Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make an assessment of the efficacy of the financial management of Bright Tribe Academy Trust.

Bright Tribe Trust, along with all academy trusts, is subject to a rigorous system of oversight and accountability, allowing us to take action to deal with under-performance, including transferring schools to new trusts when necessary. The Education and Skills Funding Agency has worked with Bright Tribe Trust since 2015 to ensure the best outcomes for their pupils and academies.

More broadly, it is important to place the Bright Tribe case into context and emphasise that the financial health of the academies sector is strong; and in the most recent published financial statements, we found that more than 95% of trusts had no issues.