While ASCL recognises that the government is able to consider multiple policy changes simultaneously, we question its focus on this relatively small-scale issue at a time when many aspects of our education system are in crisis. Staff recruitment and retention is extremely difficult in most schools and colleges, funding is increasingly stretched, many school and college buildings are in a state of disrepair, and the wider support services for children and young people are crumbling. We would like to see the government focusing all its energies on addressing those major issues. 

The calling of the general election during this consultation period also raises questions about whether the incoming government would be likely to act on the proposals it contains. This is particularly pertinent given the extent to which these proposals relate to the current government’s ambition for all schools to be part of strong multi-academy trusts – an ambition which may not be shared by the incoming government. A potential shift in this overarching ambition may render obsolete the underlying reason behind these proposed changes, i.e. that the vast majority of new schools are expected to open as free schools or academies, rather than as maintained or voluntary aided schools, and that the policies being reviewed here therefore make some providers feel they are unable to open new schools at all. 

Full response to consultation