Primary school's academisation was put on hold in part because of reported higher fees charged by chains, compared to the local authority, confidential report suggests

The filled-in swimming pool at Peacehaven Heights

A primary school put on hold the possibility of leaving its local authority last year, influenced in part by the high fees it saw itself as facing on joining a multi-academy trust.

Peacehaven Heights primary school shelved academisation plans, which had been urged on it by its local authority, after an unpublished report for its governing body cited the likely impact on the school’s budget as a contributing factor.

The charges, which the report suggested would have been levied by either of two academy trusts under consideration, would have put the school’s budget in deficit last year, the report stated. It implied that if the school stayed with the local authority it would have been narrowly in the black.

The claim comes in a report which, Education Uncovered was told, was kept secret after officials from the Conservative-controlled local authority – East Sussex – deemed its findings “biased” against academy status. Yet the document seems to offer a rounded assessment which set out some positive experiences for schools operating within academy trusts, alongside possible negative aspects of the policy.