Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what powers she has under academy funding agreements to intervene where a trust does not convene a governing board meeting to consider reinstatement of excluded students within 15 school days.

Academy trusts must have regard to the statutory Suspension and Permanent Exclusion guidance. The guidance is clear that, where a pupil is permanently excluded, and where a suspension would take the pupil’s total number of suspended school days above 15 in a term, or where the pupil would miss a public examination or national curriculum test, the governing body must consider and decide on the pupil’s reinstatement within 15 school days of receiving notice of the exclusion.

Academy trusts must comply with their legal and contractual obligations. Where a failure amounts to a breach of the relevant funding agreement, the department may use the intervention powers available under that agreement. Depending on the circumstances and the precise terms of the trust’s funding agreements, this may include requiring remedial action, issuing a termination warning notice and, ultimately, terminating the agreement.