£400k bill for academy conversions

The authority released a report that explored the impact of academy conversions on the council and its resources.
The report was presented to the resource management working group last week, by the head of service for education, Ian Pearson, who spoke candidly about the situation.
Mr Pearson said that every time a secondary school converts to an academy – the number of which currently stands at five of the district’s 10 – it costs the council £50,000.
If all secondary and primary schools converted to academies, it would cost the council an
estimated £1m, as the local authority would lose £2m in government funding but would only save £1m in expenditure.
Mr Pearson said: “We have had to establish new relationships with the academies.
“We have a trading agreement with academies, but not all of our services are available to academies, including payroll. The same is true in relation to insurance.”
Mr Pearson, who said that the number of school places in the district was “relatively tight”, also admitted that the council had no power to stop an academy from changing its catchment area or refusing to expand its premises to take on more pupils.
Councillors have voiced concerns about the situation, as the council is currently negotiating with Park House School, Andover Road, about the possibility of expanding the academy to deal with an influx of children when the racecourse and Sandleford developments are completed.
After the meeting, council spokesman Keith Ulyatt said that academies were outside local education authority control. He said: “We can, and do, discuss with academies the need for school places to see if they can accommodate them. School expansion is up to them.”
On the question of schools changing their catchment areas, Mr Ulyatt said: “They set their own admissions criteria. If they chose to change that, they would have to (as part of the statutory process) go out to formal public consultation on their proposals.
Regarding the number of places available at West Berkshire secondary schools, Mr Ulyatt said that he did not have exact figures.
At the meeting, David Rendel (Lib Dem, Thatcham Central) said that the council should try to persuade schools not to convert to academies, in order to save the local authority money.
Those schools which have already converted to academies are Kennet School, Thatcham, Denefield School, Tilehurst, St Bartholomew’s School, New-bury, Trinity School, Shaw, and Park House School, Newbury.