Commenting on the speech to be made today by the Secretary of
State for Education to the National Governance Association
Conference on the regulation of academies and multi academy
trusts, Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT-The
Teachers’ Union, said:
“The NASUWT has raised concerns consistently about the lack of
accountability of academy trusts and the often unacceptable ways
in which they make use of public money.
“While the Secretary of State’s speech represents a long overdue
recognition by the Government of these critical issues, it is not
at all clear that the steps set out in the speech will go far
enough to address the many problems that the lack of transparency
in the academy sector generates.
“The extent and scale of related party transactions in some
academy trusts has been nothing short of scandalous. Imposing a
requirement on trusts to seek permission for such transactions is
a step in the right direction, but many inappropriate deals
involve sums lower than the Government’s proposed £20,000
threshold. If the public is to have confidence in the way in
which taxpayers’ money is being spent, then the threshold must be
set at a lower level.
“It is right for the DfE to investigate the extent to which some
of the very large salaries earned by senior staff in academy
trusts are paid to individuals who have no direct and sustained
involvement in teaching and learning. However, true transparency
will only be secured when top salaries in academy trusts are put
into the public domain. Mere reporting of these salaries to the
DfE will not shine a bright enough light on unacceptable
practices.
“All those with power and responsibility over pupils and staff in
the state education system should be held accountable for the
decisions they take. It makes no sense for schools and local
authorities to be subject to extensive external scrutiny while
decision-makers in most academy trusts can operate without any
meaningful oversight of their activities.
“The NASUWT remains clear that these profound problems will only
be tackled effectively when the Government establishes clear,
national criteria and standards for all organisations involved in
sponsoring and providing state education.”
