Public Accounts Committee

Avatar Image

Henry Stewart: Academies: Where Did The £1 Billion Go?

When the National Audit Office revealed the £1 billion overspend on academies, many assumed this was caused by the incentives paid to individual schools to convert.  At the Public Accounts Committee Margaret Hodge noted (p28) that 78% of schools that converted did so because of the extra money available and quoted Christopher Cook's analysis in the Financial Times, which found ... read more and comment →

18 comments

Latest comment by Tubby Isaacs: "Not convinced by all of that. Not least because the DfE didn't say it, but muttered something about underspends elsewhere. Which LEA schools have no insurance? Isn't it compulsory? And even if there really are these unfunded liabilities, that's not how ......"

Comment + Debate
Avatar Image

Henry Stewart: Public Accounts Committee Produces Damning Report on Academies Programme

(Local Schools Network press release in response to Public Accounts Committee report, April 23rd) The Public Accounts Committee today reports that a £1 billion overspend at the Department of Education “has been caused by the excessively complex and inefficient academy funding system”. Despite having a majority of Conservative MPs, the Committee has delivered a report that is highly critical of the ... read more and comment →

5 comments

Latest comment by Janet Downs: "Ivan - I suspect that supporters of the Government are going to pick up and run with the item in the 2011 OECD Economic Survey of the UK which said that Local Authorities (LAs) only distributed £3,000 of every £4,000 ......"

Comment + Debate
Avatar Image

LocalSchoolsNetwork: PAC Press Notice: Managing the Expansion of the Academies Programme

This is the press release issued by the Public Accounts Committee, after its report on the £1 billion overspend identified by the National Audit Office in the government's academies programme:   The Rt Hon Margaret Hodge MP, Chair of the Committee of Public Accounts, today said: “Academy schools lie outside local authority control and are directly accountable to central government. It is therefore ... read more and comment →

No comments

Be the first to comment!

Comment + Debate
Avatar Image

Janet Downs: A brilliant BrightBlue idea: yet another right-wing think-tank promotes for-profit schools

A Conservative think-tank proposes for-profit schools, the Independent revealed today. It’s not the first right-wing think-tank to push this line.  Policy Exchange has done it, even getting Gove's approval before the last election. So has the Adam Smith Institute. BrightBlue is just the latest. No doubt there’ll be more before the election – softening up the voters to view private sector ... read more and comment →

No comments

Be the first to comment!

Comment + Debate
Avatar Image

Janet Downs: Watchdogs on the side of the angels

Two watchdogs which investigate whether the Government spends taxpayers’ money wisely, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) and the National Audit Office (NAO), appeared on BBC Radio 4’s File on Four four months after the NAO published its report describing the risks and opportunities of delivering public services through market mechanisms. Margaret Hodge, PAC chair, told the BBC that “due diligence” was missing in ... read more and comment →

No comments

Be the first to comment!

Comment + Debate
Avatar Image

Janet Downs: “Huge profits being earned by major private companies at taxpayers’ expense,” says BBC

BBC Radio 4’s “File on Four” investigated outsourcing in the light of failures such as the collapse of West Coast mainline plans and the G4S Olympic fiasco. The rush to sign outsourcing contracts, the BBC concluded, could lead to undesirable consequences such as being tied into contracts which delivered inferior services and offered poor value. Margaret Hodge, chair of the Public ... read more and comment →

3 comments

Latest comment by Janet Downs: "Last night's Channel 4 Dispatches, Getting Rich on the NHS, (shown again tonight at 8pm on 4seven) investigated Virgin Care. The programme featured one surgery where the number of full-time GPs had fallen and opening times were not extended ......"

Comment + Debate
Avatar Image

Fiona Millar: The PM needs to get his facts straight on school funding and accountability

At a recent session of the Liaison Committee, the parliamentary committee at which chairs of all select committees are given the chance to quiz the Prime Minister, the chair of the Public Accounts Committee Margaret Hodge put some pithy questions to the PM about value for money and accountability with  increasing private and voluntary sector involvement in public services. The ... read more and comment →

37 comments

Latest comment by Rodger Williams: "If you hold your own admissions test and run your own random admissions draw you will have plenty of scope to manipulate the ability of your cohort if you choose to. So there would be no need for the school to ......"

Comment + Debate
Avatar Image

Janet Downs: Deception about academies has been going on since they first opened

The first three academies, Business Academy, Greig City, and Unity City were opened in 2002. In 2005, the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) told potential sponsors: “In 2003, their first year, the average 5+ A*-C results in the three open Academies was 24%, compared to an average of 16% in their predecessor schools in the previous year [2001].” But one of ... read more and comment →

11 comments

Latest comment by Teaching in the modern world – teachers need multiple approaches to improve learning in today’s classrooms and governments should nurture teachers. | Local Schools Network: "[...] his increasingly confrontational approach towards teachers. Politicians support their policies with deception and misleading data disseminated by facile tweets, glossy marketing and soundbites unsupported by [...]..."

Comment + Debate
Avatar Image

Janet Downs: What did the four pieces of evidence cited by school minister really say about academies?

Schools Minister, Nick Gibb, said there was sound evidence that academies increased attainment and used this to justify academy conversion for primary schools. He listed four reports: 1 London School of Economics 2011 which Channel 4 Factcheck had investigated and found there were weaknesses and the report’s conclusion about the “academy effect” was contradicted by other reports. 2 PriceWaterhouseCooper (PwC) 2008 report ... read more and comment →

One comment

Latest comment by Paul Martin: "May I also recommend "Academies and achievement: setting the record straight" http://www.changingschools.org.uk/academiesfolder/complete%20report.pdf by Dr Terry Wrigley (Leeds Metropolitan University) and Dr Afroditi Kalambouka (University of Manchester)?..."

Comment + Debate