Morgan avoids question on councils running academies

EDUCATION SECRETARY Nicky Morgan dodged questions about whether local councils will be allowed to run academy trusts or whether she was willing to legislate to force good schools to convert to academy status which do not want to.
Education Secretary Nicky Morgan. Photo:  Lauren Hurley/PA WireEducation Secretary Nicky Morgan. Photo:  Lauren Hurley/PA Wire
Education Secretary Nicky Morgan. Photo: Lauren Hurley/PA Wire

The Government’s controversial plan to have all state schools run as academies by 2022 dominated a tense Education Questions session this afternoon.

Mrs Morgan spoke defiantly about “finishing the job” when asked about converting all schools into academies.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

However she did not directly answer questions from Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary Lucy Powell or from her own backbenchers on the role of local councils under the new system or whether the Government would legislate to force schools opposed to academy status.

Lucy Powell MP.Lucy Powell MP.
Lucy Powell MP.

Ms Powell said headteachers need more clarity on Mrs Morgan’s plans as she asked her, “yes or no”, on whether good and outstanding schools will be forced to convert to academies.

The Labour frontbencher said: “Let me just remind you, you already have powers to turn underperforming schools into academies. Good and outstanding schools can already choose to convert. So the only remaining power she need to deliver your objective is to force any good or outstanding school that doesn’t want to become an academy to do so. Is it still her intention to ask Parliament for these new powers - yes or no?”

Mrs Morgan replied: “I’ve been very clear that I will not be the Secretary of State that leaves the job of making our school system as strong as possible for the benefit of all pupils undone.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

She was also questioned about the plans by several backbench Conservative MPs.

Lucy Powell MP.Lucy Powell MP.
Lucy Powell MP.

It was reported today that Mrs Morgan was set to make concessions by allowing the best-performing councils to run their own academy chains to appease up to 40 Tory rebels. A report in the Times also suggested some councils could also be allowed to keep powers to force academies to take vulnerable pupils or those with special needs and direct them to expand to meet demand for new places.

However the Education Secretary did not confirm any of this when questioned in Parliament.

She was asked directly by Tory MP Steve Double (St Austell and Newquay) whether councils will be given the power to set up their own multi-academy trusts.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

She did not answer directly but added that the point of publishing her plans in a White Paper was to then have discussions with MPs and local authorities about how to proceed. Mrs Morgan did indicate to Conservative MP Suella Fernandes that she wanted to see talented staff from local councils involved in academy trusts - something which is mentioned in the White Paper.

A number of MPs raised concerns about another aspect of the White Paper which critics believe would spell the end of parent governors.

But Mrs Morgan said: “We are not, and never have suggested, that parents should not be on governing bodies.”

Labour’s MP for Hull North Diana Johnson was the first MP to raise a question on academies as she highlighted an outstanding school in her constituency which was not an academy. She said: “Wouldn’t ministers be better focusing their time and energy and money on raising standards in poor performing schools - the original purpose of the pragmatic and targeted academy programme under Labour - not the wasteful and disruptive dogma of imposing from Whitehall rigid structures on everyone?”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

But Mrs Morgan replied: “I am not going to be the Secretary of State that had the opportunity to make sure we had a really good strong schools system across the country offering the best possible education for all of our pupils, I’m not going to leave the job half done. We are going to finish this job.”

Schools Minister Nick Gibb also rejected the suggestion that making all schools convert to academy status was a top-down reorganisation instead describing it as “devolution in its purest form.”

Analysis of the grades achieved by all schools under only the current inspection framework shows that 81 per cent of council-maintained schools are rated as “good” or “outstanding”, compared with 73 per cent of academies and 79 per cent of free schools, the Local Government Association (LGA) has said.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

However the Government described the LGA’s figures as “completely misleading” and said they failed to acknowledge the “real progress” being made in turning the worst performing state-run schools into sponsored academies.