All posts tagged: Trust

Trust centralisation can’t be judged on numbers alone

Trust centralisation can’t be judged on numbers alone

More from this theme Recent articles Spending more on central teams does not inherently mean that trusts are diverting money away from teaching and learning. The recent Schools Week article, Academy trust central teams gobble up £200m, raises an important question: does centralisation in academy trusts drive up costs, or does it actually save money? The reality is far more nuanced. The key issue is not where the money sits (central or local) but whether the overall end-to-end cost is lower, and whether the trust is providing better services as a result. In other words, are trusts delivering more for less? Consider a trust with a minimal top slice, just enough to cover the statutory roles of the chief executive and financial officers. This looks cost-effective on paper. Schools retain control over their own budgets and purchase what they need individually. Now, let’s compare this to a trust with a higher top slice, which may be perceived as less efficient because it appears to be taking more money away from teaching and learning. What if …

Trust CEOs told to lobby MPs and ‘showcase’ their work

Trust CEOs told to lobby MPs and ‘showcase’ their work

Trust body tells CEOs to build ‘constructive relationships’ with local politicians so they ‘understand’ academies Trust body tells CEOs to build ‘constructive relationships’ with local politicians so they ‘understand’ academies The body representing England’s academy trusts is urging CEOs to build “constructive relationships with MPs” so they “understand” academies “are indeed community schools”. Confederation of School Trusts (CST) chief Leora Cruddas told members in a briefing this morning to reach out to local politicians and showcase “the very best of what we do”. It comes amid concerns from some in the academy sector over government plans to water down academy freedoms. But debate over the schools bill plans has led to accusations levelled at academy chains by some Labour backbench MPs, including one suggesting academies had only improved results by off-rolling. ‘Build constructive relationships with politicians’ Cruddas said: “We would also like to begin a conversation about building proactive and constructive relationships with MPs and local politicians. “We need to make sure that this is consistent across our sector and that we are showcasing the …

Academy trust central teams gobble up £200m

Academy trust central teams gobble up £200m

More from this theme Recent articles The country’s biggest academy trusts now extract £200 million from their schools’ budgets to fund growing central teams. Analysis by Schools Week of the 30 largest trusts found the average amount top-sliced has risen by 50 per cent per pupil since 2021. This dwarfs the 16 per cent rise in school funding over the same period. Trusts say they are centralising more services because it saves money overall and frees up staff time to focus on the classroom. ‘MATs absorbing more funding’ But Daniel Kebede, the general secretary of the National Education Union, claimed academy freedoms led to “an unbalanced system where MAT officialdom and booming CEO pay is absorbing an ever-greater proportion of funding, while teachers and support staff suffer. “We also need much greater transparency in MAT finances to ensure that school funding is going where it should be: frontline teaching and learning.” Daniel Kebede Schools Week analysis shows amounts charged to fund central teams in the biggest trusts rose to just over £198 million in 2023-24. …

Fines for term-time holidays are at record levels – this will further erode trust between parents and schools

Fines for term-time holidays are at record levels – this will further erode trust between parents and schools

Recently released government statistics show a record number of fines were given to parents for their children’s absence from school in 2023-24 in England. Of the 487,344 fines issued, 91% were for unauthorised family holidays. If these fines, known as fixed penalty notices, go unpaid or in some cases have been previously issued, parents are taken to court. In 2023-24, 28,296 parents were prosecuted over their children’s school attendance. Whether the fines have any effect on ensuring attendance is debatable. The figures show that thousands of parents are willing to book a term-time holiday anyway. But fines are certainly affecting the crucial relationship between schools and families. When I carried out my doctoral research between 2014 and 2016 on the relationships between schools and parents, these bonds were already quite fragile. People in my study argued that endless “dictats” from school built a “brick wall” rather than a partnership. Now, it’s likely that an increasingly strict application of attendance rules is further breaking down trust. Fines were first introduced by a Labour government in 2004 …

Delta trust merger given minister greenlight

Delta trust merger given minister greenlight

Trust set to become second-biggest in England after receiving government go-ahead Trust set to become second-biggest in England after receiving government go-ahead More from this theme Recent articles Merger plans that would create England’s second biggest MAT have been given the greenlight, after being referred to ministers to rule on. Delta Academies Trust boss Paul Tarn took over Coast and Vale Learning Trust as chief executive in April, following an “in-principle agreement” between the organisations to formally join forces later. The proposals – which will take Delta’s tally from 57 to 63 schools – were due to be decided on by the Department for Education’s Yorkshire and Humber advisory board in December. But it was later revealed in Department for Education papers that the case had instead been escalated to government ministers, without any reason given for why this was done.   Paul Tarn And in a joint statement today, the trusts’ chairs, Steve Hodsman and John Riby, said: “Coast and Vale has embarked on a journey to deliver school improvement. This is the next step …

