Council moves some school services back in-house from company it created

Staffordshire County Council created Entrust with Capita eight years ago and contracted it to run a variety of services in schools.

Now many of these will be run directly by the council from April next year.

The decision by councillors comes after a 10-year review of the agreement between the authority and Entrust.

Entrust will continue to provide a range of support services to schools including curriculum support, music lessons, outdoor education, property design and maintenance, IT, health and safety, human resources and finance, cleaning and catering, grounds maintenance, education improvement, special educational needs, governor services and other improvement activity.

Part of the original agreement also saw the company provide other services such as skills and employability, early years support and other property projects.

These are now under discussion, with the council citing a change in priorities and the "school landscape".

The local authority, which remains a 49 per cent shareholder in the business, said services provided directly to schools will remain largely unaffected.

The council is planning to work with Capita on the scope of the changes which will be introduced by April next year.

Councillor Mark Deaville, cabinet member for commercial, said: “Ten years ago, we set up Entrust to ensure services to schools could continue to be delivered, under a changing school landscape of academisation.

"Since then, Entrust has successfully delivered services to more than 400 schools in the county, and around 4,500 schools nationally.

"A relatively small part of Entrust’s business is services provided to the county council.

"Over the last 10 years these services have changed significantly and now is time to take a step back and examine whether the current arrangements are still best provided by Entrust alongside the school services.

"After reviewing where we are, we are looking to bring some activities back in-house so they are better joined-up with other council priorities, while still very much ensuring Entrust is the provider of choice for maintained schools and academies."

John Doherty, chief executive of Entrust, said: "It is a normal part of the business process for clients and suppliers to periodically review services to ensure that they consider likely funding profiles and to encompass future needs.

"The council’s decision presents an opportunity to review how services are delivered for Staffordshire’s learners and citizens, and to consider how they may be further improved for the long-term."