My Lords, these amendments reflect the House’s interest in ensuring that the regulatory framework underpinning a fully trust-led system is fit for purpose. I will take Amendments 10 and 43 together, both of which have been tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Storey. As I have already explained, the Government intend to withdraw Clause 4, to which Amendment 10 relates. This will enable discussion with the sector as to how to implement local governance arrangements for schools in all trusts, as we set out in the schools White Paper. In addition, we have already committed to consulting on the exceptional circumstances in which a good school could request that the regulator agrees to the school moving to a stronger trust. It would be inappropriate, however, to pre-empt the outcome of those discussions and the planned engagement with the sector.
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Turning to Amendment 43, the schools White Paper set out a vision for the relationship between different actors in the local school system. This included a new role for the local authority championing the best interests of children in their area. The White Paper also committed to a collaborative standard for trusts that will ensure they work constructively with each other and partner organisations for the good of their communities. We will be engaging with the sector to develop the detail of the collaborative standard over the coming months. We think that the current arrangements and proposals provide a sound basis for ensuring that multi-academy trusts can relate to the locality in which they serve.
I turn now to Amendments 33, 34, 37 and 38, in the names of the noble Baroness, Lady Blower, and the noble Lord, Lord Hunt. Amendment 33 would require a local authority to obtain the consent of a school’s governing body before applying for an academy order. We expect local authorities to develop any plans for moving to a trust-based system with the schools in their areas. However, in some cases it may not be possible to reach full agreement between the local authority and individual schools—for example, where a governing body is ideologically opposed to joining a trust. In these circumstances, we do not believe the local authority should be prevented from completing the move to a fully trust-based system.
Amendments 34, 37 and 38 are concerned with the nature and timing of consultation over academy conversions. The Bill already includes requirements designed to ensure that proper consultation takes place, while giving local authorities the flexibility to design the consultation process in a way that responds to local circumstances. In particular, the Bill already includes an explicit requirement for local authorities to consult with the governing body and, if the school is a voluntary or foundation school, other interested parties before applying for an academy order. The local authority may also consult more widely at that point. The department’s statutory guidance on governance makes clear that governing bodies as a whole should take responsibility for understanding what parents and staff think. However, we do not think it is necessary to impose specific consultation duties on local authorities, or to prioritise the interests of particular groups in legislation. Moving to a fully trust-based system is a long-term, strategic decision with implications for a range of stakeholders beyond parents and staff in individual schools at a particular time.
On the timing of consultation, we believe it is important that local authorities engage with the school community at all stages of preparing and submitting their application for academy orders. There may be circumstances, however, where important information regarding school conversion comes to light after an application has been made. This could include a change relating to the intended trust a school should join, for example. It is important that local authorities consult on important issues, even if an application has already been submitted. As it stands, the clause gives local authorities the flexibility to consult on important issues throughout the process.
I turn now to Amendment 41, in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Blower, and Amendment 42, in the name of the noble Duke, the Duke of Wellington. In Committee, I committed to considering the scope for clarifying the arrangements for engaging with stakeholders when a stand-alone academy joins a multi-academy trust as part of the regulatory and commissioning review. As I mentioned earlier, I have since placed the terms of reference for the review in the Library of the House.
The noble Lord, Lord Hunt, suggested that there needs to be more openness in the criteria used by the department when moving a single-academy trust into a multi-academy trust. I am happy to share the criteria used, since they are publicly available for everybody to see—I cannot remember whether I mentioned that in an earlier debate—and rightly so. The department shares the noble Lord’s view on that.
I have also written to all Members of the House to make it clear that it is not the Government’s policy to force stand-alone academies to join multi-academy trusts if they are performing satisfactorily and being managed properly. As part of our reflection on Clauses 1 to 4, we will consider whether anything needs to be done to ensure that the Bill reflects this policy intention. I hope that might reassure the noble Duke, the Duke of Wellington, to some extent.
However, I reiterate that the Government encourage maths schools and schools with specialisms to consider forming or joining a MAT. We believe that, as your
Lordships talked about extensively during debates on the Bill, schools have an incredible role to play in their communities and that families of schools, which exist both in the maintained sector and in the form of multi-academy trusts, can share some of the specialisms, innovations and strengths of different schools in those families with others. My challenge on this point about specialisms is this: why would you not want to share some of the expertise from a single school with several hundred children with several thousand children? As my noble friend Lord Baker knows, I think I am right in saying that around 70% of UTCs are in multi-academy trusts and have absolutely had their specialisms respected.
I turn to Amendments 44 and 45 in the names of the noble Baronesses, Lady Chapman and Lady Wilcox, on qualified teacher status. Amendment 44 would restrict the current flexibility of school leaders in academies to recruit unqualified teachers. In fact, it goes further than the restrictions currently imposed on maintained schools via the Education Act 2002 around employing teachers without qualified teacher status.
As the House knows, most schools choose to employ teachers who have undertaken initial teacher training and gained QTS. The latest school workforce census data showed that 96.9% of teachers in academy schools held QTS status in November 2021, compared to 98% in local authority-maintained schools. I am interested that the noble Baroness feels the 1% difference is so material. We know that unqualified teachers can play a valuable role, particularly where they bring specialist skills and knowledge into schools, although I absolutely respect the points the noble Baroness made on pedagogy and curriculum planning. It is not our intention to use this Bill to restrict the freedoms that enable academy trusts to collaborate, innovate and organise themselves to deliver the best outcomes for pupils.
On Amendment 45, Ofsted already provides independent judgment on the educational performance of schools within a trust and, as the noble Baroness referenced, through the MAT summary evaluations. These draw on inspections of individual academies and meetings with trust leaders to review how well they are delivering high-quality education and raising standards for pupils. The review of regulation and commissioning will include consideration of whether trust-level inspection is needed and, if so, how it would support the wider regulatory arrangements and how it would interact with school-level inspection.
MAT inspection is complex. We do not want simply to overlay a new level of inspection without looking at the whole picture, including how MAT-level inspection relates to inspection at school level. To do this, we are taking the time to engage and consult with the sector.
I hope your Lordships will agree that it is important that the review runs its course before we make any decisions about legislation in this area. I therefore ask the noble Lord, Lord Storey, to withdraw his amendment and other noble Lords not to press theirs.