Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to (a) ring-fence and (b) increase funding for school infrastructure where buildings are assessed as structurally unsound.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government has given a long-term commitment for capital investment through to 2034/35 to improve the condition of schools and colleges across England, including those which may have structural issues.
The department is investing almost £3 billion per year by 2034/35 in capital maintenance and renewal of the school and college estate, rising every year from £2.4 billion in 2025/26.
This is in addition to the investment of almost £20 billion in the School Rebuilding Programme through to 2034/35, delivering rebuilding projects at over 500 schools across England within the existing programme, with a further 250 schools to be selected within the next two years. Two schools within the Newton Abbey constituency, Dawlish College and Kenton Primary School, are already part of the programme. The department aims to set out further details on the process for selecting additional schools for rebuilding later this year.
Where there are serious and urgent safety issues with school buildings, such as those which threaten closure of a school, and that cannot be managed locally by responsible bodies, the department provides additional advice and support on a case-by-case basis.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to section 58 of the Children Act 2004, if she will take legislative steps to remove the defence of reasonable punishment for parents.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The landmark Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, a key part of the government’s Plan for Change, represents the most transformative piece of child protection legislation in a generation, including wholesale reform of the children’s social care system and the introduction of measures to improve information sharing between education, police, health, justice and social workers to stop vulnerable children falling through the cracks.
While the department is looking closely at the impact of the legal changes made in Wales and Scotland in relation to reasonable punishment, we have no plans to legislate at this stage.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to improve transparency in the (a) governance, (b) financial decision-making and (c) scrutiny of leadership in academy trusts.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
High and rising standards are at the heart of this government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and ensure every child has the best life chances. Accountability is non-negotiable. This is why the government has committed to bring multi-academy trusts into the inspection system, to make the system fairer and more transparent, and enable direct intervention when schools and trusts are not performing to the required standards.
The primary responsibility for the financial oversight of academy trusts rests with the trustees themselves, supported by the financial management and governance requirements set by the department in academy trusts’ Funding Agreements, the Academy Trust Handbook, the Academies Accounts Direction and the department’s Financial Support and Oversight Guidance for Academy Trusts. The department expects academy trustees to deliver strong governance, monitor the financial health of their trust or school and ensure it remains a going concern.
All academy trusts must publish an annual report and accounts (their financial statements), which are audited by a registered statutory auditor. As part of their annual reports and accounts, academy trusts must also publish details of their objectives, achievements, and future plans, including what they have done to promote value for money in support of these projects. The department publishes data on academy finances on GOV.UK, as part of the Academies Sector Annual Report and Accounts and as part of the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool.
Where non-compliance or governance concerns are identified, the department will intervene in a way that is proportionate to the risk and preserves education provision. This can include issuing a trust with a Notice to Improve (NtI). Less than 1% of academy trusts are subject to an active NtI. In cases of financial or financial governance failure, NtIs issued to academy trusts and Investigation Reports are published on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department issues to academy trusts on executive pay.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The primary responsibility for the financial oversight of academy trusts, including setting executive pay, rests with the trustees themselves. Academy trusts are delivering a high standard of financial management and governance. The latest published data shows that, in the 2022/23 academic year, 97.7% of trusts had a cumulative surplus or a zero balance, with an aggregate surplus of £4.6 billion. In terms of pay trends, the latest published workforce data shows that the mean average salary for headteachers in the sector was:
The data can be read in full here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england/2024.
The department engages with trusts on levels of executive pay where there is insufficient demonstration of value for money, where there is no direct link to improving pupil outcomes, or if the trust is in financial difficulty.
The department sets out its expectations on pay for academies and academy trusts in the academy trust handbook, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/academy-trust-handbook/academy-trust-handbook-2025-effective-from-1-september-2025. Executive pay must be justifiable and should reflect the individual responsibility alongside local retention and recruitment needs.
