Multi Lot: School Resource Management Advisers and Accreditation - Contract numbers con_10112, con_10113, con_10114 modification

School Resource Management Advisers Programme

Since 2017 ESFA has developed the role of School Resource Management Advisers (SRMAs) to provide direct support to academy trusts and local authorities to help them identify opportunities to improve their approach to resource management. This is part of ESFA’s overarching objective to help improve outcomes for pupils by schools getting the best value from their resources.

SRMAs are sector experts, such as practicing school business professionals or head teachers with specific expert knowledge in resource management. Each SRMA has to go through an accreditation process to ensure they have the appropriate skills and knowledge to carry out the role. ESFA currently has contracts in place for the accreditation and supply of SRMAs through to August 2021.

Due to the success of the programme to date, we are looking to ensure the continued supply of SRMAs though to August 2024. ESFA wishes to contract with up to four organisations for the supply of a minimum of 50 Accredited Persons, to deliver a total of 200 Accredited Persons across the framework per year over the next three years. This will involve both the continued supply of SRMAs already accredited and the recruitment and training of new SRMAs to support the programme. The contracts will commence in September 2021 once the current contracts have ended.

The second procurement opportunity seeks one organisation to develop and deliver a consistent induction service and a robust accreditation process for all SRMA candidates that are sourced by the sourcing supplier(s). This will build on the process already developed with the current contractor and will also involve the development of a new training element for SRMA candidates. This contract will also commence on 1 July 2021.

Chief Finance Officer Mentoring Pilot

In addition to the above, we now wish to complement this programme with a Chief Finance Officer (CFO) mentoring pilot by providing longer term support to academy trust CFOs working in some of the most challenging situations; those in trusts in intervention or with some financial difficulties, those in trusts that are growing and those that are new to the sector. The duration for this contract will be 14 months, from 1 July 2021.

ESFA will work with a Supplier who will identify, recruit, screen, induct and manage a minimum of 50 individuals (mentors) to fulfil the CFO mentoring programme. The supplier will oversee the mentoring process, ensuring the relationships are on target and will work with ESFA to unblock any issues. The Supplier will also lead on developing an evaluation for the pilot, working closely with ESFA to agree the best way to do this.

By providing sustained support, a CFO mentoring programme can play a key role in building capacity and capability for effective financial management within the academies sector.

Results from this pilot will provide an indication of emerging outcomes and the effectiveness of the programme and will inform any decision as to whether we will scale up the pilot in the future.