Essex County Council offers a number of services for schools to subscribe to / buy in to.
Approved Transport Provider Search
Essex County Council provides various forms of transport for passengers travelling within Essex. The majority of these services are contracted out to private transport operators. To be able to tender for Home to School, Social Care and Local Bus transport opportunities, transport operators need to successfully register and complete the Accreditation and Enrolment process within the Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS). Please find a link below to those operators that are on DPS:
Schools will need to satisfy themselves on the suitability of operators to undertake work for them.
Bus Routes
The Bus Routes facility is available via the My School Page of Infolink with a valid login. This feature allows schools to search for a specific entitled passenger that ECC provides transport for, or a particular route. This compliments the Passenger Loading Lists function that is also available for schools.
Capital Building Maintenance
Capital building maintenance is not a service that requires subscription.
Capital building maintenance is defined as works costing over £10,000 including fees. Maintained schools may contact ECC through MITIE to report capital building maintenance issues. These issues will be prioritised with all other known school capital building maintenance and works will be commissioned by ECC when affordable in order of priority. Please note schools are required to contribute £40 per pupil at the school toward capital building maintenance projects. More information can be found here.
Maintained schools are defined as community, foundation and voluntary controlled schools.
Academies and Free Schools should apply direct to the EFA for capital building maintenance funding through the Condition Improvement Fund (CIF)
Voluntary aided schools should apply for capital building maintenance funding to its Diocese.
Finance
This team has a statutory role in calculating delegated funding for schools and also in monitoring schools' budgets including challenging and supporting schools in financial difficulties; monitoring the use of accumulated balances held by the schools and supporting the return of Consistent Financial Reports to the DfE. You should contact this team if either you have a question regarding your school budget, if you are a school in financial difficulties, or if you have questions related to the Consistent Financial Reporting requirements.
No subscription is necessary. Users just need to be able to access the secure area of Infolink.
All local authority maintained Essex schools.
Health and Safety
Health and Safety is provided as a statutory service for Community and Voluntary Controlled Schools. The service is also available for Academy, Foundation, Voluntary Aided, Free Schools and Independent Schools to buy in to.
All schools have a legal, moral and economic duty to ensure the safety of their pupils, employees, visitors, contractors and members of the public. Essex County Council's health and safety service will help you to ensure these duties are fulfilled.
The Health and Safety Service includes:
A support desk offering advice and information on health & safety matters
Access to the secure area health & safety area which contains policies, codes of practice and guidance
Updates on new legislation, HSE guidance and other health & safety news.
Access to the online health & safety monitoring which goes live every November
Auditing and Inspections of Community and V/C schools. Available at additional charge to paying schools.
If you are a Community or Voluntary Controlled school, then you are automatically entitled to all of the services provided by the Corporate Health and Safety Service. To gain access to the Health & Safety pages, you will need to complete the Secure Area Nomination Form stating that you need access to health and safety and send this to the password team via email.
For Academy, Foundation, Voluntary Aided and Independent Schools, details of the Health and Safety Advisory Service (which can be purchased from Corporate Health & Safety) are on the Health and Safety 'How to access the service' page. Please read the service offer and the terms of agreement fully before completing and returning the form.
Insurance
Essex County Council's Insurance Team provides an Insurance and Operational Risk Management service for all schools that "buy back" into Essex County Council's Insurance Programme.
The Team provides a value for money, well rounded range of covers specifically tailored to the needs of Essex Schools and enables access to a diverse range of quality Insurance and Risk Management information and advice. All schools can access documents and key updates relative to the insurance programme.
Schools which are not academies that are situated in Essex are centrally insured with ECC & do not have to opt into the insurance service. However, if they are to convert to an academy, they are responsible for arranging their own insurance.
ECC is able to offer insurance for academies through our Academy Insurance Framework. Therefore if schools converting to an academy or existing academies (in Essex & outside of Essex e.g. Bromley, Suffolk & Thurrock) are interested in the service, then they can obtain a quote from the Insurance team. Further information can be found by visiting the Insurance page where the team contact details are also available.
Reporting School Closure
To be able to Report a School Closure, you will need a username and password for the secure area of Infolink.
Schools are no longer required to contact the Schools Communication Team. Notifications will be published on the Emergency School Closure page. Please read the information on the School Closure page before submitting a notification, then log in to the secure area to complete a notification.
Anyone within the school that has a login to the secure area of Infolink is able to report a closure for the school, however we advise that a process is set up / agreed to ensure that the closure for your school is only submitted once (as and when necessary).
My Documents
Once logged in to the My School Page - you will be able to access a link titled 'My Documents'.
Clicking on this link will then take you to a list of documents which have been assigned to your school (if any have been).
Once documents are uploaded and assigned to your school, you will receive an automated email informing you that these documents are now accessible. However, please read the notification carefully as some documents are assigned to headteacher accounts only.
Newly Qualified Teacher (NQT) Induction Support
Essex LA is an accredited Appropriate Body and offers an induction support service to enable schools/Academies to meet their statutory duties for NQT Induction. This support is available for a termly fee per NQT and includes a separate introductory induction session for NQTs and NQT mentors. Access to other discounted NQT and mentor CPD sessions are also available once your school is registered.
For more information take a look at the NQT Induction page.
School Meals Service
The School Meals Service provides menus, training and food safety compliance to maintained schools and academies through an annual service subscription.
Schools Recruitment Advertising
The Recruitment advertising service on Essex Schools Jobs website is provided free of charge to all Essex Local Authority maintained schools but is traded to academies and free schools in Essex. Southend and Thurrock schools are also able to subscribe. A subscription entitles the school to unlimited advertising on the website. Subscriptions run for an academic year.
Transport and Free School Meals List
The FSM administration service is provided free of charge to community and foundation schools but is traded to academies and free schools. If schools convert, they can buy the service back. The service will provide information and service level agreement to sign. FSM administration then takes over the application process, and manages periodic eligibility audits for them. Further information and contact details can be found on the Education Transport and Awards Infolink page.
