Dedicated schools grant (DSG) management plan
Guidance
Template and guidance for local authorities onfor the EducationDepartment andof SkillsEducation Funding(DfE) Agency (ESFA) DSG management plan plan.
- From:
- Education and Skills Funding Agency and Department for Education
- Published
- 16 September 2020
- Last updated
-
2226JulyMarch20242025 — See all updates
Applies to England
Documents
Dedicated schools grant (DSG) management plan template: version 10
MS Excel Spreadsheet, 1.97 MB
Details
The dedicated schools grant (DSG):(DSG): conditions of grant 20242025 to 20252026 (paragraph 5.2), require that any local authority with an overall deficit on its DSG account at the end of the 20232024 to 20242025 financial year, or whose DSG surplus has substantially reduced during the year, must be able to present a plan to the Department for Education (DfE)(DfE) for managing their future DSG spend.
DSG management plan template
You can now view and download the new version of the template directly from this GOV.UK page, without the need to access Document exchange.
We have worked with local authorities to develop a supportive standard DSG management plan template. Please read the accompanying guidance, when completing it.
We have designed the template to help local authorities manage their DSG and form evidence-based and strategic future plans for the provision of children and young people (CYP) with special education needs and disabilities (SEND).disabilities.
We encourage all local authorities to use the template as a planning tool. It will be useful when discussing proposals and sharing complex funding information in a simple way with internal and external bodies, parent and carer forums and elected members. We expect the plan to be updated and presented at schools forum meetings and any high needs sub-groups regularly, and at least on a termly basis.
Local authorities should aim to present an up to date version of the plan to the schools forum in time for budget planning discussions and before the deadline for block movement requests, if they are submitting one. The template should be updated regularly throughout the year to reflect the most recent forecast position and be viewed as an on-going live document.
The
DSG management planplan: templateguidance isfor availablelocal to view and download on Document exchange in the ‘documents received from ESFA’ section.authorities
YouThis canguidance accessdocument Documentis exchangea bystep-by-step loggingguide into DfE Sign-in.
If you don’t have access to Document exchange but would like it, please speak to one of the super-users within your organisation. If you’re unsure who this is, please speak to the head of the organisation.
If you experience any issues accessing DfE Sign-in, please contact the DfE Sign-in help desk.
Iflocal youauthorities havecomplete questionsthe DSG management aboutplan the upload, or are unable to find the file in Document exchange, or have any questions after reading our guidance, please contact us via the Customer Help Portal.template.
Further information
Relevant departmental advice and statutory guidance
DSG:DSG: conditions of grant 20242025 to 20252026
High needs funding arrangements: 20242025 to 20252026
Pre-16 schools funding: local authority guidance for 20242025 to 20252026
section 251 budget and outturn returns for 20212024 to 20222025
section 251 budget and outturn returns for 20222023 to 20232024
section 251 budget and outturn returns for 20232022 to 2024 2023
Other departmental resources
The School and Early Years Finance and Childcare (Provision of Information About Young Children) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 20242025
Updates to this page
Published 16 September 2020
Last updated 2226 JulyMarch 2024
+ show2025
href="#full-history">+ show all updates
-
Sign up for emails or print this page
Update history
2025-03-26 12:54
We have published version 10 of the dedicated schools grant (DSG) management plan template and accompanying guidance for 2025 to 2026 financial year.Key changes are:we have removed section 251 (s251) data for 2020 to 2021 financial year and pre-populated for 2023 to 2024 financial year.we have removed SEN2 data for 2021 to align pupil number data with financial data.we have uploaded the new template on to GOV.UK. Local authorities can now view and download the template directly from here without the need to access Document exchange.
2024-07-22 15:00
We have updated the ‘Dedicated schools grants (DSG) management plan guidance for local authorities’ for 2024 to 2025 to include key changes in version 8 of the template.This provides users with information about the amendments we have made to the DSG management plan template for 2024 to 2025.
2024-03-19 12:26
We have updated the ‘Dedicated schools grants (DSG) management plan guidance for local authorities’ for 2024 to 2025 to include the following additional section:- section 1.6: Key changes in version 7 of the template. This provides users with information about the amendments we have made to the DSG management plan template for 2024 to 2025.
2023-05-22 10:30
Dedicated schools grant (DSG) management plan template – we have updated the template, so it now allows local authorities to forecast up to 7 years financial data (it is not compulsory to forecast this far, but we would expect a minimum of 3 years).Dedicated schools grant (DSG) management plan template – we have removed the 2018 to 2019 financial data and the template is now pre-populated for 2021 to 2022 financial year.Dedicated schools grant (DSG) management plan guidance 2023 to 2024 – we have updated the narrative sections on both the ‘local authority specific’ and ‘placements’ tabs.
