Auto-Enrolment for FSMs

Devon County Council (DCC) is implementing a process to make sure that children in Devon who are entitled to free school meals (FSM) don’t miss out on receiving them.

The scheme, auto-enrolment will also bring in additional money for schools because pupil premium funding is based on the number of children registered for free school meals.

DCC is introducing a system to automatically check if pupils are eligible for FSM without families needing to apply.  DCC will gather benefits data from the government and in house then run it through the Free School Meals eligibility checker to find pupils who qualify but haven’t registered yet so they can be signed up. This will help make sure no child misses out on the support they’re entitled to and that schools receive the full pupil premium funding available.  Once they have identified these pupils they will let their school, college or educational setting know. This is because DCC would like schools to contact their family to notify them that they are going to register their child for FSM and how to opt out if they do not want to be included.  They’re asking schools to do this, rather than contacting them directly, because:

• Schools already have a trusted relationship with families
• Schools are most likely to have the most accurate contact details
• It’s the quickest and most reliable way to get in touch, and so minimises the chance of delays and errors.

DCC appreciate that school’s time is limited, so they have kept things simple with guidance and ready-made templates to help avoid any extra workload. They will provide a template letter for schools to send to families, which includes information about the process and a link to a short online form to use if they wish to opt-out. This won’t affect any current support they receive; it just means that they won’t be included in the automatic checks. Once the opt-out period ends, they will remove the records of those families who would prefer their child not to be registered for FSM and sign the rest up through the usual DfE process.  There will be two online information sessions for schools to learn more about the project and ask questions later this week.

DCC is working with a consultancy firm called Basis, who has supported other local authorities to implement this system securely and effectively. The aim is to identify, and register, entitled children in time for the October census, so schools don’t miss out on vital Pupil Premium funding. However, this depends on when DCC receive the benefits data from the government, which they’re still waiting for.

Schools are advised to get in touch with Lindsay ([email protected]) or Neil Keen ([email protected]) if they have any questions.

DAG’s Alex Walmsley has championed this approach to pupil premium funding and is delighted that DCC has chosen to engage with auto-enrolment. If you would like to know more about auto-enrolment for FSMs then have a look at the DAG Briefing Paper.