“Councils have a crucial role to play in education, from ensuring every child has a school place to turning around struggling schools, and as they showed when providing vital support to schools during the pandemic."
Responding to the Government’s Schools White Paper, which gives councils powers to set up their own multi-academy trusts, Cllr Lucy Nethsingha, Deputy Chair of the LGA’s Children and Young People Board, said:
“Councils have a crucial role to play in education, from ensuring every child has a school place to turning around struggling schools, and as they showed when providing vital support to schools during the pandemic.
“We are pleased government has acted on our call for councils to be allowed to set up their own multi-academy trusts (MATs). Councils have an excellent track record in providing a high-quality education for pupils with 92 per cent of maintained schools rated by Ofsted as outstanding or good – a higher proportion than any other type of school. The Government should go further and allow councils to support ‘orphan’ schools where Regional School Commissioners are struggling to find a strong MAT to take them on.
“It is also good councils are to be given powers to direct all schools, including academies, to admit pupils that are out-of-school and make sure they are back in the classroom as quickly as possible.
“We now look forward to working with the Department for Education to make sure we provide an education system that is inclusive and works for all children, including those with special educational needs.”