Department for Education Consolidated annual report and accounts For the year ended 31 March 2017 Page intentionally left blank. Department for Education Consolidated annual report and accounts For the year ended 31 March 2017 Accounts presented to House of Commons pursuant to Section 6(4) of the Government Resources and Accounts Act 2000 Annual Report presented to the House of Commons by Command of Her Majesty Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed on 19 July 2017 HC 116 © Crown copyright 2017 You may re-use this information (excluding logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/ or e-mail: [email protected]. Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned. This is part of a series of departmental publications which, along with the Main Estimates 2016-17 and the document Public Expenditure: Statistical Analyses 2016, present the Government’s outturn for 2016-17 and planned expenditure for 2017-18 Any enquiries regarding this publication should be sent to us at Department for Education, Sanctuary Buildings, Great Smith Street, London. SW1P 3BT This document is also available from our website at www.gov.uk/government/publications Print ISBN: 9781474148351 Web ISBN: 9781474148368 Printed in the UK by the Williams Lea Group on behalf of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office Printed on paper containing 75% recycled fibre content minimum ID P002890551 07/17 Department for Education Consolidated annual report and accounts 2016-17 Contents Performance report 6 1. Permanent Secretary’s overview 6 2. About the Department for Education 9 3. Performance analysis 13 4. Financial overview 24 Accountability report 29 5. Corporate governance report 29 6. Statement of Accounting Officer’s responsibilities 38 7. Governance statement 40 8. Remuneration and staff report 60 9. Parliamentary accountability and audit report 84 Financial statements 103 Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Net Expenditure 103 Consolidated Statement of Financial Position 104 Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows 105 Consolidated Statement of Changes in Taxpayers’ Equity 107 Department & Agencies Statement of Changes in Taxpayers’ Equity 109 Notes to the Accounts 110 Annexes 185 Glossary of key terms 205 5 Department for Education Consolidated annual report and accounts 2016-17 Performance report 1. Permanent Secretary’s overview 1.1 This Annual Report and Accounts (ARA) sets out the Department’s key achievements and progress against our strategic and corporate objectives over the 2016-17 financial year. 1.2 It has been another busy year for the Department. Following the result of the EU referendum and the appointment of the Rt Hon Theresa May MP as Prime Minister, we welcomed the Rt Hon Justine Greening MP, as our new Secretary of State and Minister for Women and Equalities. I would like to thank the outgoing Secretary of State, Minister for Women and Equalities the Rt Hon Nicky Morgan MP, for her leadership of the Department during the first part of the year. 1.3 The Department is responsible for children’s services and education, apprenticeships and wider skills in England and has been expanded to include Higher and Further Education policy, transferring from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) under a Machinery of Government (MoG) change. 1.4 This transfer has enabled the Department to bring responsibility for all elements of education, children’s services and skills together in to one place, creating the opportunity for a seamless policy and delivery function. 1.5 The Department has also removed the Academy Trust (AT) balances from this ARA and will produce the Academy Trust Sector Annual Report and Accounts (SARA) aligning reporting of financial results with educational performance. This will provide greater visibility of academies funding and spending. 1.6 The Department’s vision is that individuals from all backgrounds have the best possible educational opportunities at all stages of their life and to provide greater coherence across the whole education system. 1.7 I am impressed daily by the quality of our work on flagship government initiatives, delivering the value for taxpayers’ money. Achievements over the last year include: • achievement of targets regarding the creation of apprenticeships. The Department is on course for three million apprenticeship starts by 2020; • 96% of four year-olds and 93% of three year-olds are accessing our funded places, and 71% of disadvantaged two year-olds receive 15 hours free 6 Department for Education Consolidated annual report and accounts 2016-17 childcare a week. As of December 2016, the proportion of early years’ providers judged good or outstanding is at its highest ever at 93%; • over seven million children are now in schools rated good or outstanding. We have continued to open new free schools to increase access to high quality education, with 56 newly-opened free schools that will collectively provide over 35,000 new school places; • the proportion of 18 year-olds from disadvantaged backgrounds applying for Higher Education (HE) in England rose to a record 22.5%; • in 2016, the gender pay gap was 18.1%, down from 19.3% in 2015. This is the largest year-on-year drop since 2010, and in April we launched the gender pay gap reporting portal, which will improve transparency and encourage employers to take action to close their pay gaps. We have also made progress in the representation of women on company boards; 23% of FTSE 350 board positions were held by women in November 2016, up from 21.9% in 2015. Following the success of the Davies Review, the Hampton- Alexander Review was published in November 2016, and set out recommendations to further increase representation; • between April 2016 and March 2017, the apprenticeship programme saw over 526,300 apprenticeship starts. Of these, around 128,800 starts were young people aged 16-18 years old1; and • we made significant progress over the financial year with our legislative programme, with the Children and Social Work Bill, the Technical and Further Education Bill and the Higher Education and Research Act all receiving Royal Assent in April 2017. 1.8 To ensure we continue to deliver our priorities as effectively as possible, the Department embarked on its transformation programme during the year – ‘Building our Department Together’. The programme aims to enhance Departmental capability in effective delivery of policies and services, and has started to be a key contributor to the Department’s performance since its launch in June 2016. 1 Note that the data included for August 2016 to March 2017 is provisional data. 7 Department for Education Consolidated annual report and accounts 2016-17 1.9 I am proud of all the dedicated staff in the Department, its executive agencies (Agencies) and our non-departmental public bodies (NDPBs) who have worked hard to deliver through a period of major change. I am confident – as ever – that the Department will continue to serve Ministers, Parliament and the public well in the future. Jonathan Slater 13 July 2017 Permanent Secretary 8 Department for Education Consolidated annual report and accounts 2016-17 2. About the Department for Education Strategic aims 2.1 Our aim is to build a country that works for everyone, removing barriers to enable everyone to go as far as their talents can take them, regardless of their background, and championing a more equal and just society. 2.2 Education plays the central role in these aims. By enabling children, young people and adults to have the best possible education, we can help people in all parts of the country to achieve their full potential, including those that have not felt the benefits of economic growth. We aim to drive better access to good teachers, better access to good school places, and targeted efforts to improve school performance in the parts of the country which have fallen behind. 2.3 Education must equip people with the knowledge and skills to build a strong economy, which means we will renew our focus on building skills and technical education, so that any education route after school is a viable, valuable and worthwhile option for a young person or adult. The education system at all levels must also be fair for ordinary working families and their children, giving them the quality early years, school, further and higher education places enjoyed by their more advantaged peers. Responsibilities 2.4 The Department is responsible for: • teaching and learning for children in the early years and in primary schools; • teaching and learning for young people under the age of 19 years, in secondary schools and in further education; • teaching and learning for adults in further and higher education; • work-based learning and apprenticeships; • supporting professionals who work with children and young people; • helping disadvantaged children and young people to achieve more; • making sure that local authority children services protect and support children; and • addressing the barriers that prevent women and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people fulfilling their potential; and fulfilling our domestic and international obligations to protect and promote equality. 9 Department for Education Consolidated annual report and accounts 2016-17 Our priorities 2.5 The Department’s strategic priorities for 2016-17 were as follows: • Safety and wellbeing: all children and young people are protected from harm and enabled to flourish, and vulnerable children are supported to succeed with opportunities as good as those for any other child. • Early years: all children are prepared for school and working families are supported with the cost of childcare. • Schools that work for everyone: every child has a place at a good school and achieves to the best of his or her ability regardless of location, prior attainment and background.