School leaders have been left “frustrated” as they await the publication of a key handbook that covers academy trusts’ financial and safeguarding responsibilities with just weeks to go before the start of the new academic year.
The annual Academy Trust Handbook, sometimes referred to as the Academies Financial Handbook, has been published in June in recent years, close to three months before the start of the new academic year.
But the document for 2022-23 still remains unpublished, with the new term now less than a month away.
And the leading sector body for academies, the Confederation of School Trusts (CST), said that a delay risked trusts not being able to respond “in a timely way” to any changes to the handbook.
The handbook contains sections on financial requirements, internal scrutiny and the duties of key people responsible for running academy trusts.
School leaders awaiting new Academy Trust Handbook
Department for Education guidance states that the handbook should be read by people in various roles at academies, including chairs of trustees, local governors, chief financial officers and governance professionals.
And it adds: “Academy trusts must comply with this handbook as a condition of their funding agreement. It provides an overarching framework for implementation of effective financial management and other controls, consistent with your obligations as publicly funded bodies”.
Rob Robson, trust leadership consultant at the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said it was “disappointing” and “frustrating” that the guidance had not yet been published.
“Trusts really do need to know of any amendments in reasonable time, and we would expect that to mean ahead of the summer holidays at the very least,” he said.
“To have a situation in which we are halfway through the summer holidays and it has still not appeared really is unacceptable, and does not help trusts in terms of their planning for the next academic year.”
Speaking about the lack of a new handbook for next year, Leora Cruddas, chief executive of the CST, said that the document was “important” to the sector.
She added: “Funding agreements place a duty on trusts to have regard to the handbook. Delays to the publication of the handbook mean that trusts are not able to respond in a timely way - through governance and policy review cycles - to any changes to the handbook.
“Trusts should not be placed in this position as it risks undermining sound governance and financial planning. We have made these points to the DfE and are working with them to ensure that these risks are mitigated.”
Stephen Morales, chief executive of the Institute of School Business Leadership, said that academies that were worried about the lack of a handbook for next year should continue to use the 2021-22 version until told otherwise.
“I would say, do not use emotional energy at this stage speculating on what is to come. From a sector point of view, just use the old handbook,’ he said.
The DfE said that the current edition of the handbook remained in force and that it would inform the sector when a new edition was published.
