Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many paid severances have been made by (a) schools and (b) academy trusts in (i) Enfield North constituency, (ii) the London Borough of Enfield and (iii) London for each of the last five years; and what the total cost to the public purse for these severances was in each of the last five years.

The Government requires a high level of accountability and transparency of academy trusts. Academy trusts’ status as companies, charities, and public sector bodies, means they have a rigorous tri-partite framework, and are held up to greater scrutiny.

Academy trusts’ responsibilities on severance payments are set out in the Academy Trust Handbook, which can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/academy-trust-handbook. Additional guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/academies-severance-payments-form. Data on severance payments is published in academy trusts’ accounts, which are available on trusts’ websites and Companies House, and at sector level in the Academies Consolidated Annual Report and Accounts, found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/academies-sector-annual-reports-and-accounts. The latest sector data for the Consolidated Annual Report and Accounts year ending 31 August 2022 will be published in autumn 2023.

As academy trusts rort at trust rather than individual school level, their accounts do not specify which school any severance payment relates to. Because trusts often operate across geographic locations, it is not possible to align this information to a specific borough, constituency or city.

As the responsibility for maintained schools’ severance payments sits with the school and the Local Authority, the Department does not collect the number of severances or amounts paid by Local Authority maintained schools.