Replies
No one has replied to this post.
100% keep the evidence with the application for any audits you may get called for.
We only pay our learners for travel and FSM if they attend for that day in line with the attendance register which also forms part of your audit evidence. I doubt you can pay them whilst away from your college and not in attendance.
What does your policy say?
HI Dave
GDPR isn't an issue if you have a solid GDPR section in the application form which the learner should read and sign anyway.
The ESFA guidance states the following;
8.2 Audit, assurance, and fraud
16 to 19 Bursary Funds are subject to normal assurance arrangements for 16 to 19 education and training. You must ensure you have appropriate processes in place to record bursary applications and expenditure at student level. This must include a breakdown of the value, purpose, type of cost, whether paid or not, and a brief justification for the decision. For standard weekly costs like travel and food, it may not be practical to collect receipts for every transaction, so costs may be evidenced initially by receipts then paid after that linked to attendance. You must also be able to confirm, during any audit, the amount of any unspent funds that have been carried forward to the current academic year.
You must ensure you can evidence your application process, how the student was assessed as eligible, how you made the decision to award the specific amount of bursary based on actual financial need and the funds that you have issued to the student. Auditors will be looking for evidence that you have a clear bursary policy, have applied your bursary fund eligibility criteria correctly and used a consistent application and assessment process for all students.
You should retain copies of any documents the student has signed to give formal agreement to their conditions for payment. This might include attendance, returning equipment at the end of their study programme or certain points in the year when they need to provide receipts for expenditure, for example.
You should retain hard or scanned copies of documentation to support eligibility and the funding claimed for 6 years (records can be kept electronically). This includes the application form, the household income evidence and evidence of actual financial need.
David Dalby
2 Discretionary Bursary Questions
Created
1st question more straightforward - for 16-19 Discretionary Bursary, once you have seen evidence of household income in line with your policy so meets eligibility do you keep a copy or record you've seen it and destroy? I feel uncomfortable keeping it, but don't know what an auditor would expect?
2nd question - we're a residential specialist college for students with disabilities. We've had a parent challenge taking household/family income into account for eligibility. They say as residential living with us student is not financially their responsibility and we should only consider student's income. I can see some sense in this for students who live with us 52 weeks, but those who go home holidays surely are still family responsibility? Any advice/thoughts?