On Thursday 20th September 2018, the Government announced its intention to retire the LCVAP process.
The following is an extract from the letter issued to the Diocese.
I am writing to inform you about changes we are intending to make to how voluntary aided
(VA) schools access capital funding to maintain and improve their school buildings.
As you may know, we currently provide capital funding to voluntary-aided schools through a programme known as the Locally Coordinated Voluntary-Aided Programme (LCVAP). Under LCVAP we ask each local authority to co-ordinate discussions among their local VA partners as to the best use of a nominal funding allocation provided for that area. However, we recognise this system can often be complex and bureaucratic.
Following discussion with VA representative bodies, it is therefore our intention to retire the present LCVAP system from the financial year 2020-2021, and to move VA schools to the same capital funding system used by other types of schools: School Condition Allocations (SCA), and the Condition Improvement Fund (CIF).
As you (the diocese) will typically coordinate capital funding on behalf of your schools, we intend to recognise that relationship by providing you with an annual SCA allocation directly, providing you meet the size criteria.
In partnership with local, regional and national stakeholders, the Education Service will be seeking to secure an effective and deliverable system that ensures that Capital Funding is properly invested in High Priority Projects.
At this time, we are still absorbing this information and engaging with colleagues from other diocese to explore initial thoughts. The CES is planning a conference in November for Diocesan Colleagues. We will share more information as it is released.