Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is their policy regarding the structural conversion of maintained schools to academy status where conversion is directed or mandated by a diocesan authority rather than initiated by a school’s governing body.

The government recognises that faith schools operate within governance arrangements that require the consent of the relevant foundation, trustees or religious authority to voluntarily join an academy trust. However, under the Academies Act 2010, a voluntary application for academy status is made by the school's governing body.

The governing body must consult appropriately before conversion takes place. The department publishes guidance for schools about academy conversion which explains the statutory requirements around consultation.

The department has not conducted a specific comparative assessment of the financial resilience, per-pupil funding allocations, administrative overheads or academic performance of voluntary aided Catholic schools and Catholic schools within Catholic multi-academy trusts.

Academy trusts are required to publish annual accounts and the latest published data shows that 96% of academy trusts are operating with a cumulative surplus. Multi-academy trusts can realise efficiencies through economies of scale when delivering services across a group of schools.

Information on school and academy performance is published annually and is available through the department's performance data publications.