Local Authority MATs could turn clock back to 1988 and increase council control of schools
The Education Reform Act of 1988 introduced by Kenneth Baker as Education Secretary in Thatcher’s government brought in amongst several things local management of schools. This took power away from local authorities for managing school budgets and handed it to headteachers and school governors.
Since that date local authorities have not really controlled schools despite the rhetoric of the current government. They have continued to provide services to schools, make strategic decisions about them and have reserve powers to take over when things go wrong but that is not the same thing as day to day control.
In reality the Board of a Multi Academy Trust has much more control over a school than Local Authorities do. They can remove any local delegation (if it is even there to start with) without reason or appeal and in many cases local Headteachers are accountable to an Executive of the MAT. In an LA school this accountability is to governors.
It became apparent today that Suffolk County Council together with a number of other local authorities are exploring the idea of setting up their own local authority multi academy trusts.
The EADT reports:
Suffolk County Council is considering setting up its own multi-academy trust in response to the Government’s vision for all schools to become academies.
Bosses at the authority have insisted it is still “very early days” for the proposal, but have confirmed it is an option being considered.
In a letter to headteachers, corporate director for children and adults at the council, Sue Cook, outlined “firm proposals” for a “local authority-initiated” multi-academy trust.
This proposal follows widespread resistance from many Tory MPs and Councillors to the government’s forced academisation plans.
However as things stand local authorities are not allowed to run a MAT as there are strict rules on local authority influenced persons (councillors and council officers) who are not allowed to control any more than 20% of a MAT’s Board. This is partly to avoid somewhat obscure rules on local authority influenced companies but also reflects the fact that the academies programme was designed to move away from local authority control.
However if local authorities are allowed to run MATs the irony is that they will end up with not less but considerably more control over schools than they have today. It will be like we have turned the clock back to before the 1988 Education Reform Act with councils potentially controlling budgets and telling Headteachers what to do.
It is hard to reconcile this with David Cameron’s speech to the 2015 Tory Party conference when he said:
My next ambition is this, Five hundred new free Schools, every school an academy, and yes — local authorities running schools a thing of the past.
