'˜Significant concerns' raised about lack of Government oversight of academy chains

The new report from Parliament’s Education select committee claims there is a “high degree of uncertainty” around the effectiveness of so-called multi-academy trusts (MATs), and calls for tighter restrictions on their growth.

The document claims that ministers have “a long way to go” to demonstrate they are getting value for money from these chains, adding that it is not clear whether agencies have sufficient “oversight capabilities” to assess the financial impact that their expansion may have.

And it suggests small rural schools are at risk of being “left behind” by the Government’s academisation agenda, due to a lack of sponsors in more isolated areas.

Commenting on the findings, committee chairman Neil Carmichael said recent changes to academy policy have caused “uncertainty and instability in the sector”. “We have significant concerns about the performance, accountability and expansion of multi-academy trusts,” he said.

“While some MATs are producing excellent results and making a valuable contribution to our education system, a considerable number are failing to improve and are consistently at the bottom of league tables.

“Only time will tell if MATs are more successful than local authorities in tackling under-performance and supporting high-performing schools.

“But if the Government is to pursue the goal of further academisation, it will need to work with local authorities and allow those councils with a track record of strong educational performance to use their expertise within their education department to create MATs.”

The committee has called for MATs to be made more accountable to their local communities, and for Ofsted and Regional Schools Commissioners to be given powers to conduct full inspections of trusts. They also recommend that local authorities with a strong track record on educational performance should be allowed to set-up their own chains.

These calls have been echoed by the Local Government Association, which suggested allowing councils to run their own MATs would boost local accountability. Spokesman Richard Watts argued that local authorities are used to managing large budgets and “have a reputation as being the most efficient... and trusted part of the public sector”.

Responding to the report, a DfE spokesman said: “The oversight and accountability system for academies is more robust than local authority maintained schools, allowing us to take swift action to deal with underperformance.

“We are already developing a ‘growth check’ to ensure good trusts only take on new schools when they are ready and it will not impact on the education of the children they are already responsible for.”