Shropshire schools face £5,000 bill to convert to academies

Both authorities are set to defy the Government by sending schools looking to opt out of their control a bill for £5,000.

Around one in five schools in the region have so far taken the option to become academies. They have not been charged – but both councils say they can no longer justify absorbing the cost of the process in future.

The Department of Education, which actively encourages academies, has ruled that councils should "support schools" and that no fee should be charged.

But Staffordshire Council rebelled earlier this year by unveiling plans for a £6,000 fee and now Shropshire Council is likely to be among the first to follow suit.

Academies are free from local authority control and are allowed to manage their own budgets.

So far, there are 26 academies in the Shropshire Council area, with another seven conversions expected over the autumn term. It will bring the total to about 21 per cent of all Shropshire's schools.

In Telford, seven out of 13 secondary schools are academies, but only four out of 46 primaries have taken the step.

The new charges could be put in place as early as January. Headteachers and governing bodies have not yet been advised or consulted.

Shropshire Council officer Karen Bradshaw said processing costs are currently met by the council, but she added: "With the combination of reduced local authority funding and the anticipated increasing numbers of academy conversions, the approach of absorbing the costs of this work is no longer sustainable.

"A report is going to cabinet on September 28 proposing the introduction of a charge for converting schools to cover council costs, to be charged against the Government grant they receive for costs relating to the conversion process."

The Department for Education currently provides schools up to £25,000 in a grant to convert, and Ms Bradshaw said the £5,000 was a "reasonable proportion" of the grant to cover council costs.

While plans to force "blanket academisation" of schools were earlier this year changed, it is still believed that many schools will convert to academies or become part of a multi-academy trust.

Ms Bradshaw said: "The increased income from charging converting schools will cover the costs for the range of service teams directly involved in processing the transfer of schools from maintained to academy status and any additional services commissioned where the council's capacity is limited, as the number and rate of conversions is anticipated to be significantly greater in the next few years given the Government's policy direction on academisation."

Ms Bradshaw added that if the current Government policy on academies remains in place, it will see the council required to manage about 24 conversions a year to 2021/22.

She said: "This will require an increased call on the council resources."

Telford & Wrekin Council spokesman Russell Griffin said: ""In line with many local authorities, we are considering the implications of the government's policy move towards academisation. The subject of charges to cover the costs of conversion will be reviewed as part of this process."