House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 26 July 2007 (pt 0035)

26 July 2007 : Column 1377W—continued

Academies: Accounts

Ms Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families whether (a) members of local governing bodies and (b) parents are entitled to ask to inspect the financial accounts of academy schools. [151707]

Jim Knight: Academies are charitable companies, and therefore must prepare and file annual accounts with the Charity Commission. Academies are also required to prepare an annual report for the Charity Commissioners, and ensure that their accounts are independently audited. All accounts are available from the Charity Commission’s website at:

http://www.charity-commission.gov.uk/

Academies: Capital Investment

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what proportion of capital investment on schools was accounted for by capital investment in academies in each year from 2001-02 to 2006-07; what proportion is planned to be so accounted for in each year from 2007-08 to 2015-16 for which plans have been made; and if he will make a statement. [151881]

Jim Knight: The following table details the capital provision for academies as a proportion of the corresponding figure for all schools, where such provision is known.

Budgets for subsequent years will depend on the final allocation of the Department’s current and future Comprehensive Spending Review settlements.

	All schools	Academies (£ million)	Academies as a proportion of all schools (%)
2001-02⁽¹⁾	⁽¹⁾2,409.0	4.2	0.2
2002-03⁽¹⁾	⁽¹⁾3,483.0	61.8	1.8
2003-04⁽¹⁾	⁽¹⁾4,144.0	130.3	3.1
2004-05⁽¹⁾	⁽¹⁾4,861.0	222.1	4.6
2005-06⁽¹⁾	⁽¹⁾5,262.0	251.7	4.8
2006-07⁽²⁾	⁽¹⁾4,984.0	385.7	7.7
2007-08⁽³⁾	⁽³⁾6,320.0	517.0	8.2
^{(1 )}Actual outturn ^{(2 )}Estimated outturn ^{(3 )}Current baseline

26 July 2007 : Column 1378W

Academies: Curriculum

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what changes there have been since 1 January 2007 in the freedoms enjoyed by academies in relation to the curriculum; and if he will make a statement. [151937]

Jim Knight: In his statement to the House of 10 July 2007, the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families announced that all future funding agreements will require Academies to follow the National Curriculum Programmes of Study in English, Maths, Science and ICT.

The Department will not seek to change the curriculum requirements of Academies which have Funding Agreements already, but we would welcome any move by Academy Trusts to voluntarily adopt the new clause. Five Academies which are planned to open in September 2007 have already agreed that they will either sign or amend their existing Funding Agreements to incorporate these changes.

Academies: Governing Bodies

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families from what date academies were required to have one elected parent governor and one governor appointed by the local authority; and if he will make a statement. [151990]

Jim Knight: All Academy governing bodies have been required to include a parent governor and a local authority governor since the first Academies were opened in September 2002. This is incorporated in their Memorandum and Articles of Association which forms part of their Funding Agreement.

Academies: Local Authorities

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many academies have been co-sponsored by local authorities; and if he will make a statement. [149929]

Jim Knight: The Department welcomes and values the input and influence of local authorities in academy projects as partners and/or co-sponsors. 20 academies have been co-sponsored by local authorities to date.

Academies: Sponsorship

Mr. Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what total sponsorship each academy (a) has received to date and (b) has had pledged; and if he will make a statement. [150910]

Jim Knight: Sponsorship for the first academies was provided in the form of a financial contribution towards the capital cost of buildings. However, we have changed the sponsorship model and sponsors will now, in most cases, establish an endowment fund. To date, only one open academy, St. Mark's Academy in Merton, has this form of sponsorship. The amount of sponsorship pledged to each academy and recorded in their funding agreement is set out in the following table. The total sponsorship contribution is broken down and
26 July 2007 : Column 1379W
made to academy trusts in instalments to pay invoices over the lifetime of the building project. Trusts submit the invoices to the Department to confirm that sponsorship has been paid and used in accordance with funding agreements. In many instances, the invoices sent to the Department to confirm the capital contribution by the sponsor, also shown in the following table, do not keep pace with the actual payments made by the sponsor to the trust. If confirmation of the sponsor's capital contribution falls significantly behind the expected payment profile, officials approach academy trusts direct seeking explanations for apparent shortfalls, with a view to regularising the position.

26 July 2007 : Column 1380W

£000
Academy with signed funding agreement	Total sponsorship pledged	Total confirmed capital contribution from sponsor to end of June 2007
Manchester	2,000	⁽³⁾1,353
Lambeth	2,000	⁽³⁾1,686
Northampton	2,000	⁽³⁾799
Paddington	1,500	⁽³⁾429
Salford	1,600	⁽³⁾214
Barnsley	1,500	⁽³⁾27
Walthamstow	1,500	⁽³⁾27
Sheffield Springs	1,500	1,500
Sheffield Park	1,000	1,000
Stockport	1,500	⁽³⁾202
Peckham	2,000	2,986
Harris Academy South Norwood	2,000	⁽⁵⁾250
Harris Bermondsey	1,500	⁽²⁾0
Harris Merton	500	⁽²⁾0
Kings	2,000	2,006
Trinity, Doncaster	2,000	2,000
Haberdashers'—Hatcham	705	705
Haberdashers'— Knights	296	296
Marlowe	2,735	⁽³⁾2,455
Folkestone	2,250	⁽³⁾887
Walsall	2,500	2,565
Sandwell	2,790	⁽³⁾2,119
Bexley	2,410	2,462
Greig	2,000	⁽³⁾1,664
Unity	2,000	1,948
Capital City, Brent	2,000	1,993
City of London	2,000	2,000
City Academy, Bristol	2,499	⁽³⁾1,670
West London, Ealing	2,000	2,000
London, Barnet	1,500	1,490
Mossbourne	2,150	⁽³⁾1,631
Stockley	2,000	1,953
St. Francis of Assisi	2,000	⁽⁵⁾950
The Harefield	1,500	⁽⁴⁾42
Dixons CTC	651	612
David Young, Leeds	1,500	⁽⁵⁾1,000
Grace, Solihull	2,000	2,000
Westminster	2,000	⁽²⁾0
Thomas Deacon	10,500	⁽²⁾0
St Paul's—Greenwich	2,000	⁽³⁾200
John Madejski, Reading	2,000	⁽³⁾1,895
The Bridge, Hackney	2,000	⁽⁴⁾487
Samworth Enterprise	2,443	⁽³⁾131
Petchey	2,000	⁽³⁾1,545
North Liverpool	1,000	⁽⁴⁾0
Bradford Cathedral	1,000	⁽²⁾0
Macmillan	1,250	⁽³⁾400
Djanogly	0	0
St. Matthew Lewisham	2,000	⁽⁴⁾600
Enfield	2,000	⁽²⁾0
Slough Langley	2,000	⁽³⁾500
Leigh Technology	2,000	⁽²⁾0
St. Mary Magdalene—Islington	2,000	⁽³⁾500
Bristol 2 Withywood	2,000	⁽²⁾0
Newcastle Excelsior	2,000	1,961
Corby City	2,000	⁽²⁾0
Ashcroft Technology	960	⁽²⁾0
Landau Forte College	460	⁽³⁾2
St. Mark's Academy—Merton	2,000	⁽¹⁾0
⁽¹⁾ £2 million sponsorship to be invested in endowment fund as opposed to towards capital costs. ⁽²⁾ None due to be paid up to end June 2007. ⁽³⁾ Amount paid up to end June 2007 in accordance with the agreed pattern of instalments. ⁽⁴⁾ Instalment plan to be revised pending re-schedule of building works. ⁽⁵⁾ In discussion with trust with a view to agreeing payment later this year.

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