/or vulnerable child
the grant from the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme would not duplicate other public grants received and would not lead to financial reserves being created

If it is difficult to distinguish whether staff are funded through continuing
public funding, for the purposes of meeting the first 3 conditions listed
above, then the total proportion of teaching and non-teaching staff (based on
gross payroll) that are retained (for example, not furloughed) should, as a
minimum, be equivalent to the continuing public income, as a proportion of all
income that the provider usually receives. For example, if the only source of
public funding is through a grant, and non-grant income makes up 25% of total
income, then this should be the total maximum proportion of staff (based on
gross payroll) that could be furloughed.
Where providers consider furloughing staff, they should ensure that they take
a fair and reasonable approach to part-time, sessional and temporary staff,
reflective of good HR practice and legal requirements.
Where a provider receives Adult Education Budget (AEB), or apprenticeship
funding, as part of a direct contract for services with ESFA, and is at risk
financially, they may be eligible for support (subject to meeting additional
criteria) as part of DfE’s response to the Cabinet Office’s Procurement Policy
Note 02/20. Support provided through that mechanism would count as public
funding for the purposes of conditions covering the Coronavirus Job Retention
Scheme.
Further guidance on the operation of any supplier relief scheme for providers
funded under a contract for services with ESFA will be published when
available. Providers should email
ESFA.PPN220Queries@education.gov.uk
to register their interest in the scheme.
In instances where public funding is not delivered under a contract for
services with the ESFA, the Cabinet Officer’s Procurement Policy Note 02/20 is
not applicable.
The DfE is considering appropriate measures to monitor use of these schemes in
order to detect any duplication of funding, and will be considering potential
options to recover misused public funding as required.
Some providers may also be eligible for the Coronavirus Business Interruption
Loan Scheme or Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme. For more
information on eligibility, please consult your commercial bank or refer to
the financial support for businesses
guidance.
[ESFA]: Education and Skills Funding Agency
  [DfE]: Department for Education