All schools deserve less centralised bureaucracy, the LGA argues

7 June 2010

State schools have been subjected to more than 1,300 pages of central government legislation in the past decade, weighing them down in bureaucracy and paperwork, according to new analysis from the Local Government Association Group.

On the day the Academies Bill has its second reading, the LGA is arguing that schools which choose not to become academies should also benefit from a reduction in central control to allow them to focus the maximum amount of time and effort on the education of their students.

Among the education acts affecting state schools are:

273 pages of the Education and Inspections Act (2006) 265 pages of the Apprenticeship, Skills, Children and Learning Act (2009) 144 pages of the Education and Skills Act (2008)All of the instructions are referred to in the guidance for new school governors, which is itself 250 pages in length.

Academy schools are freed up from many restrictions relating to the national curriculum and pupil welfare, in the same way as public and independent schools are. The LGA is emphasising the need for unnecessary bureaucracy to be eased for all schools so they can more effectively drive up standards.

Councils are offering to work with the new Government to identify ways in which they can help ensure schools are run effectively and fairly, and to guard against the risk of a two-tier education system.

Cllr Shireen Ritchie, who chairs the Children and Young People Board at the LGA, said:

“Councils don’t run schools – they advise and support schools, and oversee the education system across a local area. What academy status offers is more freedom from central government rules, on the curriculum, discipline procedures and the pay and reward of school staff.

“Councils’ key priority is that the same high quality of education can be offered to all students, whether they are being taught in a community school or in an academy, and that will mean making sure funding is fairly distributed and that the same benefits are available to all.

“Educating our children and raising levels of attainment is a serious business and of course there need to be some rules and checks to make sure they get a good quality of schooling, but there is a danger that excessive guidance will hamper school staff and make it harder for them to get on with the most important job – that of teaching the next generation.

“The new Government is offering academies considerable freedom from central bureaucracy, and councils will be doing their best to make sure other schools also benefit from a reduction in central interference so they are not weighed down by paperwork. More local control of education, as part of the strong strategic role Michael Gove has promised councils, would remove the need for so much oversight from Whitehall.”

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