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by Sofia Lotto Persio
FORCING schools to become academies will cost hundreds of millions of pounds to, the body representing of councils in England and Wales warned yesterday.
The Local Government Association (LGA), which comprises 435 councils, estimated the cost to taxpayers at £320 million, while local authorities stand to lose £80m a year in business rates income.
The warning came as the group called on the government to spell out its plans for schools.
The chairman of the LGA children and young people board Councillor Richard Watts said the changes would not only be financially bad, but also bad for education as academies have failed to achieve better exam results than state schools.
“These schools should not be forced down the academy route unless they make that decision themselves,” he said.
“The money that councils are predicted to lose could be better spent on recruiting, training and keeping excellent teachers.”
If schools were to operate as stand-alone organisations the cost of the transformation would reduce to £120m, as under the sponsored model the debt built up by the school generally remains with the council.
Controversial plans supporting academies expansion were first initiated by former education secretary Nicky Morgan.
Her successor Justine Greening told the Commons education committee last week that she supported the idea.
She said: “I do want to see all schools over time become academies, but I think our focus has to be on the schools that are struggling and not doing well enough for children at the moment.”
Shadow education secretary Angela Rayner told the Star: “The Tories are more interested in privatising and fragmenting our education system as opposed to looking at evidence-based policies to make sure every child gets a good education.”
Teachers’ union NUT general secretary Kevin Courtney said no responsible government should be actively pursuing a policy that has such a high cost and no proven worth at a time when schools across the country are laying off teachers and support staff and cutting back on essential resources and services.
Association of Teachers and Lecturers general secretary Dr Mary Bousted suggested a better use of taxpayers’ money.
She said: “This money would be better spent by councils on improving existing local authority schools or maintaining the school support services that help children with special needs and families in difficulties.”