The handbook requires that:
Academy trusts must be transparent on pay and publish the number of employees whose benefits exceed £100,000 on their websites in £10,000 bandings. Where employees are also trustees, this information must be disclosed in £5,000 bandings.
To further support academy trusts, the department has also published ‘setting executive salaries’ guidance on GOV.UK which outlines the key contextual factors that trusts should be considering when setting or reviewing executive salaries, and can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/setting-executive-salaries-guidance-for-academy-trusts/setting-executive-salaries-guidance-for-academy-trusts.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of trends in the level of executive pay in academy trusts where schools (a) are in financial deficit and (b) have made frontline staff redundancies.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The primary responsibility for the financial oversight of academy trusts, including setting executive pay, rests with the trustees themselves. Academy trusts are delivering a high standard of financial management and governance. The latest published data shows that, in the 2022/23 academic year, 97.7% of trusts had a cumulative surplus or a zero balance, with an aggregate surplus of £4.6 billion. In terms of pay trends, the latest published workforce data shows that the mean average salary for headteachers in the sector was:
The data can be read in full here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england/2024.
The department engages with trusts on levels of executive pay where there is insufficient demonstration of value for money, where there is no direct link to improving pupil outcomes, or if the trust is in financial difficulty.
The department sets out its expectations on pay for academies and academy trusts in the academy trust handbook, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/academy-trust-handbook/academy-trust-handbook-2025-effective-from-1-september-2025. Executive pay must be justifiable and should reflect the individual responsibility alongside local retention and recruitment needs.
The handbook requires that:
Academy trusts must be transparent on pay and publish the number of employees whose benefits exceed £100,000 on their websites in £10,000 bandings. Where employees are also trustees, this information must be disclosed in £5,000 bandings.
To further support academy trusts, the department has also published ‘setting executive salaries’ guidance on GOV.UK which outlines the key contextual factors that trusts should be considering when setting or reviewing executive salaries, and can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/setting-executive-salaries-guidance-for-academy-trusts/setting-executive-salaries-guidance-for-academy-trusts.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has a process for (a) reviewing and (b) approving executive pay rises in multi-academy trusts.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The primary responsibility for the financial oversight of academy trusts, including setting executive pay, rests with the trustees themselves. Academy trusts are delivering a high standard of financial management and governance. The latest published data shows that, in the 2022/23 academic year, 97.7% of trusts had a cumulative surplus or a zero balance, with an aggregate surplus of £4.6 billion. In terms of pay trends, the latest published workforce data shows that the mean average salary for headteachers in the sector was:
The data can be read in full here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england/2024.
The department engages with trusts on levels of executive pay where there is insufficient demonstration of value for money, where there is no direct link to improving pupil outcomes, or if the trust is in financial difficulty.
The department sets out its expectations on pay for academies and academy trusts in the academy trust handbook, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/academy-trust-handbook/academy-trust-handbook-2025-effective-from-1-september-2025. Executive pay must be justifiable and should reflect the individual responsibility alongside local retention and recruitment needs.
The handbook requires that:
Academy trusts must be transparent on pay and publish the number of employees whose benefits exceed £100,000 on their websites in £10,000 bandings. Where employees are also trustees, this information must be disclosed in £5,000 bandings.
To further support academy trusts, the department has also published ‘setting executive salaries’ guidance on GOV.UK which outlines the key contextual factors that trusts should be considering when setting or reviewing executive salaries, and can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/setting-executive-salaries-guidance-for-academy-trusts/setting-executive-salaries-guidance-for-academy-trusts.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure accountability in (a) financial management and (b) strategic leadership in academy trusts.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
High and rising standards are at the heart of this government’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity and ensure every child has the best life chances. Accountability is non-negotiable. This is why the government has committed to bring multi-academy trusts into the inspection system, to make the system fairer and more transparent, and enable direct intervention when schools and trusts are not performing to the required standards.
