Nicky Morgan has U-turned on plans to force all schools in the country to convert to academies after a backlash from Tory councillors and MPs.
Under initial plans, all schools would have become academies by 2022.
However, Ms Morgan has backed down after a string of Conservative criticism from within both local and central government.
Essex CC cabinet member for education Ray Goodling, who wrote to the education secretary last week to oppose the plans, said that, while he agreed with the concept of academies, ‘they are not a magic solution’.
He said: ‘We would much rather schools continue to choose for themselves whether to go down the academy route and I am pleased the Government has listened.’
Ms Morgan said that after listening to the feedback from parliamentary colleagues and the education sector the Government would ‘now change the path’ to reach the goal of academisation.
She said: ‘By focusing our efforts on those schools most at risk of failing young people and encouraging good and outstanding schools to seize the opportunities of conversion, we will ensure the continued growth of the academy programme, empowering frontline heads and school leads and transforming even more children’s education.’
A statement from the Department for Education said: ‘As a result of conversations the Government has decided, while reaffirming our continued determination to see all schools to become academies in the next six years, that it is not necessary to bring legislation to bring about blanket conversion of all schools to achieve this goal.’
Leader of Surrey CC and the Local Government Association (LGA) Conservative group Cllr David Hodge said he looked forward to working with Ms Morgan to get the final policy right.
County Councils Network and leader of Conservative-run Kent CC Paul Carter welcomed the decision, having previously warned the reforms would threaten the viability of smaller rural schools.
He said: ‘We support academies where they will improve education for our young people but it is vital local choice remains.’
Reacting to the news, former executive director of the Association of Directors of Children’s Services Chris Waterman told The MJ this ‘undermines everything that was in the white paper’.
He said: ‘Why has it taken the Government as long as this to realise the value of local input to education?
‘This will continue to expose academies to the invidious and odious comparisons with local authority schools.’
‘What is interesting is that Nicky Morgan put all her eggs in one basket. Now all we have is one hell of an omelette because it has scrambled every one of her basic tenets.’
This is the second time the Government has backed down over key policies this week after David Cameron said he would no longer stand in the way of a Lords amendment to resettle unaccompanied children seeking asylum who are currently in Europe.
Mr Waterman claimed the U-turns were ‘all about shoring up Cameron’s leadership of the Tory party’.
He said: ‘If the prime minister is defeated on these issues he won’t just be out of Europe, he’ll be out of Westminster.
‘Two U-turns make a flat spin.’
He added this was a ‘powerful lesson’ for the Government about the value of putting out a green paper instead of ‘going straight for a white paper’.
Chair of the Local Government Association’s children and young people board Cllr Roy Perry was ‘delighted’ that the Government was listening to opposition.
He said: ‘It is right [good] schools should not be forced down the academy route unless they make that decision themselves.’
He said recent Ofsted figures showed ‘inadequate council-maintained schools were more likely to improve if they stayed within local authority control.
Cllr Perry added: ‘This clearly demonstrates councils are education improvement partners, rather than barriers to delivering the high quality education our children deserve.
‘Councils stand ready to help all schools, regardless of their Ofsted rating or status.’
