Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the efficacy of the outsourcing by Banbury Academy of admissions appeals to a private contractor; and if she will make a statement.

Any admission authority can outsource its appeals to a contractor; however, the admission authority remains responsible for ensuring appeals are conducted in accordance with the School Admission Appeals Code. It is not the Department’s role to provide an assessment on the efficacy of the outsourcing of admissions appeals to a private contractor, however where EFA has concerns about financial management or the governance in an academy trust, we will use our intervention powers accordingly.