Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the School System met to discuss efficiency savings since his speech to the Schools and Academies Show on 21 November 2018.

My noble Friend, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the School System regularly meets with stakeholders across the sector. Since the conference, he has met with a number of academy trusts to discuss their financial and educational performance, as he has done since taking up his role in the department. More broadly, the Education and Skills Funding Agency work with academy trusts to support effective schools resource management. This is done with specialist advisers and three-year financial forecasting, prioritising engagement with those trusts forecasting future deficits or declining reserves.

Last October, the department launched a new self-assessment tool for academy trusts to reassure themselves that they are managing resources effectively and to identify adjustments to ensure effective resource management. To date, this tool has been downloaded over 5,000 times. The department continues to work with local authorities to improve school resource management in maintained schools and has developed a range of support and benchmarking tools for all schools and local authorities to assist with this.