Academy trusts not living up to government governance ideals show up the weakness of regulation, and how these are effectively private organisations

The news, in my investigation published today, that some 39 academy trusts appear not to be living up to government ideals in terms of how their control structures operate appears highly significant.

The implications seem profound, first in terms of how we understand the (lack of) strength and (lack of) coherence of government regulation of the academies sector; and second, the repercussions of that for understanding whether control of a large portion of England’s schools has indeed been privatised.

Regulation

The first, and perhaps most obvious, conclusion to pop into my mind on charting how academy trusts have been set up to operate, and how the government seems now to want them to operate, is to marvel at the contradiction.

So, the government’s Academies Financial Handbook states that there should be separation between members and trustees, with the implication being that a majority of the members should not also be trustees.