We await signs as to the Government’s enthusiasm for the academies programme, although it is safe to say that we will be working with a mixed economy for some time to come.
The most pressing question will be to what extent the Department for Education will provide funding for schools to convert, either on a voluntary or forced basis.
There is no indication yet whether the Department will be adopting the previous Government’s policy limiting conversion grants to schools approved to join or form a trust as part of a group of 3 or more schools. This presents some practical challenges.
For MATs, taking on 3 schools involves significant effort and organisation, especially in relation to due diligence exercises.
For schools that wish to join a MAT, it can be challenging to find two other schools that are enthusiastic to join the same trust. It’s worth knowing that the 3 schools can include single academy trusts but the conversion grant will only be available to any maintained schools that are converting as part of the process.
Our key messages to MATs and schools alike are to ensure that you are organised, prepared and ready to focus on hub-working. Hub-working is going to be the big focus going forward and involves careful consideration of the scheme of delegation and the forums for how schools within MATs will work in hubs. For example, there may be forums involving leaderships teams and separate forums for chairs.
A further worry relates to the now almost universal approach of local authorities to make a charge for academisation, which must often be paid at the outset rather than recouped from the school budget share at the point of conversion. Charges range from £3,000 per school to £12,000 and, in some cases at least, feel like a penalty rather than a natural attempt to cover reasonable costs. Schools have traditionally had no leverage in these discussions, being forced to pay whatever the authority asks for. It will be interesting to see if LAs are likely to be more sympathetic if there is no actual grant to meet these costs.
Equally, its likely the burden of these costs will fall on MATs rather than schools choosing to join, as MATs seek to attract schools which will add capacity and resilience. Some interesting conversations will no doubt open up where there is pressure to convert from a third party, such as dioceses, or where a school is the subject of intervention.
There is no doubt however that there will be pressure to keep the cost of conversions down favouring those with experience and streamlined systems in place to help manage the process efficiently and avoid delays.
We’re here to support you with any MAT growth queries that you have and would be happy to arrange a call or Zoom meeting to discuss your specific queries or circumstances. Please contact Andrea Squires on asquires@wslaw.co.uk or 020 7593 5039 for more information.