Next Labour government to end academisation and free schools

• Tackle the fragmentation and privatisation of our school system by ending the current free schools and academies programmes. 
• Integrate academies and multi-academy trusts by developing and moving towards a new system under which all schools will follow the same rules, centred on giving schools, parents and communities an active role in decision-making and meaningful power over the schools in their areas.
• Return powers to schools and local government, by giving schools more autonomy from MATs and making local authorities responsible for all school admissions in their areas and granting them powers to open and commission new schools to meet the need for school places in their communities.
• Crack down on so-called ‘related party transactions’, banning commercial arrangements between academy trusts and companies or individuals who are also sponsoring or involved in running the trust.
• Allow academy schools to change status, returning to local authority control, for example where MATs fail.
• Support new co-operative schools where there is demand from parents and staff.
• Enforce national pay rules to prevent MAT executives paying themselves fat cat salaries. 

Labour also published data showing that the number of ‘zombie’ academies waiting to be re-brokered has doubled to 124.

Speaking ahead of her conference speech, Angela Rayner MP, Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary, said:

“The Tories’ academy system is simply not fit for purpose. Labour will end the forced conversion of local schools to academies, scrap the inefficient free school programme and instead focus on delivering what works to get the best results for pupils.

“The Tories have thrown money at an academy and free school programme that is not improving outcomes for pupils, even while individual schools have their budgets cut year after year. We now routinely see the shocking sight of schools begging parents for financial support just to carry out day-to-day functions.

“Meanwhile, some executives at large academy chains are earning fat cat salaries from taxpayers’ money, and there are mounting scandals and evidence of financial mismanagement.

“For too long, parents and local communities have been shut out of decisions affecting schools in their area. The next Labour government will give power back to communities so that our schools are run by the people who know them best – parents, teachers and local communities.”

On zombie academies, Angela Rayner, said:

“The Tories’ fragmentation and school system has created zombie schools – caught between academy chains who are under no obligation to take them on and a Government that simply washes its hands of the problem, refusing to step in and take responsibility. 

“Tens of thousands of children are educated in these schools, yet the Government has abandoned these children, just as it has abandoned any commitment to a school system that is accountable and works in the best interest of pupils, parents and teachers.

“Labour will end the academies programme and allow local authorities to step in where academy chains fail so that schools are no longer left in limbo until central government hands them over to another trust.”

Ends 

Notes to editors

On Labour’s plans to end the academy and free schools programmes, and pledge that there will be no new academies under the next Labour government:

• Labour will consult on and develop a new regulatory framework for schools, centred on giving schools, parents, learners, and communities an active role in decision making, via democratic institutions;
• In the interim, academies will be able to return to being maintained by a local authority as part of the re-brokering process, assuming there is capacity and desire to do so in the relevant local authority.

On improving the accountability and responsiveness of academies, while ending existing inefficiencies, Labour will:

• Give local authorities the powers they need to fulfil their legal obligation to provide school places, by allowing them to open new schools; compel existing academies to expand where there is demand for places;
• Take responsibility for admissions away from individual academy trusts, to end the inefficiency that leads to multiple schools in the same area having different admissions systems, returning this power to local government, with meaningful powers of enforcement; 
• Transfer responsibility for decision making and budgets back to schools, requiring every school to have a governing body of democratically elected parents, teachers, other school staff, community representatives, and to consult on any major changes in school policy or governance before they are introduced. Parental engagement will also be incorporated in the Ofsted framework.

Labour will also end financial mismanagement that leads to inefficient decisions and taxpayers’ being ripped off by some trusts by banning related party transactions. 

On the inefficiency and cost of the Government’s free schools and academies programmes:

• The National Audit Office found that the Government spent twice as much as they had expected to open fewer free schools than they had originally planned;^[1]
  • In 2010 the Department estimated that it would cost £900 million by March 2015 to open 315 free schools;
  • By March 2015 the Department had spent £1.8 billion and opened 305 free schools;
• Creating a primary school place in a free school is 33% more expensive than a local authority creating a free school, and for secondary schools it costs 51% more to create the place in a free school;^[2]
• The National Audit Office also found that the cost of free school places rose sharply between 2010 and 2015, up by 51% for primary schools and 76% for secondary schools;

On free schools’ failure to meet their own objectives of providing new school places where they are most needed, improving standards, and giving parents a say in their children’s education 

• The Education Policy Institute found that there were significant numbers of free schools in areas where there were already excess schools places;^[3]
• The EPI said that “A stated aim of the free schools programme has been to target expansion in areas where there is a shortage of high quality provision. To date, the free schools programme, particularly at secondary level, has been less successful in addressing areas of underperformance.”^[4]
• The Sutton Trust found that, despite the intention of free schools to encourage groups of parents to set up schools, “only one in five free schools has had parents involved in their inception, and the proportion of parent led free schools has decreased over time.”^[5]

On the growing crisis in school places and school place planning.

