Dear QE Governor
The decision to leave the Local Authority and become an entirely independent school funded directly by the government is a decision of major significance. It is a decision that cannot be reversed, other than by the Secretary of State closing the school down. Are you taking the Principal’s recommendation on trust?
In recommending academy status, on what criteria has the Principal demonstrated clearly to you and stakeholder groups, that as a Governor you are acting in the best interests of the school, both for now and the long term, by supporting academy status?
What educational reasons does the Principal have for proposing an academy?
If QE becomes an academy, you will take on a whole range of risks and responsibilities that are currently managed for you by the Local Authority. These include financial, technical, personnel and legal issues as well as responsibility for all the buildings and assets. Has the Principal made you fully aware of all these in detail?
Are you confident that as a Governor, you have the expertise and time to manage these new responsibilities adequately?
What control do you believe the governing body would be freeing itself from if the school becomes an academy? In reality, accountability passes to the Government in Whitehall.
As an academy, QE will be funded, monitored and regulated by a government created quango run from London. Are you happy that the QE’s future will depend on a succession of Secretaries of State? Are you sure that this central control with little local knowledge will benefit the school?
Are you satisfied that you have fulfilled your responsibilities to the parents (current and future), teachers and local community, making them fully aware not only of the potential advantages of becoming an academy but also of the potential pitfalls?
The government does not expect schools converting to academies to have a financial advantage or disadvantage. Has the principal produced a detailed Business Plan showing what extra costs will be incurred and how these will be met, not just in the short term but going forward into subsequent years?
Given that you will not be able to call on the Local Authority, there is a need for substantial contingency funding in reserves. Has the Principal carried out a full risk assessment in the context of likely scenarios and made a plan for how to set aside enough contingency to deal with a crisis? Is this a specific part of the Business Plan?
It has been calculated that the real winners in converting to academy status are:
Larger schools; With relatively few pupils who will need extra help; Few social problems requiring Educational Welfare Support; With recently refurbished buildings with low maintenance; In areas which are not facing demographic decline;
With staff who are male or beyond child-bearing age; But not too close to retirement
Are you satisfied these factors individually and collectively have been taken into account? Certainly QE’s buildings need high maintenance
Are you aware that funding for individual academies is based on the level of funding provided by their current local authority? Devon is currently one of the worst funded local authorities Academies receive additional funding to take account of the central services previously provided by the Local Authority. What method of accountability will be provided by the new Academy that best value is always achieved when buying in these services? Will the cost of buying services on the open market be less than any additional funding? If not what is the gain from leaving the Local Authority?
Who will measure the performance of academies and by what mechanism?
As Academies are seen as flagships of the Governments aim to improve standards, are you confident that central government will not be prescriptive in setting targets to ensure that academies are seen to be producing results that conform to its preconceived view of standards. As an academy, QE will be freed from the national curriculum but at present pupils will still be tested according to the national regulations. Could this change?
Do you have sufficient financial information on issues of indemnity and pension scheme liabilities in order to fully understand and mitigate the risks? Academies remain subject to primary legislation with respect to employment law, health & safety and equalities. Getting it wrong in these areas, and because QE would be on its own, could lead to expensive tribunal cases. Have you considered what the implications are and how to avoid getting it wrong? Will there be a cost involved in preventing problems? If so, what could it be?
Are you aware that currently the Governing Body has corporate liability i.e. no one member of it is accountable in law. If QE becomes an academy, overnight, corporate liability ceases and the governors become individual proprietors. As proprietors, will there be limited liability or will individuals have full liability for finance, employment issues etc? Do you know the answer?
How will capital projects be funded There will be no capital funding available for projects, as the Building Schools for the Future programme has been shelved.
To become an academy, the Governing Body will have to form a Trust. Who will be the Trustees? The Trust has to form a governing body. Who will be on that governing body?
Does the governing body believe it can influence the new Academy Trust and its governing body into making watertight assurances and guarantees and if so on what evidence is this belief based?
Who will conduct the legally required equalities impact assessment?
Are you fully aware that if the school goes the academy route, it is on its own financially and legally whatever happens and that the decision is irreversible.
Key Questions
* What difference would converting make to students in the classroom and their opportunities?
* What freedoms would QE want to use and how? And are you sure that this cannot be done as a maintained college?
* What additional responsibilities would the governing body take on?
* What local authority services would QE lose and how would QE commission replacements?
* What additional potential liabilities would the governing body have if they took on academy status?
* What would the Trust Body look like?
* How would the governing body be made up?
* What are the financial implications of academy status, including the approximate costs of the additional services the governing body would have to provide for QE?
* Does QE currently have the capacity and capabilities within the staff group to commission and manage services effectively (for example, the Government is recommending that staff should include a qualified accountant), and if not, how is this to be rectified and what would be the cost?
* What other colleges or schools would QE support and in what way
* What were the results of the consultations carried out with the key stakeholders?
Yours sincerely
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