Report reveals SEND ‘blind spots’
11/02/2025 Research into the provision of special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) support in England has highlighted ‘inequalities’ and ‘blind spots.’ |
Landmark Bill to introduce ‘children not in school’ registers
17/12/2024 Council chiefs welcome Bill that could bring in new registers to identify children who are not in school but say it should go further to ensure child safety. |
Academy trusts have higher staff turnover than council schools
16/04/2024 Multi-academy trusts (MATs) have ‘higher’ annual turnover of classroom teachers at secondary level than council-maintained schools, according to a new study. |
Over 10,000 children missing from education system
22/02/2024 Local authorities in England have no idea what has happened to over 10,000 children who have left state education. |
Divided education system ‘unsustainable’, think tank warns
30/01/2024 An education system divided between academies and council-maintained schools has become ‘undesirable and unsustainable’, according to an education think tank. |
LGA: council-maintained schools outperforming academies
03/08/2023 Schools that are still maintained by local authorities receive better Ofsted outcomes than schools that have become academies, according to new research. |
Queen's Speech: New measures to raise education standards
10/05/2022 Local authorities will have a new duty to provide support to home-schooling families under new measures to reform education. |
Council-maintained schools perform better than academies, report finds
10/05/2022 Schools that stay with their council are more likely to perform better than those that convert to an academy, a new report has found. |
Council awarded £1.3m in damages over leaky roof
07/04/2022 An adjudicator has awarded £1.3m in damages to Wakefield Council following long standing issues with the design of an academy. |
Councils to be allowed to set up multi-academy trusts
28/03/2022 Local authority leaders have welcomed the Government’s plan to allow councils to set up and run their own multi-academy trusts. |
Schools given 'try before you buy' offer to become academies
28/04/2021 Schools will be given a 'try before you buy' option to encourage them to leave council control and become part of an academy trust, the education secretary announced today. |
Head teachers call for funding to support collaboration between schools, academies and councils
18/11/2020 The Government should invest in partnerships between schools, academy trusts and local authorities to drive school improvements in local communities, a new study says. |
Councils call for suspension of academy conversions during Covid-19 crisis
14/04/2020 Council leaders have warned the time and resources being spent on converting schools into academies is undermining efforts to provide enough school places for children during the Covid-19 crisis. |
Whitehall launches £400m improvement fund for academies
28/10/2019 Academies and sixth form colleges can now bid for a share of a multi-million pound fund to help improve facilities, the Government has announced. |
Council chiefs warn of ‘looming’ school places crisis
27/08/2019 Council leaders have called on the Government to give them more powers to open maintained schools to help avoid an impending secondary school place shortage. |
Council schools get better Ofsted ratings than academies, report finds
23/05/2019 Council-maintained schools are more likely to remain ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ than their academy counterparts, new research suggests. |
Over 50,000 pupils stuck in ‘zombie schools’
15/04/2019 Tens of thousands of pupils are stuck ‘in limbo’ as their academies wait to be transferred between trusts. |
Academy chains perform ‘below average’ for disadvantaged pupils
24/12/2018 Two-thirds of academy chains perform below average for disadvantaged pupils, according to new research. |
Labour pledges to scrap new academies
25/09/2018 Councils would be given control of academies and have new powers to build more schools if Labour were elected, the party conference heard yesterday. |
Councils warn of secondary school places 'emergency'
31/08/2018 Half of all councils England may be unable to meet demand for new secondary school places within five years, town hall chiefs have warned today. |
Whitehall ‘failing’ to learn from high-profile academy failures, MPs say
11/07/2018 The Government is ‘failing’ to learn from high-profile academy failures which have been damaging to the education of the children involved, MPs say. |
Councils more likely to improve failing schools than academies
06/07/2018 Failing schools are more likely to be improved by councils than academy chains, new analysis has revealed. |
Academies no better than council schools, think tank finds
19/06/2018 There is ‘little difference’ between academies and local authority schools when it comes to performance, according to an education think tank. |
Whitehall must take control of 'faltering' academy finances, council chiefs say
25/05/2018 Ministers need to take control of 'faltering' academy finances or let councils step in, local government leaders have urged. |
Whitehall announces decision to ‘simplify’ school assessment system
04/05/2018 Head teachers have welcomed the Government’s decision to ‘simplify’ the system by which schools performance is assessed. |
Academy teachers ‘sceptical’ about effectiveness of academisation, poll reveals
20/04/2018 The majority of academy teachers and leaders are sceptical about the effectiveness of academy status, survey reveals. |
Councils struggle to offer ‘integrated’ education due to academies
22/02/2018 Councils are struggling to take an ‘integrated, whole-system’ approach to education because of uneven mix of academies and maintained schools in many areas. |
Government announces £45m for ‘successful’ academies
19/01/2018 The education secretary today announced £45m would be invested in ‘successful’ multi-academy trusts in a bid to drive up education standards in underperforming schools. |
