HAVOC - Academies

Academies:
Organisation, Funding and Governance

Some thoughts on the organisation, funding and Governance of Academies

from

DCSF Standards Site: Standards Site Home > School Diversity > Academies > What are Academies? > Organisation and Governance
DSCF Standards Site: Standards Site Home > School Diversity > Academies > What are Academies? > Funding
Academies: independence and freedom - or state control?*

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In major areas, Academies are not subject to statutory provision, whether by way of primary legislation, i.e. Acts of Parliament, or secondary legislation, i.e. regulations. Instead, the conduct of an academy, from governing body downwards, is regulated by a combination of the academy constitution (which broadly is the combined equivalent of a maintained school's instrument of government and the relevant regulations dealing with the constitution and conduct of the Governing body) and the funding agreement that sets out the basis of funding and contains stipulations regarding key areas of the conduct of the school. Neither can be changed except with consent from the Secretary of State.

The Academy is required to have a governance structure that resembles a maintained school, although the comparison is not exact. Academies are set up as Companies Limited by Guarantee with Charitable status. Each Academy will be under the control of its Governing body, which will have a clearly defined strategic role in shaping the Academy.

The number of Governors on an Academy Governing body is not prescribed by the DCSF, though it is usual for an Academy to have around thirteen Governors. The Sponsor is able to appoint the majority of Trustees (Governors), typically around seven out of the thirteen.

Each Academy governing body is also made up of the Principal, in an ex-officio capacity, a Local Authority representative, and at least one elected parent representative. Some Academies also have a teacher Governor (either elected or appointed), a staff Governor (either elected or appointed) and a Community representative. Where an Academy is an extended school, they may consider having representatives from the various joined-up services on the Governing body. The governing body can also appoint co-opted governors.

Academies are outwith the Law of the Land; they are not subject to Laws within which other schools have to operate, viz. the Freedom of Information Act, 2000.

Academies have Charitable status - maintained schools do not.

Disadvantages to the Community:
The make-up of Academy Governing bodies are not prescribed by Government; those of maintained schools are. Academies are not required to have what many would regard as proper Community representation on their Governing bodies.

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Once the Secretary of State has given approval for an Academy, an Academy Trust is formed which will be responsible for the building and running of the Academy and has control over the land and other assets.

The Trust is a charitable company. Members of this Company include the sponsor, the chair of the Governing body, other members and a representative of the Secretary of State. The members of the Company have limited liability up to £10 in the event of financial difficulty. They delegate the management of the school to the Governors (Directors).

Disadvantages to the Community:
The members of the Trust, or Company, can run the Academy into the ground and leave it bankrupt. They can then walk away after paying a mere £10.00 each! They cannot be held liable for their financial actions (rather typical in this day and age!).

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For the first academies, sponsors contributed up to £2 million towards the costs of the new or refurbished school buildings, and the Government provided the balance of the funding in line with the agreed budget. However, Academy buildings are now procured through Partnerships for Schools (PfS) and local authorities as part of the Building Schools for the Future programme, and sponsorship now takes the form of an endowment fund that is not connected to building work.

For some academies there will be an extensive programme of rebuilding and refurbishment. For others complete new buildings may be necessary. Decisions about the capital project will take account of the sponsors' views as well as expert advice commissioned by the Department for Children, Schools and Families.

Disadvantages to the Community:
Sponsors no longer have to contribute towards the capital costs of the school - yet they have major input into the actual building of the Academy. Many Academies have been built with major flaws - such as three-walled classrooms, and open-plan toilets - that seemed like a good idea to sponsors with no experience of education. These are now having to be rectified at taxpayers' expense. Value for money? Yes (for the sponsor) and no (for the taxpayer).

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Each Academy receives a General Annual Grant from the Secretary of State to meet its normal running costs. This is calculated on the basis of the funding formula of the Local Authority in which it is situated, with an additional allowance for the money which Local Authorities hold back from maintained schools.

Because Academies receive the bulk of their funding direct from the Government, governors have the opportunity to manage a higher proportion of the budget than maintained schools. They can direct funds to the priorities of their Academy, encouraging greater flexibility and innovation.

Disadvantages to the Community:
LAs hold back money from maintained schools for various reasons. Academies get this money from Central Government. So, de facto, Academies get more funding than maintained schools.

Why are Academies allowed to manage a higher proportion of their budget than maintained schools? By the Government's own reasoning, if maintained schools are not allowed the same freedoms and flexibility, they cannot direct funds to their own priorities and become more innovative.

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Academies have greater freedom in the area of discipline than maintained schools, simply because the requirement "to have regard to" something is less than the requirement to "act in accordance with". It is possible to have regard to a recommended practice but to disregard it, although one needs cogent reasons for doing so.
Thus, whereas in a maintained school only the head teacher can exclude, in an academy that power could be delegated elsewhere. Again, technically, an academy could exclude for an indefinite period, although the probability is that if this were challenged, the Secretary of State would direct reinstatement.
Academies are also responsible for establishing their own appeal mechanism in relation to permanent exclusions rather than appeals going through the local authority process. Again, because the requirement is only "to have regard to" the guidance, they may institute a different mechanism for the review of exclusions by governors.

Disadvantages to the Community:
Again, Academies are not bound by the regulations that affect maintained schools - they virtually only have to have read the rules, while other schools are bound by them.

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An Academy is, by law, an independent school. However, it has virtually all the characteristics of a maintained school. This is a highly unsatisfactory hybridisation.

There is a total absence of clear and transparent specific legal structures for Academies.

The constitutional documents and the funding agreement are at the whim of DCSF. There is no effective scrutiny of what they contain. Their contents are the subject of individual negotiation as each Academy is set up. The overall integrity of the Academy project has to be compromised each time any deviation from the "norm" is allowed.

The attitude of DCSF seems to have changed with the passage of time and perhaps political pressure. The first Academies were indeed set up with relatively little prescription. Successive models of the documents have produced added requirements to compel Academies increasingly to conduct themselves as maintained schools do, but many believe that the changes have not gone far enough.

It is time for a clear, uniform and public specification of how Academies are expected to conduct themselves.

It is also time for the Authorities, both National and Local, to become totally open and transparent about Academies. Any less than totality can only lead to more distrust and hostility, and the ultimate failure of the Academies project.

* www.teachingexpertise.com/articles/academies-independence-and-freedom-or-state-control-2802