School System Update: Academies Regulatory and Commissioning Review

Tuesday 28th March 2023 Written Statements

[The Minister for Schools (Nick Gibb)]

Today my noble Friend, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the School System and Student Finance (Baroness Barran) has made the following statement.

Today, 27 March, the Department for Education has published the “Academies Regulatory and Commissioning Review”. The report sets out a framework for how we move forward with growing the academies system to ensure that we continue to nurture the power of highly effective leadership for the benefit of all children. The review sets out how we aim to grow the number of effective trusts so that we can continue to raise educational standards, create more opportunities and support for staff and build a more resilient education system. Together with the publication of the review, we are also publishing trust development statements for each Education Investment Area (EIA) and to support the implementation of local priorities, the Trust Capacity Fund, worth £86 million in 2022-2025, will be open to new applications from 3 April. We are also confirming the allocations to priority education investment areas under the £42 million Local Needs Fund. Finally, we are publishing the content for a new MAT CEO leadership programme to help develop the pipeline of outstanding leaders required to lead a large trust effectively and support improvement in EIA and other areas of need across the country.

The academies programme has grown considerably since 2010, improving outcomes for children and unlocking the hard-earned expertise of teachers and school leaders. What started off as reforms designed to turn around a small number of the most challenging schools in England, has grown to the point where multi academy trusts (MATs) are now spreading excellence across every type of school, in every type of community. The review has considered the regulatory approach that the Department sets for trusts, the choices it makes about how the school landscape evolves, the support it provides to executive and non-executive trust leaders, and how it can best work with other actors in the system to ensure every pupil is receiving an excellent education.

The review sets out three key areas where the Department will work differently in future:

We will implement a simple, proportionate regulatory approach, which focuses on the right risks and the right level of accountability.

We will make better and more transparent commissioning decisions, informed by a clearer articulation of what it means to be a high-quality trust.

We will offer support which spreads sector expertise and increases overall capacity to keep improving schools and build a truly resilient educational system through multi academy trusts.

We want to develop a dynamic, self-improving system with the expertise of trust leaders at the centre of our approach. The report also recognises the important role of trusts in supporting all children to achieve their potential, including those with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) and in alternative provision (AP), in line with the approach outlined in the SEND and Alternative Provision Improvement Plan on gov.uk.

The review is centred on delivering practical change, focusing in the near-term on policies and programmes that will enable and embed best practice across the school system, and in the medium term on strategic direction. The review has benefitted greatly from the input of our Expert Advisory Group and the views of a wide range of stakeholders. We will keep working with executive and non-executive trust leaders, teachers, dioceses and others to shape this approach and ensure the changes are implemented successfully. The full review conclusions, “Academies Regulation and Commissioning Review”, can be found at gov.uk (publishing.service.gov.uk).

The review report’s findings will make a particularly strong impact in areas which face some of the biggest educational and social challenges. These have been identified as Education Investment Areas (EIA).

Today, for the first time, we have published trust development statements. These statements set out our priorities in each EIA for developing a trust landscape led by high-quality trusts to transform standards locally and turn around underperforming schools.

To support the implementation of trust development statements, I am delighted to confirm that the Trust Capacity Fund 2023-25, worth £86 million in 2022-2025, will be open to new applications from 3 April. This two year fund will prioritise EIAs and will provide funding to support high-quality trusts, and high-quality schools forming new trusts, to take on underperforming schools.

Growing great trusts is central to our strategy to improve schools. To do that we also need to develop the pipeline of outstanding leaders. We are therefore publishing today the content of new training for our MAT CEO development programme. This framework sets out the knowledge, skills and behaviours required to lead a large trust effectively to ensure that every pupil is receiving an excellent education. The programme will help build leadership capacity to support improvement in EIAs and other areas of need across the country.

Finally, as set out in our Schools White Paper, we are investing an additional £42 million through the new Local Needs Fund. Today we are confirming allocations to each of the 24 priority EIAs—EIAs with high rates of disadvantaged pupils and very low educational outcomes at Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 4—to help them to access evidence-based programmes that will boost literacy and numeracy.

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