Half of councils unable to meet demand for secondary school places in five years
01/09/2017 A growing number of families will face problems finding a place for their child at a secondary school, local government leaders have warned. |
Whitehall must 'closely monitor' primary academies, charity says
29/06/2017 A charity has urged Whitehall to ‘closely monitor’ education in primary academies to ensure quality is not negatively affected by academisation. |
Councils call for greater power to increase first-choice school places
14/06/2017 Local government leaders have renewed demands to be given more power over school admissions following the latest figures on parental choice. |
Councils call for power to turn around failing academies
10/02/2017 Councils have called for new powers to help them transform struggling schools, including the ability to sponsor schools that have been classified as unviable. |
Councils accuse academies of cherry picking pupils
03/02/2017 Councils have warned their advice on where to place excluded pupils is being ignored so they should have the power to force academies to accept ‘hard to place’ children. |
Academies need ‘transparent’ safeguarding arrangements to prevent child abuse
02/02/2017 A West Berkshire serious case review has reported there is a need for ‘clear and transparent’ governance arrangements of safeguarding, particularly in academies, to protect children from abuse. |
Union defends ‘democratic’ role of councils in education
06/01/2017 Maintaining democratic accountability at the local level is key to education service delivery, says union as they warn against ‘discredited’ academy model. |
LGA: Apprenticeship Levy ‘discriminates’ against council schools
06/01/2017 Small council-maintained schools should be treated the same as small academies and faith schools and be exempt from the Apprenticeship Levy, say council chiefs. |
End of education grants ‘academisation by back door’
01/11/2016 Local authority leaders have branded a government move to end education grants to councils as ‘academisation by the back door’. |
Government scraps forced academies plan
28/10/2016 Controversial plans to force all schools to convert into academies have been scrapped by the new education secretary Justine Greening. |
Data reveals council-run schools performing better than academies
18/10/2016 Almost half a million pupils are in academies deemed inadequate or require improvement since converting from council-run schools, according to council chiefs. |
Councils facing £320m bill for academisation plan
26/09/2016 The Government’s plan to covert school into academies could cost councils as much as £320m, new figures have revealed. |
LGA welcomes education secretary’s academy comments
15/09/2016 Council bosses have welcomed comments by the new education secretary about schools not forced to become academies. |
Councils call for oversight of academy finances after string of abuses
26/08/2016 Council chiefs are calling for local oversight of all school finances following a series of abuses by academies and free schools. |
Cameron used final visit to announce 31 free schools
13/07/2016 On his final visit as prime minister, David Cameron has announced 31 new free schools, providing 20,000 places for pupils. |
Academisation not always best for poorest pupils finds research
07/07/2016 One in five academy chains are performing below average for improving the education for disadvantaged pupils, new research has revealed. |
Jobs 'under threat' from academisation plans
21/06/2016 Thousands of union members could face job and pay cuts as schools are transformed into academies, union delegate says. |
Queen's Speech 2016: Education Bill could lead to 'backdoor academisation'
18/05/2016 A new Bill unveiled in the Queen’s speech today will legislate for the academisation of all maintained schools. |
High-performing schools 'still at risk' of forced academisation
10/05/2016 Some outstanding local authority schools could still be forced to convert into academies, despite the Government back-tracking on the proposal last week. |
Whitehall u-turn over forced academisation plans
06/05/2016 The Government has announced it is abandoning its plans to force all state schools to become academies. |
Tory education chief sees ‘no democracy’ in forced academisation
29/04/2016 Devon’s Tory education chief has added his voice to protests over government plans to force all schools to become academies. |
Government sticking to forced academisation plans
28/04/2016 The Government is sticking to plans to force all schools to become academies - but may leave door open for them to continue working with councils. |
Local authority schools outperform academies, says research
26/04/2016 Council-run schools are outperforming academies in Oftsed inspections, research from the Local Government Association (LGA) has revealed. |
Minister prepares to back track on academies plan
25/04/2016 The Government could be preparing to back down on its plans to convert all council-run schools into academies. |
County warns academies plan could impact on vulnerable children
22/04/2016 West Sussex County Council has added its voice to the growing opposition against government plans to convert all schools into academies. |
Academisation: Upheaval will bring risks
08/04/2016 Tilden Watson outlines some of challenges facing the government's plan to convert all schools into academies by 2020. |
Tory academy plans face ‘funding blackhole’, say Labour
04/04/2016 The Government’s plans for forcing schools to become academies are facing a ‘funding blackhole’ of over £1bn. |
Academisation hinders chancellor's Northern Powerhouse plans, says councillor
31/03/2016 The chancellor’s forced academisation plans could hinder his own vision of a Northern Powerhouse, Liverpool City Council’s cabinet member for education tells The MJ. |
Only 7% of teachers support forced academisation, NUT finds
29/03/2016 93% of school leaders do not support the Government’s policy to force all schools to become academies, according to a teachers’ union survey. |