The primary responsibility for the financial oversight of academy trusts rests with the trustees themselves, supported by the financial management and governance requirements set by the department in academy trusts’ Funding Agreements, the Academy Trust Handbook, the Academies Accounts Direction and the department’s Financial Support and Oversight Guidance for Academy Trusts. The department expects academy trustees to deliver strong governance, monitor the financial health of their trust or school and ensure it remains a going concern.
All academy trusts must publish an annual report and accounts (their financial statements), which are audited by a registered statutory auditor. As part of their annual reports and accounts, academy trusts must also publish details of their objectives, achievements, and future plans, including what they have done to promote value for money in support of these projects. The department publishes data on academy finances on GOV.UK, as part of the Academies Sector Annual Report and Accounts and as part of the Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool.
Where non-compliance or governance concerns are identified, the department will intervene in a way that is proportionate to the risk and preserves education provision. This can include issuing a trust with a Notice to Improve (NtI). Less than 1% of academy trusts are subject to an active NtI. In cases of financial or financial governance failure, NtIs issued to academy trusts and Investigation Reports are published on GOV.UK.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support schools that have had to (a) reduce subjects, (b) rely on non-specialist teaching staff and (c) remove extracurricular opportunities due to funding shortfalls.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
School funding is increasing by £3.7 billion in the 2025/26 financial year, and a further £4.2 billion by 2028/29, reaching £69.5 billion. This will provide an above real terms per pupil increase on the core schools budget and help transform the special educational needs and disabilities system.
The department is seeing positive signs for recruitment and retention. The secondary and special school workforce has grown by 2,346 full-time equivalent between the 2023/24 and 2024/25 academic years, where workforce growth is most needed. We are offering bursaries worth up to £29,000 and scholarships worth up to £31,000, tax-free, to encourage more talented people into key subjects such as mathematics, physics, chemistry and computing.
The department knows reprioritising schools’ budgets and ensuring best value can be challenging, but it is in line with asks to the rest of the public sector. We also know it is a joint responsibility of the government and the entire school system. We will tackle systemic issues that drive costs, establishing a new programme later this year to help schools and groups free up resources to invest in what matters most, teaching, learning, and support for pupils.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to help support academies with multimillion-pound deficits.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department supports all academy trusts to have the capability to manage their resources effectively by providing high quality advice, tools, support and development to help schools protect against financial difficulty and enable excellent school resource management. Tools and guidance can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/schools-financial-health-and-efficiency.
Where academy trusts are experiencing financial difficulty, the department’s focus will be on prioritising support for the most serious cases, considering the financial, educational and governance aspects of the trust. The department may also commission a School Resource Management Adviser (SRMA) to support the trust. SRMAs are practising sector experts, such as school business professionals that work collaboratively with schools and trusts to provide independent, expert and tailored advice to schools and trusts on how to make best use of their resources to deliver the best possible educational outcomes for their pupils.
Where an academy trust is reporting a cumulative deficit, it may require additional financial support as part of their recovery plan. If approved, financial support will be repayable to the department within an agreed timeframe. Non-repayable funding will only be considered where there is no other reasonable means to protect pupils’ interests.
Asked by: Martin Wrigley (Liberal Democrat - Newton Abbot)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that trustees of academy trusts receive the (a) training and (b) support they need to provide effective oversight.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The Academy Trust Handbook states that trust boards should identify the skills and experience required to hold the executive to account. This includes financial knowledge. Trust boards are responsible for encouraging trustees’ professional development and should allocate funds for this purpose. This includes providing an induction and development programme for new trustees and ensuring specific safeguarding and Prevent duty training is completed. If trustees persistently fail to attend training, breaching their board’s code of conduct, it may be necessary to consider their position.
The Academy Trust Governance Guide provides practical support for trustees, including signposting to external sources of training and support organisations, such as National Governance Association and Confederation of School Trusts.
The department collaborated with governance sector stakeholders to produce the Effective Governance Resource, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/effective-governance-resources. Published last month, it aims to support strong and effective governance in schools and academy trusts, and recruitment of governors and trustees.