Contact: John Clarke, Deputy Director of Children's Services, telephone 01962 846464, email [email protected]

1 Summary

1.1 This report describes the proposed local authority stance on Trust Schools - that is to examine proposals against the extent to which they will improve value added performance without adversely affecting local collaboration and community cohesion.

2 Recommendations

2.1 That the Lead Member for Children's Services delegates authority to the Director of Children's Services to support schools' applications for Trust Status where the following questions can be answered positively by the school:

· Will affiliation to this particular Trust raise standards rather than just maintain them?

· Will affiliation improve the well being of all children and young people in the community served by the school?

· Will affiliation improve community cohesion and collaboration without any loss of existing quality?

· Will affiliation improve the school's potential to meet the objectives of the Children and Young People's Plan

and, in the case of secondary schools:

· Will affiliation improve the school's potential to meet the objectives of the 14-19 Strategy?

3 What are Trust Schools?

3.1 As a legal definition, a Trust School is a "foundation school with a foundation". In other words, the school has foundation status and is linked with a partner organisation, with charity status, normally referred to as a "Trust". In most cases, the Trust will appoint the majority of the members of the governing body and will have a relationship with the school similar to that between the trustees and governing body of a voluntary aided school.

3.2 As a foundation school, the governing body will be the admissions authority and employer of the staff. Unlike a foundation school, the assets of the school (particularly land and other property) will be transferred to the ownership of the Trust.

3.3 Trusts can be formed by a single partner, or a number of partners working together.

4 How does a school acquire a trust?

4.1 If the governing body of a community school wishes to acquire Trust status, it is necessary to go through the procedure for change of category to foundation status, involving consultation, publication of statutory notices and consideration of any representations received. The decision on changing category is then normally made by the governing body.

4.2 If, at the same time, the school wishes to acquire a Trust, full details must be given in the consultation and formal proposals. Where it is proposed that the Trust should appoint the majority of the school's governors, the proposals must also include the establishment of a parent council.

4.3 During the representation period set in the statutory notice, the local authority has the right to refer the proposal to the Schools Adjudicator for decision. The grounds for such a referral are prescribed by regulations and are:

a) the governing body has failed to meet the statutory requirements for consultation;

b) the governing body has failed to have regard to the responses to the consultations;

c) concern that the Trust will have a negative impact on standards.

4.4 There are similar procedures for existing foundation and voluntary schools to acquire a Trust.

5 Existing opportunities without trust status

5.1 Before going down the route to Trust status, schools ought to consider whether the outcomes they desire can be achieved without changing status. For example, several community schools have obtained significant sponsorship from business and charitable organisations, including drama, sports and ICT suites, whilst retaining their existing status and governance. In addition, community schools are free to affiliate to diocesan and other bodies, thereby drawing on outside resources and advice without any need to change status.

6 Trust Schools and learning

6.1 Trust status is currently generating interest across Hampshire from only a very small number of schools. Whilst any school could seek Trust status, at present the majority of interest is from secondary schools. The issues that relate to learning are broadly the same, irrespective of phase and they are now explained in more detail using secondary schools for illustrative purposes.

6.2 The local authority has a statutory duty to promote choice and diversity and demonstrates this through its active engagement with other partners working with secondary schools such as the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust. If, as is the intention, Trust status will enhance learning and standards, the local authority would wish to support a proposal. However, it would expect schools to consider Trust status in the context of the three principles within the existing secondary education policy.

6.3 "Secondary schools are learning communities with a culture that promotes and supports effective learning and teaching."

6.3.1 There are many examples of schools that already offer a rich and diverse range of opportunities for the professional learning of both teaching and non-teaching staff. These are places where student learning and achievement are good. In the best practice, the school draws on excellence within the institution, that which is available locally in other schools and the wider networks of expertise through its links with the local authority and national organisations.

6.3.2 A decision to affiliate to a particular Trust will presumably be because the school sees new opportunities that were hitherto unavailable. It will therefore be important for a school seeking Trust status to be clear exactly what `additionality' would follow without any loss of quality in its relationship with existing networks.

6.4 "There is excellence in attainment and achievement with an entitlement to good progress for all."

