Academies: Pay

(asked on 2nd November 2017) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many current trustees of multi-academy trusts are paid; and whether there is a cap on the amount they can be paid.


Answered by
 Portrait
Lord Agnew of Oulton
This question was answered on 16th November 2017

It is essential that we have the best people to lead our schools if we are to raise standards. The responsibilities of school leaders have changed significantly in recent years, with many now running several academies in a multi-academy trust (MAT).

Academy trusts are free to set their own salaries for staff and we would expect this to reflect the size and complexity of the trust, as they must deliver value for money.

The 2017 Academies Financial Handbook, a copy of which I have placed in the House Library, emphasises that decisions about levels of executive pay must follow a robust evidence-based process and are reflective of the individual’s role and responsibilities.

Trusts must disclose senior staff pay annually in their audited accounts. The academies’ sector annual report and accounts we have published means there is now more information available than ever about academy trusts’ finances. The Education and Skills Funding Agency follow up where non-compliance is identified. Disclosure must include: the number of employees earning more than £60k, set out in £10k bands; names of all trustees who received remuneration in each band, and the amounts they received. This will consist of the salaries of the principal in a single academy trust and the chief executive in a MAT, unless in the exceptional case they have chosen not to be a trustee.

Payments by academy trusts to their trustees must be disclosed in the trust’s annual accounts. These are independently audited and published for transparency. The disclosures will comprise payments to those staff who are also trustees, paid in their capacity as staff not as trustees. In addition, Charity Commission approval would be required if an academy trust wished to pay an individual for acting as trustee.

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