The Academies Bill is entering its final stage in the Commons today having been bludgeoned through by the government.
If passed, it will allow all schools to opt out of local authority control and to follow their own curriculum. The coalition wants to see the new academies coming on stream from this September.
Such a swift timetable shows that ministers are obsessed with structural reform where it is simply not necessary. They will eventually, no doubt, come to rue their rushed legislation.
But it is not just the politicians who could be in trouble over this. The indecent haste with which some outstanding schools have sought to apply for, and secure, academy status means that a number may have cut corners in terms of consultation with staff and trade unions.
These schools would, therefore, be vulnerable to judicial review and employment tribunal claims from employees.
My union, the NASUWT, will be scrutinising the process schools have adopted, using the Freedom of Information Act provisions if necessary to obtain the relevant information.
The Department for Education may have encouraged schools to rush through the process but at the end of the day it will be the governing body, not the government, that will be held to account if the school has failed to meet its legal obligations.
It has been clear that the driver of the hasty decisions made by some schools to apply for academy status has been the belief that they will get more money as academies. They should now pause and reflect on how much money defending legal challenges in the High Court will cost, especially when, as academies, they will have no local authority to bail them out.
Chris Keates is the general secretary of the NASUWT