• The Local Government Association recently warned of a shortfall of over 130,000 places in the next five years, with over half of councils not being able to meet demand.^[6]

On the failure of the government’s academy programme to improve results or lead to better outcomes for children:

• ·       The Education Policy Institute found that “academies do not provide an automatic solution to school improvement […] there is significant variation in performance at both different types of academies and Multi-Academy Trusts;^[7]
• ·       The same analysis found that “there is no evidence that schools judged as good, satisfactory, or inadequate by Ofsted prior to 2010 improved their pupils’ GCSE attainment as a result of the academy conversion.”^[8]
• ·       Another, earlier analysis by the EPI and London School of Economics found that academisation had no long-term impact on pupil outcomes.^[9]

On the first cuts to school budgets in a generation and schools asking parents for financial support simply to allow the school to operate:

• ·       A survey earlier this year found that a fifth of schools were now asking parents to make cash contributions, with almost half of teachers saying their school has asked parents to pay for specific items;^[10]
• ·       Similarly, a survey by PTA UK found that four in ten parents had been asked to contribute regularly to school funds;^[11]
• ·       In the Prime Minister’s own Maidenhead constituency a primary school wrote to parents asking for donations to pay for essentials such as pens, paper, and exercise books, citing ‘rising costs and reduced funding.’^[12]

On fat cat multi academy trust leaders salaries:

• ·       An analysis of DfE data carried out by TES found that 121 trusts were paying salaries in excess of £150,000.^[13]
• ·       Several MAT leaders saw their pay rise by over £20,000 in a single year, including the chief executive of Harris receiving a pay increase from £395,000 to £420,000, as did the chief executive at Ormiston Academies Trust, from 180,000 to 205,000 (an increase of 14% in a year when teachers’ pay rises were capped at 1%).^[14]

On academy scandals, lack of oversight and accountability and financial mismanagement in academy trusts:

• ·       A recent BBC Panorama investigation of Bright Tribe Trust found repeated instances of public money being received for building work and upgrades that were then not carried out;^[15]
• ·       The DfE recently allowed a Trust to take on new schools despite it being £1 million in deficit and the government currently monitoring its finances;^[16]

On ‘zombie’ schools:

• Zombie academies are academies waiting to be transferred to another academy chain/sponsor after the trust originally managing them has abandoned or been stripped from control (often when there are issues around academic standards, or finances, or both).
• As at 24^th July, there were 124 ‘zombie’ academies: https://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2018-07-24/168003/
• This is almost double the 64 figure in December 2017: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/dec/03/thousand-pupils-trapped-in-zombie-academy-schools
• Based on the average number of pupils in state-funded primary and secondary schools in England – 279 and 946 respectively – 124 schools would contain over 76,000 schools.

[1] National Audit Office, Capital funding for schools, 22^nd February 2017, https://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Capital-funding-for-schools.pdf, p46

2 Ibid.

3 Education Policy Institute, Free Schools in England, (2017), https://epi.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Free_schools_EPI_Report_.pdf, p20

4 Ibid, p8

5 The Sutton Trust and National Foundation for Economic Research, Free For All? Analysing free schools in England, 2018, https://www.suttontrust.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/FreeForAll-SuttonTrustNFER-1.pdf, p2

6 Local Government Association, Thousands of children to miss out on secondary school place in five years, 31^st August 2018, https://www.local.gov.uk/about/news/thousands-children-miss-out-secondary-school-place-five-years

7 Education Policy Institute, The impact of academies on educational outcomes, 10^th July 2017, p6, https://epi.org.uk/publications-and-research/impact-academies-educational-outcomes/

8 Ibid, p20

9 Education Policy Institute, Analysis of effect of the post-2010 sponsored academies, 7^th September 2016, https://epi.org.uk/publications-and-research/analysis-effect-post-2010-sponsored-academies/

10 The Telegraph, Cash strapped schools are asking parents for money, 31^st March 2018, https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/03/30/cash-strapped-schools-asking-parents-money/

11 BBC News, Four in 10 parents ‘asked to give to school funds’, 22^nd September 2017, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-41359731

12 Channel 4 News, Schools collect million in donations as state funds stagnate, 5^th January 2018, https://www.channel4.com/news/schools-collect-millions-in-donations-as-state-funding-tightens

13 TES, Exclusive: Top-earning academy bosses revealed, 3^rd November 2017, https://www.tes.com/news/exclusive-top-earning-academy-bosses-revealed

14 Schools Week, Academy CEO pay: Salaries soar, but who comes out on top?, 17^th March 2017, https://schoolsweek.co.uk/academy-ceo-pay-salaries-soar-but-who-comes-out-on-top/

15 BBC News, Academy chain accused of misusing government funds, 10^th September 2018, https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-45472189

16 Schools Week, DfE allowed trust to take on new schools despite serious financial problems, 18^th September 2018, https://schoolsweek.co.uk/academy-trust-handed-new-schools-despite-1m-deficit/