6.4.1 Schools often find it hard to pinpoint the causal factors that result in improvement in attainment and achievement. It is usually a combination of factors rather than one specific action or initiative. A school considering Trust status will therefore need to be clear how affiliation to a particular Trust will raise, as distinct from simply maintain, standards. Of equal importance is whether affiliation to a particular Trust will ensure improved well-being for all students, and not just particular groups.

6.5 "The school demonstrates a commitment to its local community."

6.5.1 Secondary schools are part of a wider network of other schools and colleges that serve the various communities across Hampshire. In the past, some freedoms and flexibilities have created tensions within and between communities and between schools where competition has come ahead of collaboration. The importance of community cohesion is now understood and essential for schools to meet successfully the objectives of the Children and Young People's Plan. Success of the County Council/Learning and Skills Council 14-19 Strategy is also dependent on collaboration within each of the nine travel to learn consortia.

6.5.2 Any school considering Trust status would therefore need to consider whether such a step will put either of these two key objectives at risk and what the gain would be by taking this course of action. Whilst the local authority would wish to be reassured in this respect, such a reassurance is more important for the local school community. This is one reason why the local authority does not intend to set itself up as a Trust and ask schools to affiliate to it. Such a step would be counter to the principles of the self-management of schools within an accountability framework that has served the interests of Hampshire learners well to date.

7 Criteria to be considered

7.1 It therefore follows that the key questions that need to be considered by any school seeking Trust status are:

· Will affiliation to this particular Trust raise standards rather than just maintain them?

· Will affiliation improve the well being of all children and young people in the community served by the school?

· Will affiliation improve community cohesion and collaboration without any loss of existing quality?

· Will affiliation improve the school's potential to meet the objectives of the Children and Young People's Plan?

and, in the case of secondary schools:

· Will affiliation improve the school's potential to meet the objectives of the 14-19 Strategy?

7.2 If the answers to all the above questions are positive then the local authority will support the school. If not, then it will point out to the community in what way the proposal may disadvantage quality and standards, and refer its view to the Schools' Adjudicator.

8 Corporate priorities

8.1 The proposals in this report are expected to maximise well-being in support of the County Council's corporate priorities, by ensuring that Hampshire secondary schools capitalise on all opportunities to develop learners' understanding and appreciation of their role in society and their capacity to contribute.

8.2 It also supports the outcomes of the Children Act especially, `enjoy and achieve' by supporting children and young people to fulfil their own potential through good academic progress and personal development.

9 Consultation

9.1 Discussions took place with secondary headteacher representatives in the preparation of this paper.

10 Legal implications

10.1 The legal framework for a school to acquire a Trust leaves the decision primarily in the hands of the governing body. However, as explained in paragraph 4.3, the local authority should consider whether any of the limited grounds for objecting to the proposal apply.

11 Financial implications

11.1 With the exception of a small addition to the revenue budget of any foundation school, to reflect the additional administrative impact of acting as admissions authority, the category of the school does not affect its revenue budget allocation. However, a change of category to foundation will involve an indirect cost to the local authority in dealing with the transfer of property and staff to the governing body or Trust. The school's property will no longer be a local authority asset, but the transfer of property regulations do protect the authority's long term interest if the school was to close

12 Personnel implications

12.1 A change of category from community, or controlled, to foundation will mean that the governing body becomes the employer of the school's staff. However, their rights are protected by the transfer regulations and/or TUPE.

13 Impact assessment

13.1 Race and equality impact assessment has been considered in the development of this report and no adverse impact has been identified.

14 Crime prevention issues

14.1 None.

15 Views of the Local County Councillor

15.1 At this stage the views of local county councillors have not been sought in relation to these proposals. Local Members will be informed if any of their local schools are seeking Trust status.

16 Conclusion

16.1 The long term benefits of Trust School status are as yet unknown and it will be for individual schools and their communities to assess whether such a change is either necessary or beneficial.

Section 100 D - Local Government Act 1972 - background documents

The following documents discuss facts or matters on which this report, or an important part of it, is based and have been relied upon to a material extent in the preparation of this report.

NB: the list excludes

1. Published works

2. Documents which disclose exempt or confidential information as defined in the Act.

None.