Asked by: Clive Lewis (Labour - Norwich South)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 29 February 2024 to Question 15463 on Academies: Sports, if she will publish a list of academy trusts where consent was granted by her Department of freehold sale of publicly funded land which were not subject to conditions specifying that capital receipt should be reinvested in improving sports provision.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
The department’s general policy is that the freehold sale of playing field land requires improvement to playing field in the educational estate by reinvesting capital receipt in sporting provision. Capital receipt from the sale of non-playing field land can be used for other benefits to the education estate, such as capital projects, save for any exceptional circumstances.
The department currently publishes a list of all playing field land disposals considered by the School Playing Field Advisory Panel since 2010, including freehold disposals, which is available on GOV.UK. This list is currently being updated for the period May to December 2023. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-land-decisions-about-disposals/decisions-on-the-disposal-of-school-land.
Asked by: Rebecca Long Bailey (Labour - Salford and Eccles)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many academies were re-brokered in (a) 2021, (b) 2022 and (b) 2023; and for what reasons each academy was re-brokered.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Between 2021 and 2023, 649 academies have transferred trust. The below table provides detail on the reasons for transfer. Further information is available via the Academy Transfers and Funding publication, which can be found here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/academy-transfers-and-funding.
| 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
Due to Intervention | 40 | 32 | 24 |
Transfer Initiated by Trust | 135 | 162 | 179 |
Sponsor Closure | 26 | 41 | 10 |
Mentions:
1: Nick Gibb (CON - Bognor Regis and Littlehampton) sector in this process.The changes form part of the departmental response to the commitments in the academies - Speech Link
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of local authority powers to intervene in multi-academy trusts.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Academy trusts are directly accountable to my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education, through their funding agreements. The Secretary of State has a range of powers to intervene in trusts where they are not meeting their legal obligations, as well as powers to intervene in individual academies that are failing to meet the required standards. Where local authorities have concerns about the conduct of academy trusts they should raise these with the department as the body responsible for ensuring that trusts are complying with their funding agreements. The department’s ‘Schools causing concern’ guidance provides further information on the Secretary of State intervention powers, and is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/659d064e614fa20014f3aa63/Schools_causing_concern_guidance.pdf.
Jun. 18 2009
Source Page: Table showing the time frame set out for opening academies and all current projects which have passed expression of interest (EOI) stage. 1 p.Found: Table showing the time frame set out for opening academies and all current projects which have passed
Jul. 14 2010
Source Page: Table showing Key Stage 4 Results for academies and predecessor schools. 27 p.Found: Table showing Key Stage 4 Results for academies and predecessor schools. 27 p.
Asked by: Priti Patel (Conservative - Witham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department are taking to inspect multi academy trusts.
Answered by Damian Hinds - Minister of State (Education)
Academy trusts are held to high standards of governance and transparency, as companies, charities, and public sector bodies.
Ofsted inspection takes place at the level of each individual school within a trust, which provides accountability and transparency for parents around the education their child receives. At the trust level, the department has a broader framework of accountability, which both looks at the performance of their schools, and focuses on high standards of governance and financial management, while also recognising that trusts operate on very different models and in different contexts.
In July, the department published a new framework for commissioning multi-academy trusts. The framework provides descriptions of what the department expects of high-quality trusts and sets out the evidence Regional Directors will use when making decisions to place a school with a trust. It represents an ambitious vision for the academies sector, and a driver of high standards.
The department’s regional directors and their teams, together with the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA), provide robust educational and financial oversight of all academy trusts.
Where non-financial or financial non-compliance or governance failure is identified, Regions Group or the ESFA respectively will intervene, in a way that is proportionate to the risk and preserves education provision. This can include issuing a trust with a notice to improve or, in the most serious cases, termination of the funding agreement.
Mentions:
1: Jon Trickett (Lab - Hemsworth) In that respect, competition between secondary schools and academies does not necessarily help parental - Speech Link
2: Jon Trickett (Lab - Hemsworth) Has he had the experience of some entrepreneurial secondary academies excluding kids who have issues - Speech Link
3: Ian Lavery (Lab - Wansbeck) In 2020, the schools admissions criteria of both Ashington and Bedlington academies, both run by the - Speech Link
4: Seema Malhotra (LAB - Feltham and Heston) That is why Labour wants to require all schools, including academies, to co-operate with their local - Speech Link
Jan. 25 2024
Source Page: Newly qualified teachers grant for 2021 to 2022Found: 0 1 0 5 Outer London 7000 136308 302 Barnet 5406 Ashmole Academy Academy converter Secondary Academies
Sep. 12 2011
Source Page: Table showing Local Authority Central Spend Equivalent Grant (LACSEG) expenditure figures for each Local Authority in Academic Years from 2005/06 to 2010/11 and amount recouped for each Local Authority in Financial Years from the start of recoupment until 31/08/2011. 15 p.Found: expenditure figures for each Local Authority in Academic Years from 2005/06 to 2010/11LA No.LA NameNo. of academies