Schools Financial Value Standard (SFVS)
From 18 July 2011 the Department of Education (DfE) has launched the SFVS which replaces the Financial Management Standard in Schools (FMSiS), which was withdrawn by the Secretary of State with effect from November 2010.
The SFVS has been designed in conjunction with schools to assist them in managing their finances and to give assurance that they have secure financial management in place. Governing bodies have formal responsibility for the financial management of their schools, and so the standard is primarily aimed at governors.
Maintained schools will be required to conduct an assessment against SFVS once a year from September 2011. SFVS will not be externally assessed like with FMSiS. Schools will undertake self-assessments which must signed by the chair of governors and must be sent to the local authority. Since SFVS will be brought within the scope of schemes for financing schools, it will be in scope of local authorities' powers to issue a notice of concern or in extremis to withdraw financial delegation from schools that fail to complete the SFVS as required.