UK Parents Suspicious of Government’s Plan to Transform 400 Schools into Academies with Many Partly Supported by Millionaires

The Times Online reports that suspicion about the government’s plans to transform 400 schools by turning them into academies, many partly supported by millionaires, is showing no sign of abating.

Last week, parents raised hundreds of pounds towards the costs of a High Court test case that is being held to examine opposition to plans for an academy in north London. Waiting in the wings are legal actions against both the proposed academy in Barrow-in-Furness and a third one mooted for Stoke-on-Trent. If the parents win, then ministers’ plans to improve education nationally through such schools could be at risk.

At issue in the High Court is the role of sponsors: the people responsible for partly managing and financing the academies.

In Stoke, where Trentham high school would close if the academy goes ahead, the sponsor is the Ormiston Trust, which has sunk £6m into three academies, with three more in the pipeline. This was set up 40 years ago by Peter Murray, a wealthy businessman, after his sister and her husband died on their honeymoon.

Yet not all sponsors are rich men or their trusts. For the Camden academy in north London, for example, the sponsor is likely to be University College London while for the Barrow academy the official role of sponsor has been given to the University of Cumbria and two local colleges, with Scowcroft, Tinkler and BAE forming part of a “business consortium” to raise money for it.

However, the problem remains that many parents feel it’s wrong to deny them any say in the selection process for sponsors, while others are more aggrieved that their children’s education is being treated as a charitable matter in the first place. Rosa Curling, of Leigh Day solicitors, represents a national network of parents who are trying to challenge the way sponsors have been chosen for academies. The argument she put forward in the High Court last week was that “ministers have a duty under European law and the procurement directive to ensure that they follow open, transparent processes when they award a contract to run a school”. Richard Stein, another lawyer at the firm, goes further, calling for an open competition to select sponsors: “The most important argument we are putting against Ed Balls, the schools secretary, is that in any contract worth more than £5m, you should not be doing deals with people you recruit informally.”

The government has defended itself against such claims. Jim Knight, the schools minister, said: “We do not consider European procurement law is applicable to the selection of sponsors, as they invest in a school rather than profit from their involvement.” Judgment in the Camden case is expected before Christmas.

The roll-call of sponsors running academies includes some extremely rich men – such as the hedge-fund financier Arpad Busson ( founder of the charity Ark, which sponsors several London schools) and the carpet tycoon Lord Harris, worth an estimated £230m. Such sponsors have donated about £2m for each academy (admittedly a fraction of the cost of building and running a school) and believe they are acting altruistically.

The Reverend Steve Chalke, a Baptist minister, runs a charity called the Oasis Community Trust, which is funded by donations and now sponsors nine academies. The way in which sponsors were chosen, he says, was rigorously fair and involved much consultation. It is sad, he feels, that people are so often cynical when charities and philanthropists try to get involved in education. “People ask what is in it for you,” he said. “I don’t get anything from this except a headache.”

SS