Asked by: Sarah Edwards (Labour - Tamworth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether Multi-Academy Trust boards are permitted to redact minutes of board meetings that relate to the use of public funds; what guidance her Department issues on transparency and redaction of trust governance documents; and what assessment she has made of the adequacy of current practices.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The Academy Trust Governance Guide outlines that the trust board is responsible for being open and transparent about its decisions and actions. This guide is accessible at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/academy-trust-governance-guide.
The Academy Trust Handbook and trust’s articles of association state that trusts must make available on request for inspection the agenda for board, local committees/governing bodies and committee meetings, approved minutes of each meeting, and any report, document or other paper considered at each meeting.
Trusts may exclude from its records material which, by reason of its nature, the trustees are satisfied should remain confidential, such as names of employees or pupils. The trust must comply with the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK General Data Protection Regulations.
To monitor financial oversight, trusts must submit an annual report and accounts in accordance with the Charity Commission’s Statement of Recommended Practice and the departments Accounts Direction to the department.
The requirements set out in the Academy Trust Handbook are reviewed annually.
Asked by: Sarah Edwards (Labour - Tamworth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what criteria her Department uses to determine when to intervene in a Multi-Academy Trust experiencing financial difficulty; and what steps she is taking to hold trust leadership and trustees accountable for financial mismanagement.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Academy trusts play a central role in our education system, but accountability hasn’t kept pace with their growth. The government is delivering on its manifesto commitment by legislating to introduce Ofsted inspection of academy trusts, and intervention powers for the Secretary of State where inspection identifies that a trust is failing.
The department’s published guidance on Financial Support and Oversight for Academy Trusts sits alongside the Academy Trust Handbook and sets out the regulatory approach for the sector and how the department will engage with trusts in financial difficulty. Both of these documents can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/financial-support-and-oversight-for-academy-trusts/financial-support-and-oversight-for-academy-trusts-guidance, and: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/academy-trust-handbook/academy-trust-handbook-2025-effective-from-1-september-2025.
Where there are concerns about the financial compliance or governance of a trust, the department will intervene and can issue a notice to improve setting conditions that the trust must meet to address concerns and avoid further action. The Secretary of State also has the power to terminate a trust's funding agreement in the most serious cases.
Asked by: Sarah Edwards (Labour - Tamworth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what guidance her Department provides to (a) schools and (b) Multi-Academy Trusts on appropriate staffing levels; and what assessment she has made of trends in the level of overstaffing in (i) maintained schools and (ii) academies.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department supports school leaders by providing a range of resources, including commercial resources and benchmarking tools. This includes our school staffing guidance, designed to help employers in all schools with staffing and employment issues, and to inform their decision making. It provides information to relevant legislation and sources of up-to-date guidance and advice that employers need to consider.
We have also made resources available as part of the ‘Maximising Value for Pupils’ programme, including the financial benchmarking and insight tool, which helps schools examine their financial data and benchmark spending against similar schools and trusts, and the ‘Energy for Schools’ pilot, which has identified 36% savings for schools on their energy bills.
The department publishes an annual headcount of those working in schools in the School Workforce Census, with the latest release available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england/2024.