Asked by: Nick Gibb (Conservative - Bognor Regis and Littlehampton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent progress he has made in moving from a National Funding Formula for schools to a direct funding formula.
Answered by Jonathan Gullis
The Government remains firmly committed to completing our reforms to the national school funding system, and introducing a direct national funding formula.
This will mean that each mainstream school is allocated funding on the same basis, wherever it is in the country, and every child can be given the same opportunities, based on a consistent assessment of their needs.
The Department is moving carefully towards the direct national funding formula over the coming years, working with the sector to ensure that the transition is a smooth one. From 2023-24, local authorities will have to move their own funding formulae closer to the national funding formula as part of our step-by-step approach to transition. Local minimum funding guarantee protections will remain in place to maintain stability for schools and protect them from sudden drops in pupil-led per-pupil funding.
We are also continuing to develop the schools national funding formula to allocate funding nationally in line with our recent consultation: https://consult.education.gov.uk/funding-policy-unit/implementing-the-direct-national-funding-formula/supporting_documents/Implementing%20the%20direct%20national%20funding%20formula%20%20government%20consultation.pdf. The Department's response will be published in due course.
The Department will also provide an update on the Schools Bill in due course.
Asked by: Nick Gibb (Conservative - Bognor Regis and Littlehampton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the form entitled Model articles of association for academy trusts, published on 3 January 2013, whether it remains his policy that the maximum aggregate number of votes exercisable by local authority associated persons should not exceed 19.9 per cent of the total number of votes exercisable by Members in general meeting.
Answered by Will Quince
The most recent model articles of association for use by mainstream academies, last updated on 30 June 2021 states:
“Notwithstanding the number of Members from time to time, the maximum aggregate number of votes exercisable by Local Authority Associated Persons shall never exceed 19.9% of the total number of votes exercisable by Members in general meeting and the votes of the other Members having a right to vote at the meeting will be increased on a pro-rata basis.”
This remains the department’s policy position, and we have no plans to change this approach for most types of academy trusts.
The department is testing an approach to allow local authorities to establish new multi academy trusts, where there is a need, to which the above limit on local authority Associated Persons shall not apply. We will, however, require at least one member to be independent of any association with the local authority. We will work with a small number of local authorities to test the concept. Local authority-established multi-academy trusts will be subject to the same oversight and, where necessary, intervention as all trusts. More information about this policy can be found in the registration of interest document, here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-authority-established-mats-registration-of-interest.