Academy plans bypass communities

Reforms unveiled in the Education and Adoption Bill last week will make it easier and quicker for underperforming schools to be turned into academies.

The measures include giving new powers to regional school commissioners to intervene in struggling schools (see box); placing duties on local authorities to pursue academisation to a set timescale; and for "coasting" schools to be turned into academies or to have head teachers from high-performing neighbouring schools installed if they fail to improve quickly enough.

It also scraps the requirement for academy sponsors to consult with schools and parents, which has raised concerns that councils and local communities will be frozen out of the process.

Education Secretary Nicky Morgan believes the changes could pave the way for an extra 1,000 grant-maintained schools to be converted to academy status by 2020.

She said: "It will sweep away the bureaucratic and legal loopholes previously exploited by those who put ideological objections above the best interests of children.

"Hundreds of schools, often in disadvantaged areas, are already being turned around thanks to the help of strong academy sponsors - this bill will allow them to do their job faster and more effectively."

But Debbie Barnes, chair of the Association of Directors of Children's Services education achievement committee, says allowing schools to be converted to academies without consulting local communities first "undermines local democracy".

She adds: "It is right and proper that the community has a say in how schools are run. These are a very important public resource to communities and they should have a say in the culture, philosophy and leadership of the school."

Barnes adds that the consultation process could be shortened and local people still consulted over converting schools to academies. "If the consultation process seems to be delaying matters then change it," she adds.

The bill also allows the Education Secretary to direct local authorities over issues of due diligence, such as financial arrangements.

John Fowler, policy manager at the Local Government Information Unit, says the legal and financial changes needed when schools are earmarked for conversion to an academy can sometimes be complex and lead to delays. "There remains a fair number of schools stuck after their academy order has been approved which have not progressed to a funding agreement, possibly for this reason," he adds.

The bill also sets out plans to tackle coasting schools by putting them on a notice to improve.

But what constitutes a coasting school is not defined in the bill. Responsibility for deciding this will lay with the Education Secretary.

A combination of pupil progress data and the Ofsted judgment could be used to assess whether a school is coasting, says the LGiU, but it wants to see the development of a new definition.

The lack of detail in the bill around the coasting school definition worries Barnes - "the devil is in the detail", she adds.

She is also concerned about the rush to create more academies when the jury is still out on whether the move improves outcomes for all children (see in numbers). "A number of local authorities are significantly concerned about the performance of some academies.

"Surely we want to get that right before increasing them," she adds.

The Local Government Association (LGA) says better leadership and teaching, rather than structures, is the key to improving struggling schools, and that councils are best placed to provide that as they best know the needs of local areas and communities.

David Simmonds, chairman of the LGA's children and young people board, says: "It's clear that strong leadership, outstanding classroom teaching, and effective support staff and governors are the crucial factors in transforming standards in struggling schools.

"Councils are concerned with emerging evidence of a shortage of head teachers. We need to focus on ensuring there are enough outstanding school leaders, rather than on structures and legal status, as it is this which makes the difference we all want to see."

NEW POWERS FOR REGIONAL SCHOOL COMMISSIONERS

The Education and Adoption Bill includes provisions for regional school commissioners (RSCs) to be given powers to bring in leadership support from excellent schools, and speed up the process of turning schools into academies.

Only local authorities can issue warning notices to state schools, but the bill will extend these powers to commissioners.

It will also allow the Education Secretary to delegate responsibility to commissioners for issuing orders for schools to be turned into academies.

Appointed in September 2014, the eight RSCs promote and monitor free schools and academies through powers delegated by the Education Secretary.

The Local Government Information Unit (LGiU) says the new powers represent a significant boost to RSCs' role and authority. "The local authority does not have the powers, except in extremis, to overhaul a local authority maintained school that RSCs will be given," says the LGiU's John Fowler.

IN NUMBERS

20,975 schools with an Ofsted judgment

4,033 of these are academies

3.4% (138) of academies have an "inadequate" judgment.