Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding has been provided to the Institute of School Business Leadership (ISBL) for the school efficiency adviser programme for the 2017-18 financial year; by what process the ISBL was chosen as the provider of that programme; and whether there was an open tendering process.

We are currently conducting a pilot on the use of school efficiency advisers (SEAs). We have contracted the Institute of School Business Leadership (ISBL) for administrative and accreditation support as an interim measure during the pilot phase, in order that we can deliver this scheme as quickly as possible for the benefit of schools and trusts with the greatest need. ISBL offers a skilled, established, group of professionals who are currently practising in the sector.

To date, we have spent approximately £33,000 on the contract with ISBL to support the pilot. Once the pilot concludes, and assuming a decision is made to proceed to roll out the approach, we intend to conduct an open procurement process which would be launched later this year.