Schools on strike over Catholic multi-academy trust’s alleged 20 per cent-plus topslice

Nicholas Postgate Catholic Academy Trust said to be charging schools for services local authority would be providing for free.

 

Claims that a Roman Catholic multi-academy trust is taking up to 29 per cent from its schools’ budgets for central services are behind a long-running strike at two of its schools, which were closed again to most pupils yesterday and today.

All Saints, a secondary, and St George’s primary, both in York and run by the Nicholas Postgate Catholic Academy Trust (NPCAT) saw strikes on Tuesday and Wednesday, with industrial action which began two months ago continuing despite the departure of the chain’s £215,000-a-year chief executive and a recent clear-out of governors.

At issue is the scale of the “topslice” that the trust, which runs 38 academies in Middlesbrough and York, charges its schools.

The National Education Union says that NPCAT “takes about 25 per cent” from York schools, the York Press reported, while a public meeting on academies, at which I spoke last night, heard a figure of up to 29 per cent given as a key reason for the strike. 

Any topslice figure above twenty per cent would be extraordinary, even for an academy sector which has faced scrutiny for the amount of money spent centrally.

The York Press quoted Gemma Cobby, an “NEU organiser” at All Saints school, stating: “The dispute is still about trust funding. Schools pay for services provided by the trust when [they] are available for free from City of York Council.

“For example, one trust school – which doesn’t want to be named – is paying £28,000 for its safeguarding provision; a service which the local authority provides to schools for free.

“That £28,000 should be being used to provide vital services in the classroom like more teaching assistants.”

The NEU has also criticised the trust over what it says is a lack of accountability over how its schools are funded.

Education Uncovered has reported how the headteacher of St George’s, Dee Patton-Statham, joined the picket line in April. She was quoted at the time stating that: “The strike is all about a lack of transparency with the school budget and a refusal to answer our questions.” 

NPCAT did not comment about funding in its response to the York Press. Education Uncovered is asking it to provide details on the amounts charged to schools.

Its annual accounts for 2023-24 state that it charged its schools six per cent of the total amount of core (“General Annual Grant”) funding it received for them. The accounts then list figures paid by individual schools. While in some cases these look relatively high, with the highest-charged school, a secondary, paying nearly £590,000 for the year, they do not resemble the sector-outlier figures that a 20 per cent-plus topslice would imply.

The trust has this month seen the departure of its chief executive, Hugh Hegarty, who received £215-£220,000 in salary last year. This had been an increase of at least £15,000 or 7.5 per cent on figure for the previous year. The NEU says his salary rose 75 per cent in four years. He also received £30-£35,000 in employers’ pension contributions in 2023-24.

The clear-out of the trust’s board saw eight trustees leave during February.

The York Press reported that St George’s was completely closed to pupils on Tuesday and Wednesday, while All Saints was only open to pupils in years 10 and 12. Further strike dates have been lined up for these two schools next month, while a third school, Our Lady Queen of Martyrs, could join in, the local paper reported. The strikes had previously happened on two days during April and May.