A publishing body has been told that there would be grounds for legal action against the Department for Education over the newly relaunched Oak National Academy, Tes has learned.
The British Educational Suppliers Association (BESA) has been told that a judicial review against the creation of Oak National Academy as a government arm’s-length body to provide curriculum resources could still be possible.
Earlier this year, in June, Tes revealed that legal action against the department over its Oak plans had been paused at the eleventh hour, as the DfE had not yet decided on crucial aspects of how the new body would be run.
At that time, although the DfE had made the decision to set up the arm’s-length body in principle, the detail and substance of how it would run had not yet been decided.
Last Wednesday, Oak relaunched as a new independent arm’s-length body and announced it was set to receive £43 million in public funding over the next three years, with plans to spend £8 million of the budget on purchasing new lesson resources.
The government also said last week that it will use £6.6 million in contingency funding to help establish the body.
Following these decisions being made, Tes understands that BESA has once again spoken with its lawyers over Oak and will now consult with its members.
However, no decisions will be made until after the mourning period of the late Queen Elizabeth II has passed.
BESA warned the department over a lack of “due process” over its plan to make Oak into a new government arm’s-length body as early as March this year after revealing its concerns.
BESA declined to comment.
A spokesperson for the DfE said: “Oak’s conversion to an arm’s-length body is an important step towards better supporting pupils’ learning by making sure teachers can access free, high-quality and adaptable curriculum resources and lesson plans.
“We recognise the importance of a competitive commercial market and so it will always be teachers who choose whether or not to use Oak’s, or any other provider’s, materials.”
On Monday, the Publishers Association urged ministers to rethink plans around the relaunch of the arm’s-length body, claiming the plans had not had proper parliamentary scrutiny.
The organisation also claimed Oak would be an “unnecessary” and “expensive burden on public funds”.
Oak National Academy has been contacted for comment.
