Councils should have more power to help struggling schools, says report

An LGA report has said that Regional Schools Commissioners (RSCs) lack the “capability and capacity” to oversee school improvement on a wide scale.

The Education and Adoption Act 2016 gave RSCs parallel powers with councils to intervene in council-maintained schools, with councils having to ask permission from RSCs before they use their powers to turn around failing schools.

What’s more, councils' legal role in overseeing and improving school standards is also proposed to come to an end under the Education for All Bill which will be considered by Parliament early next year.

But there are currently just eight RSCs responsible for almost a quarter of schools in England, totalling more than 5,000 academies and free schools. Each RSC is currently working with, on average, nearly 100 academies that are rated less than good, or around one in six of the inspected schools they have responsibility for. This is in addition to those schools currently unrated.

“It is simply asking too much to expect RSCs to effectively turn around dozens of schools across a huge area,” says Cllr Richard Watts, Chair of the LGA's Children and Young People Board.

To support the fact that councils are doing a good job at keeping standards high in schools, the report reveals that 89 per cent of council-maintained schools are rated as good or outstanding, compared to 62 per cent of sponsored academies; 88.5 per cent of convertor academies; and 82 per cent of free schools.

Cllr Richard Watts, said: "Local councils have consistently proven themselves to be more effective at raising school standards than Regional School Commissioners, and this is no surprise. Each council is working with fewer schools, who they have good, long-standing relationships with, and they know what's needed in their local areas.”

"Clearly where a school is failing, regardless of whether it's council-maintained or an academy that an RSC is responsible for, action must be taken swiftly to raise standards. However, that action will be different for every school, and simply changing a structure is rarely the answer. Schools must have the freedom to choose the best structure for their pupils, whether that's working with their council, a sponsor or the local RSC.

"We would urge the Government to re-consider its plans for full academisation and to focus on working with councils to ensure all our children get the excellent education they deserve."

In its submission to the Treasury ahead of the Autumn Statement, the LGA has called on the Government to take advantage of councils' unique position in the community and give them a clear and strategic role in overseeing local schools systems, accompanied by appropriate resources, powers and flexibilities, so that they can support local school improvement and hold schools to account for education standards.