Around 30 university technical colleges (UTCs) will be part of a multi-academy trust (MAT) in the next year, according to the Department for Education’s permanent secretary Jonathan Slater. 

Speaking at a public accounts committee hearing about how the government plans to support UTCs, Mr Slater said that the government was working with UTCs and MATs to ensure “financial sustainability of the trust if they are to take on a UTC”. 

Currently 21 UTCs across England are part of a MAT group.

Background: UTCs: Half full, closing down and underperforming

More: ‘Poor leadership and governance’ behind UTC failures

Baker Dearing Trust: Meet the man on a mission to make a success of UTCs

Labour MP and committee chair Meg Hillier asked Mr Slater what happened if a MAT did not want to take on a UTC with a big deficit, and pointed out that UTCs account for 10 per cent of all MAT deficit.

In response, Mr Slater said: “Back in 2017, seven UTCs were in MATs, today it’s 21 and it will be 30 in the next year or so. Not because we are going to force multi-academy trusts to take institutions with ongoing concern - that wouldn’t be to anyone’s advantage - but because of the way the department is working with those UTCS and with MATs to ensure financial sustainability of those trusts or not to close them down.

“I’m not going to say we won’t have further financial challenges, I’m not saying every UTC is going to be fine forever, what we are doing is making sure those standalone UTCs are placed in trusts in a sustainable way.”

The copyright of UTC

Ms Hiller asked if MATs would get extra money for taking on a UTC.

In response to this, Mr Slater said: “If a school gets into financial difficulty, whether it’s a UTC or any other, and it needs new governance, funding often goes with that as is set out in the NAO report.” 

Ms Hiller also asked Mr Slater about the license fee for the UTC brand. As the Baker Dearing Trust owns the copyright of “UTC”, a MAT would have to pay a license fee to the Baker Dearing Trust if it was to adopt a UTC. She asked Mr Slater to confirm if this was the case.

He said: “That’s a matter between the UTC and the Baker Dearing Trust and not a matter of the government.

“Schools get support and services from all over the place and that’s a matter for the schools and in this case the trusts and not a matter for the department. Whether they are paying the Baker Dearing trust for something or not, our expectations of them are the same.”

He confirmed that no extra funding was awarded for that cost.