Not a single school was able to successfully use a government-run service designed to help them secure cheaper energy deals in the final three months before it closed, data seen by Tes shows.
Crown Commercial Service’s (CCS) School Switch platform claimed to be able to help schools “save money” and access “bespoke tariffs” - but figures obtained by Tes under a freedom of information request show that no schools completed a successful energy switch using it in 2022.
In fact, the number of switches completed on the service this year is recorded as “minus 3” in government statistics, because three failed switches were attempted.
Crown Commercial Service said there could be several reasons why this might happen, including outstanding debt on an account causing the outgoing supplier to object to the switch.
One school did successfully switch its provider in December last year, though none switched in November.
The number of switches completed using the service, which was set up in 2018, was always relatively low, but there has never been a three-month period with no successful transfers before.
At its peak, in May 2020, 63 switches were completed using the service.
Data shows that the service was attracting interest from potential customers, with 287 unique visitors opening its website in March 2022, and 269 in February.
Julie McCulloch, director of policy at the Association of School and College Leaders, said that while the service was “well-intentioned”, the figures showed that it had “obviously not worked very well in practice”.
“The government’s decision not to continue with this service is understandable in this context but it still leaves schools with the huge problem of spiralling energy costs”, she added.
James Robson, chairman of energy broker Powerful Allies - an approved partner of the Institute for School Business Leadership - said that the service was neither “transparent nor comprehensive” and that his company was often faced with the challenge of helping schools that had tried to use it without success.
In the weeks before, the service had been criticised by heads for including Russian state supplier Gazprom among the 11 firms it supplied quotes from.
The move to shut the service came as schools grappled with record-high energy prices.
Last month, the Department for Education said it was looking into how schools were being affected by energy price increases so it could consider what “additional support” it could provide.
Schools were invited to complete a survey setting out how much they were paying for gas and electricity, and whether their contracts were coming to an end.
Responding to the data, a government spokesperson said it recognised the impact of global energy price rises on schools and said it had introduced an extra £4 billion in core funding “to help meet these cost pressures”.
They added: “We will continue to work with schools and academies to understand what further support can be offered, including helping them join framework agreements and other tools that reduce costs.”
Core schools funding will increase by £4 billion compared to 2021-22, but the Institute for Fiscal Studies has previously projected that spending per pupil in 2024 will be at about the same level as in 2010, as it fell by 9 per cent in real terms between 2009-10 and 2019-20.
