Stephen's Views on the Academies Act

The Academies Act received Royal Assent on Monday 26th July. One of our key roles as MPs is to scrutinise all legislation and ensure that it is improved in all ways possible before making it onto the statute book and, with just two days between second reading and the first day of committee stage, this proved a challenge. However, my Liberal Democrat colleagues in the House of Lords achieved a staggering amount of concessions and the Secretary of State Michael Gove recognised that the Bill left the Lords vastly improved from when it first began its stages in that House.

These changes include;

• a Government amendment following pressure from Liberal Democrat Peers specifically, about a duty for applicant schools to consult with all appropriate people and groups before conversion but not necessarily before applying for an academy order
• an amendment giving parity with maintained schools on the duties in regard to special educational needs
• confirmation that the Human Rights and Freedom of Information Acts apply to academies
• confirmation that Academies will have to comply with the local Admissions Codes and the local exclusion and behaviour partnerships
• a Lib Dem amendment, accepted by the Government, for Parliamentary accountability in the form of an Annual Report to Parliament which can include such things as the effect on primary schools, looked-after children, children with free school meals, SEN children, etc
• confirmation that the Bill will not allow expansion of selection
• confirmation that all academies that teach the early years will have to use the EYFS and will not be able to charge for the free entitlement
• confirmation that any new faith school must have 50% of its intake inclusive of all faiths and none, from the local area
• an amendment was also accepted that stipulated that the Secretary of State in considering an application for a new school or existing school to become an academy must take into account the impact on existing schools in the area.

As Co-Chair of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Committee on Education, my colleague Dan Rogerson MP tabled amendments when the Bill reached the Commons as, despite the record of progress that had been achieved in the Lords, there were still key areas which needed addressing. Dan secured a meeting with the Schools Minister, Nick Gibb, at the Department for Education to talk through the outstanding concerns and was very encouraged by the level of cooperation received. The first issue raised with was that of funding. Amendments were tabled that sought to act as a safeguard against funding being taken unfairly from other local maintained schools. This is a point on which Mr Gibb agreed and pledged to reiterate in Committee that Academies will not be in receipt of more funding than maintained schools, except in relation to additional responsibilities that they will be required to perform.

A new clause was also submitted by the backbench committee which set out that a sponsor of any new Academy must have a duty to promote community cohesion and that this is something that must be at the forefront of all decisions taken about how the school operates. The Minister has now agreed to add this duty into the model funding agreement where it states that the school must be at the heart of its community and share its facilities with other schools and the wider community.

On the issue of parent governors, following amendments put down by Liberal Democrat MPs Dan Rogerson and Bob Russell, the Minister clarified in the chamber that the governing body of an Academy must have at least two parent governors. This is vitally important as there were concerns expressed from MPs on all sides of the House, as well as various groups and stakeholders, that parents were not adequately represented in this whole process. Having at least two parents involved in the governing body will go some considerable way to allay and deal with these concerns. It would be my wish that most governing bodies will choose to have more than two but at least there is now a minimum in place.

There are clearly many things which we will have to keep an eye on as the first of the new Academies start in September. One point raised by my colleagues in the Lords, and which was echoed in the in the Commons by several of my Party colleagues, was that of primary schools being able to convert to academy status. Their reliance on local authority services is much more substantial than secondary schools and as such we were keen to try and remove them from this process altogether. This was a matter about which Dan Rogerson discussed with the Minister and, whilst he was unable to give any concession on this matter, he did give an assurance that it was his belief only a handful of primary schools would carry out this conversion from September. Due to the permissive nature of the legislation, he was reluctant to forbid them from having the option to convert if it was something that a particular primary school wanted to do.

The implementation of the conversion process will be a rushed one due to the timetable which has so far been adhered to and which shows no signs of slowing down. Many people and Members in the debates asked questions about how this whole process will be managed successfully and the Liberal Democrat Backbench committee as part of the work they will be carrying out intend to keep fully apprised of the situation and how the process is conducted.

Despite my initial reservations and concerns, I did vote for the Bill at third reading because the nature of being a member of a Coalition Government requires compromise. Academies were a part of the Coalition Agreement and it has always been stressed throughout this Bill's progress that it is a permissive piece of legislation and therefore the decision to convert to an academy is one that the school itself will take. I am immensely encouraged by what was achieved by Liberal Democrat colleagues in both Houses and our role now will be to ensure that we hold Ministers to their word and ensure that every promise is delivered. Please be assured that my Liberal Democrat colleagues and I will continue to scrutinise the Academies project to ensure that it benefits the entire school system in England and Wales.