Education for All Bill

The government has confirmed that it will no longer be publishing the "Education for All" Bill, meaning it will no longer be a requirement for good schools to convert to academy status. In a statement to the House of Commons on 27th October, Justine Greening, the secretary of state for education, said that while her Department’s ambition remains for more schools to convert to academy status, the focus for now will be “building capacity in the system and encouraging schools to convert voluntarily” adding, “No changes to legislation are required” to achieve this.

However, it is still the government’s intention that “all schools should benefit from the freedom and autonomy that academy status brings”.

This has implications for the LA in relation to its statutory responsibilities for school improvement, as discussions indicate that the Education Services Grant – the grant for local authorities to support schools – will still be cut, yet the remaining education duties currently still remain with LAs.

There will be further consultation from January 2017 on the school system.