Senior officials from the Department for Education have faced questioning this afternoon from MPs over academy finances.

The DfE’s permanent secretary Susan Acland-Hood was among those giving evidence to the Commons Public Accounts Committee today.

Here is everything you need to know.

Academies: Number of schools converting falls by half

DfE: Primary schools fear losing autonomy through academisation

Zahawi: Education secretary won’t set ‘arbitrary date’ for academy conversions

The RSC system could be shaken up

The system of regional schools commissioners, which provides oversight of the academies programme for the Department for Education, could be shaken up.

Regional schools commissioner roles were created in 2014, with eight new regions being drawn up. This RSC map saw England divided into eight new regions. As part of this, London was split into three separate areas and Lancashire and West Yorkshire are classed as being in one area.

The department’s permanent secretary Ms Acland-Hood told MPs that the DfE was looking at reviewing the eight RSC regions. She said one possible scenario would bring the RSC areas into line with the existing nine government regions, but she did not commit to when this would happen.

The current RSC regions are: the South West; South East of England and South London; East of England and North East London; North West London and South Central England; East Midlands and the Humber; the West Midlands; Lancashire and West Yorkshire; and the North.

The main government regions are: the South West; the South East; London; the West Midlands; the East Midlands; the East of England; the North East; the North West; and Yorkshire and Humber.

Covid impacted on academy conversions

Ms Acland-Hood was asked why Covid had disrupted the conversion of maintained schools to academies but not the creation of new free schools.

She told the committee that the sector had “other things on its mind” during the pandemic when asked about the number of existing schools converting to academies.

However, she said the DfE had been able to ensure that the free school programme continued at a similar rate, with 63 new schools opening through this route in 2019-20.

Tes reported last year that the number of schools converting to academies fell by almost 50 per cent in 2020.

A report published by the Department for Education revealed that 474 schools converted to academy status in 2019-20, compared with 908 in 2018-19.

It also showed that the rate at which schools have been converting to academies has been slowing down over a four-year period.

The DfE wants evidence that trusts can run primary schools

Ms Acland-Hood was asked whether the government preferred trusts to be primary school or secondary school specialists or whether it was happy for MATs to run both.

She said the DfE did not have a “house view” on whether MATs should only run schools in one phase of education.

But she added: “Any trust that is taking on a primary school needs to be able to demonstrate that they understand the effective running of primary schools - which I appreciate sounds a bit glib.

“But there is something about a secondary trust not assuming they can run primary schools because they can run secondary schools, because they are different and they require different things.”

She says either model can work but adds: “It doesn’t happen by accident…the trust needs a clear view of what kind of trust they want to be and how they are going to deliver on that vision they have got about the bit of the system they want to run.”

The DfE doesn’t want MATs to have a monopoly

MPs were told that, although the DfE wants all pupils to be educated in MATs, it does not want a single trust to have a monopoly in running schools in a local area.

Ms Acland-Hood told MPs that when regional schools commissioners look at provision in their area, “we would try and avoid circumstances where there was no choice and there was only one chance running everything.”

Warwick Sharp, the director of academies and maintained schools for the Education and Skills Funding Agency, added: “RSCs will look at the extent to which growth might lead to monopoly over provision in an area. That is a factor. We do want there to be choice for parents between academy trusts as well.”

The DfE says £30,000 is still an attractive starting salary

The DfE was asked by a former adviser to the previous education secretary whether there were any plans to increase the starting salary beyond the £30,000 that it has already committed to.

Conservative MP Richard Holden, who worked for Gavin Williamson before he was elected as an MP himself in 2019, asked for an update on the pledge to increase teachers’ starting salaries to this level.

Ms Acland-Hood said that the DfE was committed to introducing the £30,000 salary and that this would be factored into the next round of STRB recommendations.

Mr Holden asked whether, as inflation was now at around 6 per cent and wage inflation was increasing, did the government think it needed to go higher than £30,000 for teachers’ starting salaries?

Ms Acland-Hood responded to say that £30,000 remained an attractive starting salary.

Last year, education secretary Nadhim Zahawi asked the STRB to make recommendations for two years at the same time, to move teachers starting salaries to £30,000.