School leaders are set to face increased workloads due to updates to the Academy Trust Handbook being delayed until after the general election, a headteachers’ union has said.
The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) confirmed in a letter to academy trust accounting officers today that the ESFA must pause communicating anything “new or novel” in the pre-election period.
This includes the updated Academy Trust Handbook for the new academic year, which will now be delayed until after the election that is being held on 4 July.
The letter also tells academy trusts that the 2024 budget forecast returns (BFR) will be extended until 29 August.
This is similar to the extension for last year’s returns, but is also to “allow trusts the opportunity to factor any post-election announcements into their return”.
Work could ‘easily spill over into summer’
Emma Harrison, business leadership specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders, warned that the timelines set out in the letter to academy trusts are likely to mean an increased workload for school leaders and could mean working during the summer holidays.
She said: “Publishing the Academy Trust Handbook after the general election does not give trusts very much time before the end of term to deal with any implications and that could easily spill over into the holiday period.”
The letter from ESFA CEO David Withey reads: “Given the election announcement, the publication of the handbook will now be delayed until after the election.
“As you will appreciate, any updates to the handbook will require ministerial approval and therefore, as with the BFR, we will provide you with an update at the earliest opportunity.”
The Department for Education confirmed yesterday that the government will not be publishing its response to the School Teachers’ Review Body recommendations for teacher pay until after the election, which means no decision on teacher pay for 2024-25.
Ms Harrison warned trusts cannot complete the BFR until they know the pay award for 2024-25.
She said: “It is very regrettable that government business grinds to a standstill in these circumstances and it would have been better if action had been taken by the government at an earlier stage to find ways of avoiding these problems.
“Yet again school leaders are just expected to shoulder an additional burden.”
The letter further confirmed that previously allocated funding would still be delivered during the period up to the election on 4 July. However, the ESFA said there will not be any new announcements on funding levels.
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