THE Bishop of Durham, the Rt Revd Paul Butler, has repeated his support for the Schools Bill, after the Government temporarily removed one quarter of its clauses in response to a cross-party outcry about the proposed statutory control of academies.
The Bill has reached the report stage in the House of Lords, where it was introduced in May (News, 27 May). The main purpose of the Bill — the first legislation to be drafted by Nadhim Zahawi, who was Education Secretary until Wednesday — was to move towards a centralised education system in which, by 2030, every school in England would be part of — or at least in the process of joining — a multi-academy trust (MAT).
Over the past month, however, peers have been quick to object to flaws in the early clauses, and have expressed particular concern about the significant powers of intervention given to the Secretary of State over MAT structures and governance (Features, 10 June). These have been variously described in the Lords, by several former Secretaries and Under-Secretaries of State, among others, as being too controlling, vague, and open to abuse.
Early in the Second Reading, Lord Baker, who was Education Secretary during the Thatcher years, said that the Bill “increases the powers of the Secretary of State and the Department for Education in a way unprecedented since 1870. . . They are sweeping powers. . . It will no longer be guidance; it will be direction. It is amazing that this power is being taken.”
Last Friday, a spokesperson for the Department for Education (DfE) said: “We are listening to concerns from peers about how the provisions in the Bill would operate in practice and will make sure the Bill protects and strengthens the fundamental freedoms academies enjoy. That is why we are supporting the temporary removal of clauses one to 18 from the Bill, in advance of bringing back revised clauses later in the Bill’s passage through Parliament.”
On the same day, the Schools Minister, Baroness Barran, wrote in a letter to peers that the Government would support amendments to scrap clauses 1-4. These concern the regulation of academies: specifically a new set of academy standards and the statutory powers to enforce these. Schedule 1 in the Bill, relating to the application of maintained-school legislation to academies, would also be removed, she said.
Clauses 5 to 7 outline further statutory powers, including that of the Secretary of State to appoint an extra director of the company, and, if necessary, replacing all directors with interim directors (who can be paid) without consultation or agreement with — in the case of church academies — the diocesan board of education. Clauses 8-18 give the Secretary of State the power to direct MATs to meet new standards or terminate their funding agreement “in the rare cases [when] failures occur in trusts” — which many peers also objected to.
During a meeting of Church of England and Roman Catholic school, academy, and MAT leaders, hosted by the C of E education office on Monday, Bishop Butler spoke about the challenges that the Bill had faced. “Many have resisted the need for regulation,” he said, “but we have welcomed much of it because we think it gives our schools greater confidence that their Christian character, which is at the heart of our excellent offer to our communities, can be safeguarded into the future.
“On the basis of this, we are confident about the future and are setting out on a journey where we take a much more proactive approach to full academisation in a way that ensures strategic grouping of schools into strong trusts.”
He reportedly described the academisation of individual schools, one at a time, as a “deficit model” — which was met with alarm by some MAT leaders.
Bishop Butler, who is the lead bishop for education, had moved several amendments to the Schools Bill (News, 17 June), but most of these concerned later clauses about the religious character of academies and were later withdrawn.
He has not, however, attempted to amend Clause 30, which concerns the transfer of school land by local authorities to new sites. The Church Times understands that, as it stands, this means that, instead of existing trust deeds’ being transferred to the new sites, new trusts will be created for these sites. Therefore, over time, these historic endowments — which generally include clauses about worship, RE, governance, employment, and admissions requirements, and form the legal basis for the religious character of most C of E schools — would be replaced.
A Charity Commission spokeswoman said on Wednesday: “We liaised with DfE on the Schools Bill prior to its publication, and continue to engage with officials on its provisions, including Clause 30 and its potential implications for charitable schools.”
Other clauses in the Bill tackle, among other issues, teacher conduct and pupil registration. The DfE statement continues: “The current regulatory system must evolve to retain parents’ confidence and make sure every school in every trust is helping their pupils fulfil their potential. . . We therefore remain committed to the Schools Bill putting clear academy trust standards on a legal footing and allowing for the Government to intervene directly in the rare cases of academy trust failure.”
The C of E’s Chief Education Officer, the Revd Nigel Genders, said on Tuesday: “We welcome the Government’s plan to be clear about the scope of regulations as the Bill passes into its next stages — in particular, amendments to aspects of the Bill which impact on schools with a religious character.
“These will ensure good models of governance for Church of England academies as well as securing future provision of religious education, collective worship, and other aspects of their character which will enable church schools to continue to serve the children and young people in our communities.
“Our vision for education is to be deeply Christian, serving the common good; and the strength of our partnership with Government has shown that it is committed to ensuring our schools can flourish in the vital part they play within the educational landscape.”