Stephen Timms – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Stephen Timms on 2016-06-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to ensure that multi-academy trusts are accountable to the parents of students in those academies.

Edward Timpson

Our White Paper Educational Excellence Everywhere set out the Government’s intention to introduce a new duty on academies to ensure that they listen to the views and needs of all parents, particularly when key decisions are made about their child’s school. For Multi Academy Trusts (MATs) we will expect all academies to engage meaningfully at a local level.

We are committed to ensuring parents have a more significant voice in their child’s school. Through the new Parent Portal, we will ensure parents have access to clear and simple information about the school system and how to support their child. This will work alongside the new performance tables website which is making it easier for parents to find out how well their child’s school is performing and to compare schools across a range of key measures.

We will provide guidance on handling complaints to ensure a common approach for all schools and MATs so that all parents know where they can go if a problem arises. In addition, we will make it simpler for parents to escalate complaints to the Department, and beyond that to a public service ombudsman.

Finally, we are considering how parents might petition Regional Schools Commissioners for their child’s school to move to a different MAT where there is underperformance or other exceptional circumstances.