Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 8 April 2019 to Question 240009, what the longest period is that one of the 93 academy schools in the process of re-brokering has waited to be transferred to a new academy trust.

As at 27 March 2019, our records show that 93 academies are in the process of transferring to different trusts. 89 of the 93 cases have been in progress for less than 12 months.

The longest period that one of these academies has been awaiting transfer is 23 months. When transferring an academy from one trust to another, there may be a number of things that can take time to resolve with the incoming trust who has agreed to take on the school, such as private finance initiative contracts – which can be the most problematic, issues relating to land, financial matters, or the process of transferring staff from one trust to another. A substantial majority of academy transfers are voluntary agreements between trusts.

Where there are concerns regarding an academy’s performance, the department would seek, wherever possible, to put in place school improvement support while the transfer is underway.