Sector warns of 'reckless' academies and free schools legislation

The Academies Bill, outlined in the Queen's Speech at the state opening of Parliament, was branded "reckless" by Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers.

"These proposals to turn more schools into academies are just irresponsible," she warned. "Cutting local authorities out of the equation will end any meaningful local planning to target funding to the children who need more help such as those with special needs."

John Dunford, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, called on the government to make sure that schools under council control do not lose out on funding because of new academies.

"Measures need to be put in place to ensure that the school system is not polarised by schools voting for fast-track academy status and gaining at the expense of their neighbouring schools," he warned. "Unless these measures are introduced, the job of many schools serving challenging communities will be made immeasurably more difficult."  

Margaret Eaton, chairman of the Local Government Association said councils want there to be more choice of schools for pupils and parents.

But she warned that local authorities still have an important role to play in managing the performance of schools.

"When things start to go wrong, only prompt, joint action by the council and school provider will put things right," she explained.

"In the current economic climate, funding for education must be spent wisely. It would be pointless to create a new system to oversee the performance of local schools when councils are already experienced in managing the education system and have invaluable local knowledge."

Christine Blower, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said the Academies Bill contradicts legislation proposed to give more power to local communities.

She said: "The emphasis on greater power for local communities is belied by the government's proposal to remove the requirement to consult local councils before an academy is opened. It appears that the Big Society is now big in Whitehall but not elsewhere.

"The idea that maintained schools can simply decide to be academies because of an Ofsted judgement also has major funding and planning implications."