Academy trust boss Moynihan becomes first to earn over £500k

Academy trust boss Moynihan becomes first to earn over £500k

Harris Federation chief received a £25,000 pay rise last year, accounts show Harris Federation chief received a £25,000 pay rise last year, accounts show More from this theme Recent articles England’s best-paid academy trust boss has been handed a £25,000 pay hike – taking his salary to over half a million pounds. Harris Federation CEO Sir Dan Moynihan has become the first academy trust chief executive to cross the £500,000 threshold, latest accounts show. He took home between £515,000 and £520,000 in 2023-24, up from a range of £485,000 to £490,000 the previous reporting year. This represents an increase of just over 5 per cent. It is Moynihan’s second pay rise in a row. In 2022-23, his wages rose from between £455,000 to £460,000 to at least £485,000. This represented his first uplift in pay since 2018-19. The trust – which has frequently been at the centre of controversy for its executive pay figures – has six other unnamed members of staff earning more than £190,000, compared to seven in 2022-23. Of these, one employee …

It’s not too late for Labour to stand up to trust CEOs

It’s not too late for Labour to stand up to trust CEOs

More from this theme Recent articles George Orwell didn’t have anyone as anodyne as academy trust leaders in mind when he wrote that “no one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it,” but the sentiment is apt nonetheless. Since New Labour created academies and Michael Gove gave the policy rocket boosters, huge swathes of public money have been handed over to unelected trusts, many of which are the private fiefdoms of CEOs who earn vast salaries. Last year, as well as the approximately £22 billion handed over to academies under per-pupil funding, millions more was spent on specific grants to grow academies (TEG and TCAF) as well as capital projects. Trust chiefs, who before 2010 were relative unknown figures with little influence over education, now appear to wield considerable power. Their ‘freedoms’ mean they have the power to decide on curriculum, staffing and financial matters in their own chains, but they also have a stranglehold on national policy.   The Conservatives made sure they were heavily represented in the wider system. Ex-chiefs of …

Muddled pension rules leave trust CEOs in limbo

Muddled pension rules leave trust CEOs in limbo

More from this theme Recent articles Confused teacher pension rules could leave academy bosses at risk of losing retirement benefits, legal experts warn, sparking calls for the government to clarify eligibility.  Widespread confusion over who can join the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) prompted one trust to switch its central team to an alternative in a bid to stay on the right side of the rules.  Meanwhile, another academy chain has banned management remaining on the TPS. But other trust chief executives are still on it.  Experts say the grey area could leave some leaders refused benefits when they retire, or leave trusts liable to refund contributions if found to have incorrectly kept staff with on the TPS.  And muddying the waters further, those in similar management positions leading religious boards of education have a carve-out that makes them eligible for a teacher’s pension.  Call for clarity Jean Boyle, a partner at the law firm Stone King, wants the “grey area” resolved. “It would be extremely helpful if the TPS could provide further guidance on this …

Primary-only trust raids reserves as pupil numbers dip

Primary-only trust raids reserves as pupil numbers dip

REAch2 dipped into its reserves after racking up an in-year deficit of just over £2.1 million and £481,000 in redundancy payments REAch2 dipped into its reserves after racking up an in-year deficit of just over £2.1 million and £481,000 in redundancy payments More from this theme Recent articles England’s biggest primary-only trust has been forced to raid its reserves – while another with just one secondary has been handed £1 million to help it to close. The cases once again highlight the financial pressures majority-primary MATs are facing as pupil numbers fall and the SEND crisis deepens. Micon Metcalfe Micon Metcalfe, a school finance expert, said: “It is challenging and it’s going to become more challenging. It’s something individual trusts have to navigate very carefully.” REAch2 dipped into its reserves after racking up an in-year deficit of just over £2.1 million in the past academic year, accounts have revealed. It also forked out £481,000 in redundancy payments, which the trust said, allowed it to introduce “a central service model to support our schools… leading to …

Academy trust given £1.5m government loan to stay afloat

Academy trust given £1.5m government loan to stay afloat

More from this theme Recent articles A 24-school academy trust that racked up seven-figure losses after paying for iPads for staff and pupils has been offered a £1.5 million loan from government to keep it afloat.  Department for Education officials gave the Arthur Terry Learning Partnership the chance to withdraw the cash through a so-called “draw-down facility” to help it “pay debtors on a timely basis”.  Having raided reserves in 2022-23 to pay for staff and pupil iPads and soaring energy prices, among other things, it was given a notice to improve after posting an almost £4 million deficit last year.  School business manager Hilary Goldsmith believes the case shows some trusts have become too big to fail.  “I’d imagine re-brokering those schools would be virtually impossible,” she said. “[But] I would be concerned that large amounts of money… are being loaned to schools who aren’t able to meet their financial aims.” Trust amassed deficit of £6m Accounts for 2022-23 showed Arthur Terry racked up a £6 million “in-year deficit on revenue reserves” after being …