Fears that education standards in Walsall are 'slipping' due to schools converting to academies

Independent councillor Pete Smith said academies were not improving the performance of youngsters in classrooms which had broken away from local authority control.

Walsall Council’s portfolio holder for education and skills Chris Towe said he has long been a vocal critic of academies. He said the number of schools rated ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ had dropped since they were converted.

At a full council meeting Councillor Smith said: “There is no evidence that standards have risen just because the school has become an academy.

“Indeed there is evidence that standards have fallen in several cases in Walsall following the school becoming an academy.

“Academisation is about taking parents out of the picture with no requirement for parent governors, with the academies run by non-elected, mainly unaccountable businessmen and women.

“The academies programme places huge power in the hands of the Education Secretary in Whitehall, while mainly severing schools’ links with democratically-elected local authorities.”

Councillor Towe said the percentage of Walsall academies rated good or outstanding by Ofsted stood at 81 per cent. But he said the figure was 100 per cent at the time of conversion.

He said: “I’ve been saying publicly for a number of years that I have concerns with the Government's push to make all schools academies. They take away responsibility for schools from our local council.

“I believe as they are Walsall children, the responsibility for the performance of schools should be in the hands of Walsall Council and not an academy trust, many of which are based well outside our borough.

“If there is an issue or area of concern with an academy, our senior team have to take the matter up with the Department for Education regional schools commissioner, who is currently based in Coventry, with the hope it’s dealt with appropriately.

“This is in contrast with direct access we currently have with our maintained schools.

“Evidence shows it is not proven that academisation is working or that the education of our children and young people has improved.

“In general, we’ve not seen the same amount of improvement in academies as we’ve seen in our maintained schools.”

He added: “The freedom the academies enjoy from being outside of the control of the local authority does not mean they are not regulated.

“Department for Education regional schools commissioners together with their teams provide education and financial oversight on all academy trusts.

“Academies are still subject to Ofsted inspections and ratings exactly the same way as council run schools are.”

Both councillors said the criticism of the academy system was no reflection on the hard work of teachers and staff there.