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The Academies Act 2010
11 August 2010
The Academies Act has now been passed. Some of its provisions
have come into force immediately whilst others will require
commencement orders. During the Bill’s progression, there were a
number of significant amendments made which schools considering
conversion to Academy status will find useful to know.
Requirement to consult
Whilst the original position in the Academies Bill was that
governing bodies of ‘outstanding schools’ considering becoming an
Academy were not required to consult stakeholders on the proposed
conversion, the Act was amended to place a duty to consult on
governing bodies. However, it is clear from the proposed amendment
that the consultation required on conversion to Academy is not
intended to be as wide or as far reaching as is required when an
under-performing school is closed and is replaced by an Academy.
The only requirement will be that the governing body consults with
“persons who they think appropriate” and that this takes
place before signing the funding agreement. The Department for
Education (DfE) has promised to provide further guidance on the
consultation requirements in due course.
SEN admissions
Under the terms of their funding agreements, existing Academies
do not have to admit students with SEN where the Academy is named
in the Statement of SEN. This is because normal parental preference
regarding statemented children under the Education Act 1996 does
not fully apply to ‘old-style’ Academies. Parents have been able to
‘make representations’ to the local authority (LA) for the Academy
to be named in the Statement, but the decision on whether to admit
the child has rested with the Academy, subject to successful appeal
to the Secretary of State by the LA. However, new and converting
Academies will now be required to admit pupils who are named in a
Statement. This brings Academies into line with maintained
schools.
Governance
The DfE has now published the model Articles of Association for
Academy Trusts. The Academy Trust is the body which will run the
Academy. The Articles of Association set down the governance model
for the Academy Trust and, in turn, the Academy itself. As the
Academy Trust is a company limited by guarantee, the governance of
the Academy Trust is divided into two levels - members and
Ggovernors.
The members together form the Academy Trust - they are the
equivalent of shareholders in a company limited by shares. Every
Academy Trust must have at least three members. The members retain
the power to make a limited number of decisions and may have the
power to elect some governors. However, once they form the Academy
Trust, the members will meet rarely as the Academy Trust will be
run on a day-to-day basis by the Governors who are the
equivalent of the governing body of a maintained
school. Governors may be appointed by staff, parents,
the local authority, by a foundation, sponsor (if the Academy has
one) and on behalf of the community. The governors may also be
correctly referred to as "directors" in company law and "trustees"
in charity law. Every Academy Trust must have a minimum of three
governors: two parents and the principal/head teacher. However,
there will no longer be a requirement to have a local authority
governor.
Freedom of Information
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA 2000) does not
currently apply to Academies. However, the Government has announced
that it will amend the FOIA 2000 so that its application extends to
Academies, including ‘outstanding’ schools converting to Academies
from this autumn. Academies will be required to provide information
they hold in response to requests made under the FOIA 2000.
However, they will have up to 60 days to respond to a request that
is received in non-term time (rather than the usual 20 days for
other public bodies). This brings Academies into line with
maintained schools.
Conversion of non-outstanding schools
The Government announced in its recently published Draft
Structural Reform Plan for the schools system that non-outstanding
schools will be able to apply to convert to Academies from November
2010.
talk to us
Mark Blois
0115 976 6087
Partner and Head of Education
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