Four major school staff unions have urged education secretary Nadhim Zahawi to intervene to halt “forced” academisation in a Catholic Diocese, saying the governing bodies of the 19 schools affected have not applied to become academies.
Union leaders have raised concerns that academy orders have been “issued to schools in Hallam Diocese ‘unlawfully’” and that there has been “an abuse of process”.
The Association of School and College Leaders, the NAHT school leaders’ union, the National Education Union and Unison have written to the education secretary to start legal action against the move by the Department for Education and the Catholic Diocese of Hallam, which runs schools in the North and Midlands.
They have urged Mr Zahawi to confirm that academy orders that have been issued are void and of no effect.
The action was launched in response to letters issued by a DfE regional schools commissioner to staff in voluntary aided schools in the Hallam Diocese “informing them that they would be forced to join multi-academy trusts”.
The unions say the only way schools can be forced to become academies is if they are eligible for intervention - and that none of the schools in the Hallam Diocese fall into this category.
This means the education secretary can only issue an academy order on the application of the governing body of the school.
In a joint statement issued today, the unions say the governing bodies of the 19 schools affected claim this never happened and that they did not agree to begin the process of academisation.
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “We are deeply concerned by what appears to be an abuse of the process of schools becoming academies.
“It is perfectly clear that the decision must come from governing bodies and yet this appears to have been flagrantly ignored. Education secretary Nadhim Zahawi must intervene and put a stop to this sorry episode.”
Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the National Education Union, said these decisions were “too important to be imposed on schools by the Diocese”.
“Becoming an academy and joining a large multi-academy trust is a one-way street,” he said, adding: “It is essential that governors and school leaders make these decisions and include the staff and wider school community in the discussion.”
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT school leaders union, said unions had no choice but to challenge actions through the courts when the legislation and processes that exist to ensure reasonable treatment are “ignored or abused”.
He added: ”Actions that lack transparency and have been viewed as underhand will fail to win the hearts and minds of educators who truly do have the interests of the young people in their care at the forefront of their deliberations”
Letter to Zahawi
In their letter to the education secretary, the unions state: ”We understand that the governing bodies of these schools have not applied to the secretary of state for academy orders. The academy orders appear to have been made on the application of and/or at the behest of the Diocese.
“The secretary of state is invited to confirm in writing that the academy orders are void and of no effect, and to notify the Diocese, the Schools and the local authorities responsible for maintaining the schools that the academy orders are void and of no legal effect.”
The Hallam Diocese and the DfE have been approached for a comment.