Nearly 2,500 academies not signed up to healthy school meal standards
22/03/2016 A loophole that enables nearly 2,500 academies and free schools avoid signing up to healthy school meal standards must be closed in a forthcoming child obesity strategy, town hall leaders say. |
£560m ‘black hole’ in chancellor’s school plans
18/03/2016 The chancellor’s plan to transform every school into an academy faces a £560m funding shortage, according to a new analysis. |
Budget 2016: All schools to be converted into academies
16/03/2016 Fixating on giving schools independence will not generate improvement in education standards, local government representatives have warned. |
Councils hit out at plans to convert all schools to academies
16/03/2016 Council leaders have opposed plans to convert all schools into academies, saying the move 'defied reason'. |
'Serious weaknesses' at seven multi-academy trusts highlighted
11/03/2016 Many multi-academy trusts (MATs) have been manifesting the ‘same weaknesses as the worst-performing local authorities’, the chief inspector of schools has warned. |
Councils call for more powers to provide secondary school places
29/02/2016 Council leaders want to be able to open new maintained schools or compel academies to take on more students in order to ensure every child can get a place at a secondary school. |
Plans to convert coasting schools passed through Parliament
25/02/2016 New measures to force councils to convert failing schools into academies have been passed through Parliament. |
Cameron pledges to crack down on 'coasting' academies
07/12/2015 The government’s coasting schools programme is to be extended to cover failing academies, under plans due to be announced by the prime minister later today. |
Spending Review: Osborne to phase out council-run schools
25/11/2015 Local authority-run schools will be a ‘thing of the past’, the chancellor announced in his spending review today. |
Cracking down on 'coasting' schools
17/08/2015 Tiffany Cloynes outlines the implications for local authorities under new measures to tackle 'coasting' schools |
Cameron: Every school should be an academy
17/08/2015 Prime minister David Cameron has said ‘every school in the country’ should be moved out of council control and converted into an academy. |
Council joins schools and academies to launch education company
28/07/2015 Sheffield is uniting local schools and academies under a new company designed to share expertise during a period of ‘increasing pressure’ on budgets. |
Nearly half of academies are 'coasting' warns report
24/07/2015 Almost half of academy chains have schools that are performing below tough new government guidelines, according to new analysis. |
Hundreds more schools face academy conversion under new ‘coasting’ measure
30/06/2015 Hundreds more schools risk being taken out of council control under new government measures to identify ‘coasting’ sites. |
Councils forced to convert 1,000 'inadequate' schools into academies
03/06/2015 New measures will force councils to convert schools rated ‘inadequate’ by Ofsted into academies. |
Councils call for more power to hold schools accountable
26/05/2015 Council leaders are calling for more power to intervene in failing schools to help hold academies and free schools to account. |
Academies are 'better' than council run schools, says education secretary
18/05/2015 Education secretary Nicky Morgan has prompted an angry response from teachers after claiming academies are better run than council controlled schools. |
Clegg confirms 277 schools set for £2bn refurbishment
09/02/2015 Ministers have announced a further 277 schools across England will be rebuilt under a multi-billion pound wave of refurbishment. |
No evidence of academies improving standards, say MPs
27/01/2015 There is no evidence so far that academies are driving improvement in English schools, according to the cross-party parliamentary education select committee. |
Miliband talks of making academies accountable
09/01/2015 A Labour government could hand oversight of academies back to local authorities, Ed Miliband has suggested. |
Councils ‘footing the bill’ for academies
05/12/2014 Councils are diverting more than £22m of their budgets to help subsidise the cost of the academies programme, town hall chiefs are warning. |
Spending watchdog slams school inspection regime
30/10/2014 The regime for inspecting standards in English schools has come under fire in a report from the National Audit Office. |
New education commissioner appointed to oversee Trojan Horse response
25/09/2014 Birmingham's beleaguered schools and academies are to be overseen by former chief inspector of schools Sir Mike Tomlinson. |
Convert all schools to academies, says right wing think tank
23/09/2014 All council primary and secondary schools should be converted to academies over the next five years, according to a right wing think tank. |
Government appoints new Ofsted chair
31/07/2014 A trustee of the UK’s largest academy chain group has been appointed as the new chair of Ofsted. |
Report reveals varying success for academies
24/07/2014 The best academy chains are outperforming other state-funded schools, while others are failing to raise standards, research has revealed. |
Report: funding agency urged to get a grip on academies
10/06/2014 The governance of England’s growing number of academies is going unchecked due to failings by the agency responsible for funding schools, according to MPs. |
Shell is helping power the journey towards a circular paving industry with Shell Bitumen LT R, a new product for roads that uses plastics destined for landfill as part of the additives to make the bitumen.
Effective Energy Group is now offering its support to the 40 Local Authorities who have received a share of the £430m to deliver their projects on the ground by surveying properties and installing measures.
Dougie Belmore explains how one of the main interfaces between you and Bacs is about to change.