DfE spends £3m on academy takeover expenses

In response to a freedom of information (FoI) request submitted by the Local Schools Network, the Department for Education (DfE) has revealed it spent over £3 million to transfer 23 academies to new trusts.

Originally the DfE refused to reveal the costs, claiming the information was ‘commercially sensitive’ and would deter future sponsors.

However, following an appeal, the information was released and showed that between September 2013 and October 2014 there were huge variances in transfer costs, with seven academies costing nothing to rebroker and another seven racking up costs of £200,000 or more.

The most expensive transfer was the Winford Academy in Cheshire, which cost £534,000 to transfer over to Fallibroome Academy and was one of eight to be stripped from the E-ACT academy chain. The total cost of those eight transfers was over £1.75m.

However, the overall price of transferring three academies from the City College Coventry to the Sidney Stringer Academy Trust cost zero in rebroker fees.

A DfE spokesperson said: “We do not tolerate failure and the strength of the academies programme is that it allows us to intervene swiftly, including replacing sponsors where it is in the best interests of the school.

“We will not apologise for taking decisive action where needed. Sponsored academies are transforming some of the most challenging schools across the country, tackling decades of failure and mediocrity – new sponsors should be given the best possible opportunity to tackle these issues and transform pupils’ education.”