Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions he has had with the Regional Schools Commissioner for Yorkshire and Lancashire on the closure of Emslie Morgan Academy.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, has not met with the Regional Schools Commissioner (RSC) for Lancashire and West Yorkshire in relation to the closure of Emslie Morgan Academy. My noble friend, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, has however discussed the closure of Emslie Morgan Academy with the RSC and officials. The decision to close Emslie Morgan Academy was taken by the department, following the careful consideration of all available options.
Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding was provided to schools in (a) Wallasey, (b) Merseyside and (c) the North West from the Condition Improvement Fund in each of the last five years.
Answered by Nick Gibb
The Condition Improvement Fund (CIF) is an annual bidding round to which single and smaller academy trusts and sixth-form colleges are eligible to apply for capital funding. All other schools access capital funding through the School Condition Allocation paid to their responsible body.
In the attached table, the Department has provided a regional breakdown of CIF grant awards for the last 5 years. Accurate amounts for grants funded are not known until the work is complete, so the Department is unable to disclose the total funding amount for a CIF round until all the projects in that round are complete.
The Department intends to release individual project funding amounts for all CIF rounds once complete and, to date, we have published the funding from 2015-16. Information for CIF 2016-17 onwards does not include the funding amounts. To release the funding amounts for which applicants bid to CIF while procurement or construction works are ongoing would jeopardise the negotiating position of schools and sixth-form colleges to obtain value for money for the public purse from their contractors.
Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to reports that Egremont Primary School in Wallasey will be making 18 members of staff redundant, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of that loss of staff on the level of education children attending that school will receive.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The department is building a supportive schools’ culture in which Regional Schools Commissioners work with multi academy trusts to drive school improvement. As part of this, the department will offer schools the support they need, in line with the ‘Schools Causing Concern’ guidance.
The department does not currently have concerns about the financial position of the Oak Trees Multi Academy Trust as evidenced in the trust’s annual accounts return.
Academy trusts are expected to manage their resources and financial position effectively. Their status as companies, charities and public sector bodies, means they have a more rigorous tri‑partite framework and are held up to greater scrutiny. There is a clear framework of accountability for academy trusts regulated by the Education & Skills Funding Agency through trusts’ funding agreements and the Academies Financial Handbook. This can be accessed at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/academies-financial-handbook.
There is effective oversight and compliance based on proportionate risk assessment and robust intervention when concerns arise. In addition, all academy trusts must have an annual external audit of their annual accounts by a registered statutory auditor. This external scrutiny provides the department with a high level of confidence that oversight is professional and consistent.
Asked by: Angela Eagle (Labour - Wallasey)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to reports that Egremont Primary School in Wallasey will be making 18 members of staff redundant, what assessment he has made of the financial stability of the Oak Trees Multi Academy Trust in Wirral.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
The department is building a supportive schools’ culture in which Regional Schools Commissioners work with multi academy trusts to drive school improvement. As part of this, the department will offer schools the support they need, in line with the ‘Schools Causing Concern’ guidance.
The department does not currently have concerns about the financial position of the Oak Trees Multi Academy Trust as evidenced in the trust’s annual accounts return.
Academy trusts are expected to manage their resources and financial position effectively. Their status as companies, charities and public sector bodies, means they have a more rigorous tri‑partite framework and are held up to greater scrutiny. There is a clear framework of accountability for academy trusts regulated by the Education & Skills Funding Agency through trusts’ funding agreements and the Academies Financial Handbook. This can be accessed at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/academies-financial-handbook.
There is effective oversight and compliance based on proportionate risk assessment and robust intervention when concerns arise. In addition, all academy trusts must have an annual external audit of their annual accounts by a registered statutory auditor. This external scrutiny provides the department with a high level of confidence that oversight is professional and consistent.