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11 Dec 20
Distributed ledger technology can help improve transparency in procurement processes, but public bodies must assess potential implementation risks, according to research into a South American...
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4 Nov 20
Stepping down last month after 10 years in charge, Robert Chote has entrenched the Office for Budget Responsibility as a vital cog in the UK’s fiscal machinery.
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28 Oct 19
A £400m pot has been introduced to improve facilities and increase school places at academies and sixth forms in England, but access to the funds will be limited for academies paying high salaries,...
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4 Feb 19
Between financial controversies and more fundamental questions about sustainability, the academies sector is crying out for transparency, writes Rachel Willcox.
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22 Nov 18
The government must ensure academies “can be trusted to manage large amounts of public money”, the spending watchdog has urged.
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8 Nov 18
Academy schools in England recorded a £6.1bn deficit at the end of last August, leading to one major teaching union calling them “unsustainable”.
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19 Apr 18
A third of academy leaders believe autonomy from local government has made no difference, while almost one in five think its effect has been negative, according to a survey released today.
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19 Sep 17
The failure of academy schools to share data is weakening attempts by councils to boost skills and employment, according to a panel of local government experts speaking at the Liberal Democrat...
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29 Jun 17
The level of savings the government expects schools to make are unrealistic and putting teaching standards at risk, a CIPFA academies conference has heard.
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28 Feb 17
There is not enough evidence to support the expansion of multi-academy trusts as part of the government’s aim for all schools to become academies, the education select committee has concluded.
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19 Oct 16
The small team of civil servants responsible for performance managing academies and free schools cannot do so effectively and could be putting children’s education at risk, the Local Government...
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26 Sep 16
Local councils could be landed with a bill of up to £320m if all schools are converted into academies, according to Local Government Association figures.
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26 Sep 16
Changes to how schools are funded will not tackle all the financial differences across the sector. Giving academy chains more power to distribute funding could help tackle regional inequities.
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23 Sep 16
The recent wave of academy schools created by the government is not having a transformative impact on education, a review has found.
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6 May 16
Education secretary Nicky Morgan has abandoned plans to force all schools to academies amid opposition from local authorities and some Conservative MPs.
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25 Apr 16
Controversial plans to convert all schools in England to academies could hinder the ability of councils to support the most vulnerable children, ministers have been warned today.
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25 Apr 16
All schools are due to become academies by 2022, yet arguments still rage over their effects on standards, their financial management and whether they provide value for money
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20 Apr 16
More needs to be done to ensure that when schools become academies, the change actually results in raised standards
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20 Apr 16
Auditor general Amyas Morse has issued an adverse opinion on the truth and fairness of the Department for Education’s group financial statements for 2014-15, concluding they did not provide the...
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17 Mar 16
The “vast majority” of schools will be part of multi-academy trusts by 2022, education secretary Nicky Morgan said today as she set out the government’s reform plans.
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9 Feb 16
Education watchdog Ofsted has called for urgent improvements to secondary schools run by the E-ACT chain of academy after a review concluded standards at the trust were not good enough.
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27 Jul 15
The government is planning a further expansion of its academies programme, but it is not clear there is capacity in the system to transform all these schools
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24 Jul 15
An analysis of results at more than 150 academy schools in England has concluded that nearly half (44%) would be classed as “coasting” under the government’s proposed education reforms.
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26 May 15
Government plans to intervene in ‘coasting’ schools must include an expanded role for councils to hold academies and free schools to account, the Local Government Association has said.
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30 Apr 15
Five years of radical changes in education policy have created thousands of academy and free schools. But have financial management and governance kept pace?