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Author Archives: HM Government

News story: Annual return service for charities

A reminder to submit your annual return for 2016, and information about the 2017 annual return service.

All charities have a legal responsibility to send an annual return to the Charity Commission. Failing to do so risks the public’s trust in your charity and its reputation.

If you haven’t filed your return for 2016 you have 10 months from the end of your charity’s financial year to do so. If you are experiencing difficulties logging into the system, it could be that the service is experiencing high demand at that time – try it again later.

What you need to submit depends on your annual income. If your charity’s income is:

  • under £10,000, then you just need to submit your charity’s income and expenditure figures – the easiest way to do this is through the annual return service
  • between £10,001 and £25,000, you need to complete an annual return form
  • more than £25,001, you must submit an annual return form with a set of annual accounts as well as an independent examiners’ or audit report and a trustees’ annual report (TAR)

Our guide to the accounting essentials for charities will help you understand the type of accounts your charity has to prepare, and whether they need an audit or independent examination.

All Charitable Incorporated Organisation’s (CIO) need to submit an annual return and annual accounts. If your CIO has an income over £25,000 you also need to submit an independent examiners’ or audit report along with a trustees’ annual report.

We are developing a new, improved annual return service for 2017.

The new system will make it easier to file your charity’s accounts and will be available to use from 31 August 2017.

We will let you know when the new system is available. Keep a check on this website and our Twitter feed for information.

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News story: Agricultural challenges in China: apply for innovation funding

Businesses and researchers can apply for a share of £8 million to work with Chinese partners on agritech solutions in the People’s Republic.

There is up to £8 million available for UK projects that partner with and aim to solve the challenges facing agriculture in China.

The competition is jointly funded by Innovate UK and Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) in the UK, and the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) in China. It is part of the Newton Fund, which uses science and innovation to the promote economic development and social welfare of official development assistance (ODA) partner countries.

What we’re looking for

We are seeking UK-China collaborations in 3 key areas:

  • precision agriculture, agriculture digitisation and decision management tools. This includes use of data and the internet of things, remote sensing and monitoring of crops and animals, digital management and innovative livestock housing
  • improving the efficiency of sustainable agricultural production, such as new approaches to tackling pests and disease, breeding, nutrition and new farming practices
  • agricultural products processing, including improved understanding of protein composition, evaluating nutritional quality of farm products, improved waste reduction and food safety, preventing food fraud and proving authenticity

Projects must be carried out either entirely in China, or in both China and the UK. They cannot be conducted solely in the UK.

Competition information

  • the competition is open, and the deadline for registration is 26 July 2017
  • projects must involve at least one UK business of any size, one UK higher education or research council institute, one Chinese business and one Chinese academic institution
  • a UK-based business or research organisation can lead the project
  • Innovate UK and BBSRC will fund the UK partners and MoST will fund Chinese partners
  • we expect projects to range in size up to £2 million and to last up to 3 years. The total project grant must not exceed £1 million per project in the UK
  • businesses can attract up to 70% of their project costs
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News story: Ofsted seeking views on improved approach to short inspections

Ofsted today launched a consultation on proposals to improve the short inspection model.

Short inspections began in September 2015 as a proportionate approach to inspecting schools previously judged to be good. They last for one day and begin with the assumption that the school remains good.

Most schools inspected this way keep their good rating. But when the lead inspector decides there is insufficient evidence to confirm the school is still good, or thinks it may now be outstanding, they will convert the short inspection into a full inspection. A team of inspectors then arrives at the school within 48 hours, to gather more evidence and reach a final judgement. Currently, around one third of short inspections convert to full inspections.

While this inspection model has been widely welcomed, both school leaders and inspectors have told us that the 48 hour conversion period can be challenging, for the following reasons.

1. Inspection schedules often change at the last minute, which can mean standing down Ofsted Inspectors (OIs) at short notice.

OIs are typically busy school leaders who have booked time off to inspect, and these last minute changes are frustrating and impractical.

Many OIs say they would like to lead more short inspections, but they are put off by the uncertainty in whether a short inspection will convert.

2. The decision to convert a short inspection is usually taken mid-afternoon, and a team of inspectors then arrives on site early the next day.

School leaders tell us this experience can be overwhelming. It can be a particular burden on large schools, where up to 8 inspectors are needed for the full inspection.

3. In about 20% of cases, before a short inspection takes place it is already clear that a school is facing complex circumstances that warrant a full inspection.

In these cases, moving straight to a full inspection would be less disruptive for the school and a better use of Ofsted’s resources.

Today’s consultation proposes 2 operational changes to improve the conversion process.

1. When a short inspection converts, the full inspection will be completed within a maximum of 15 working days, rather than 48 hours.

This will allow Ofsted to give OIs 5 to 10 days’ notice of an inspection, and provide more certainty about the number of days they need to be away from their own school. Where an inspection converts because of safeguarding concerns, the full inspection will still complete within 48 hours.

2. A full inspection will automatically take place in around 1 in 5 cases where Ofsted has prior evidence that a school is in complex circumstances.

Ofsted will select these schools through the standard risk assessment process.

To reduce the burden on very large schools, Ofsted will also continue the current practice of having a small team of inspectors carry out the converted full inspection over 2 days, rather than a large team on 1 day.

Ofsted’s National Director of Education, Sean Harford said:

Short inspections are collaborative experiences, encouraging dialogue between inspectors and school leaders. And they’ve been widely welcomed by head teachers. But we’ve also heard concerns about the practicality of the 48 hour conversion window.

We’re determined to keep the benefits of the short inspection model. But as we continue to develop an inspection programme that embraces the knowledge and skills of frontline practitioners, we need to make sure it works for those who give up their time to support us.

We are confident that these changes will ensure we use limited inspector time as efficiently as possible, while also reducing the burden on schools.

These are not fundamental changes; the inspection methodology will stay the same. And most good schools will still receive short inspections, and most will stay good.

The proposed changes would affect all good maintained schools and academies, as well as outstanding maintained nursery schools, special schools and pupil referral units, which are not exempt from inspection.

Ofsted is piloting the changes in around 35 schools during the summer term.

The consultation opens today and closes on 18 August 2017. If the proposals are accepted, it’s expected that the changes will take effect immediately after the October half term this year.

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