Ministers should cut the ‘red tape' on the funding of academies and let councils take charge in areas where they form the majority of schools, the Local Government Association has reported.
According to LGA material published on 19 October, there are already 29 local authority areas where more than half of all secondary schools are new-style academies and more than 575 academies are planned in other council areas.
Council leaders believe taking responsibility for academies would meet their statutory duty to ‘promote high standards and the fulfilment of potential' of pupils, as well as the role set out in the education secretary Michael Gove's Schools White Paper for them to act as ‘champions of educational excellence' for all local schools.
Academies are funded and supported by the Young Peoples Learning Agency, which is linked to the Department for Education and is to be replaced by the new Education Funding Agency after April next year.
Cllr David Simmonds, chairman of the LGA's children and young people board, said: ‘Calculating funding for academies need be no different to what councils do for maintained schools. Having the YPLA or the EFA replicate the process in Whitehall simply isn't cost effective for the taxpayer.
‘Localism suggests that Government supports council. They remain perfectly placed to work with local schools to oversee a fair admissions process, drive up standards and encourage improvement.'
A related report issued today by the National Audit Office has warned many local authority maintained schools may not receive enough support to cope with financial pressures such as reducing staff costs while maintaining education standards.
A survey conducted by the spending watchdog and published on 19 October showed 40% of local authorities feel they lack sufficient resources to provide effective support to schools, and almost half of those authorities are set to cut the amount of staff time spent assisting schools.
Amyas Morse, head of the National Audit Office said: ‘There must be early warning systems in place to alert he Department for Education to emerging issues requiring action and intervention.'