2022-05-04 12:57
We’ve added the guidance for 2022 to 2023 on DSG deficit management plans for local authorities.
Details
The dedicated schools grant (DSG):(DSG): conditions of grant 20242025 to 20252026 (paragraph 5.2), require that any local authority with an overall deficit on its DSG account at the end of the 20232024 to 20242025 financial year, or whose DSG surplus has substantially reduced during the year, must be able to present a plan to the Department for Education (DfE)(DfE) for managing their future DSG spend.
DSG management plan template
You can now view and download the new version of the template directly from this GOV.UK page, without the need to access Document exchange.
We have worked with local authorities to develop a supportive standard DSG management plan template. Please read the accompanying guidance, when completing it.
We have designed the template to help local authorities manage their DSG and form evidence-based and strategic future plans for the provision of children and young people (CYP) with special education needs and disabilities (SEND).disabilities.
We encourage all local authorities to use the template as a planning tool. It will be useful when discussing proposals and sharing complex funding information in a simple way with internal and external bodies, parent and carer forums and elected members. We expect the plan to be updated and presented at schools forum meetings and any high needs sub-groups regularly, and at least on a termly basis.
Local authorities should aim to present an up to date version of the plan to the schools forum in time for budget planning discussions and before the deadline for block movement requests, if they are submitting one. The template should be updated regularly throughout the year to reflect the most recent forecast position and be viewed as an on-going live document.
The
DSG management planplan: templateguidance isfor availablelocal to view and download on Document exchange in the ‘documents received from ESFA’ section.authorities
YouThis canguidance accessdocument Documentis exchangea bystep-by-step loggingguide into DfE Sign-in.
If you don’t have access to Document exchange but would like it, please speak to one of the super-users within your organisation. If you’re unsure who this is, please speak to the head of the organisation.
If you experience any issues accessing DfE Sign-in, please contact the DfE Sign-in help desk.
Iflocal youauthorities havecomplete questionsthe DSG management aboutplan the upload, or are unable to find the file in Document exchange, or have any questions after reading our guidance, please contact us via the Customer Help Portal.template.
Further information
Relevant departmental advice and statutory guidance
DSG:DSG: conditions of grant 20242025 to 20252026
High needs funding arrangements: 20242025 to 20252026
Pre-16 schools funding: local authority guidance for 20242025 to 20252026
section 251 budget and outturn returns for 20212024 to 20222025
section 251 budget and outturn returns for 20222023 to 20232024
section 251 budget and outturn returns for 20232022 to 2024 2023
Other departmental resources
The School and Early Years Finance and Childcare (Provision of Information About Young Children) (Amendment) (England) Regulations 20242025
Updates to this page
Sign up for emails or print this page
Update history
2025-03-26 12:54
We have published version 10 of the dedicated schools grant (DSG) management plan template and accompanying guidance for 2025 to 2026 financial year.Key changes are:we have removed section 251 (s251) data for 2020 to 2021 financial year and pre-populated for 2023 to 2024 financial year.we have removed SEN2 data for 2021 to align pupil number data with financial data.we have uploaded the new template on to GOV.UK. Local authorities can now view and download the template directly from here without the need to access Document exchange.
2024-07-22 15:00
We have updated the ‘Dedicated schools grants (DSG) management plan guidance for local authorities’ for 2024 to 2025 to include key changes in version 8 of the template.This provides users with information about the amendments we have made to the DSG management plan template for 2024 to 2025.
2024-03-19 12:26
We have updated the ‘Dedicated schools grants (DSG) management plan guidance for local authorities’ for 2024 to 2025 to include the following additional section:- section 1.6: Key changes in version 7 of the template. This provides users with information about the amendments we have made to the DSG management plan template for 2024 to 2025.
2023-05-22 10:30
Dedicated schools grant (DSG) management plan template – we have updated the template, so it now allows local authorities to forecast up to 7 years financial data (it is not compulsory to forecast this far, but we would expect a minimum of 3 years).Dedicated schools grant (DSG) management plan template – we have removed the 2018 to 2019 financial data and the template is now pre-populated for 2021 to 2022 financial year.Dedicated schools grant (DSG) management plan guidance 2023 to 2024 – we have updated the narrative sections on both the ‘local authority specific’ and ‘placements’ tabs.
2022-05-04 12:57
We’ve added the guidance for 2022 to 2023 on DSG deficit management plans for local authorities.