DfE wins judicial review case against its handling of Holland Park academy transfer

Parents today failed in their legal battle against the process by which Holland Park School in West London was to be transferred to England’s largest academy chain, the move now appearing likely to go ahead in the coming weeks.

Two weeks after a one-day hearing on the case, the judicial review claim brought by the Holland Park School Parent Collective (HPSPC), against the way the school’s impending transfer had been carried out by the government, was thrown out.

The judgment of course appears to be a setback for parental arguments in support of a greater level of engagement with communities by the Department for Education in relation to changes of control via the academies policy.

But it may contain some lessons for the DfE, too, in terms of a possible need to ensure that parents are always provided with detail about alternatives in advance of transfers. The judge did say that it would have been “preferable” for the community to have been provided with some information about other options.

The detail

Holland Park’s future has been in doubt since allegations surfaced last year that it suffered from a “toxic” working environment. The school, a large comprehensive in Kensington with a diverse intake which had been operating as a single academy trust, saw governors announce in March that they were minded for it to join Peterborough-based United Learning, which now has 78 academies.