Newsletter

Autumn 2009

Aggregation of Home Access grants – where does this fit in to my equity scheme?
Most schools will be able to aggregate Home Access grants on behalf of their parents and run an equity scheme for all the other pupils.
It is clear that many schools would like to get involved in this process and one of the ways they can add value is through aggregation. Aggregation allows the school or (if they applied in September and were approved by Becta) the Local Authority, to buy the Home Access bundles from an approved supplier on behalf of the families, with their consent.

The advantages could be significant:

• Hard to reach and hard to persuade groups could be targeted and supported through local knowledge
  The computer and Internet would have a strong education emphasis placed on them because of the school’s involvement
• It should be possible to strike a better deal because of the larger order value compared to each family making an individual purchase.
• For example a few extra computers might be negotiated which could be included in the school equity scheme being offered to everyone else or else offered to families who just missed out on the eligibility criteria. 
• It can dovetail with the school making a similar offer to all the other families through an equity scheme running in parallel. Families eligible for a Home Access grant might choose to opt out of the equity scheme (although under the terms of an equity scheme they can still choose to take part if they wish). As this group tends to be those who find it hardest to commit to a regular contribution, this will reduce the financial risk of an equity scheme to a school.

Where a Local Authority has been approved for aggregation then all the schools within that Authority, with the exception of Academies, will not be able to aggregate as a school.  For all other areas the opportunity will be made available, probably in November. The details of how that will work in practice are now being worked through.