Overview

The Schools Bill [HL] aims to reform the regulation of academies, school funding, school attendance, independent educational institutions, and teacher misconduct in England and Wales. It introduces new requirements for the governance of academies with religious character, alters school funding formulas, strengthens school attendance measures, expands the regulation of independent institutions, and broadens the scope of teacher misconduct rules.

Description

This bill significantly impacts several areas of education:

Academies

The bill introduces stricter regulations for academies with a religious character, ensuring religious bodies have a greater say in their governance, worship, and religious education. It also grants local authorities and certain religious bodies the power to apply for academy orders and clarifies regulations for academy grammar schools. Provisions are made for secure 16-19 academies, with changes to agreement lengths and consultation requirements. Land transfer procedures between local authorities and academy trusts are also modified.

School Funding

The bill establishes a nationally determined funding formula for schools in England, allowing for different formulae for different school types and funding periods. It also introduces "locally determined supplementary allocations" and mechanisms for reallocating funds between national and local budgets, addressing budget adjustments for excluded pupils. The bill allows for more flexibility in how funding is allocated and spent by local authorities, providing them with new powers.

School Attendance

The bill introduces a new requirement for local authorities to register children of compulsory school age not in school, including mechanisms for information sharing with parents and educational providers. New school attendance orders are introduced, including preliminary notices, school nomination notices and penalties for non-compliance. It also mandates school attendance policies to improve attendance among registered pupils.

Independent Educational Institutions

The bill expands the scope of regulation for independent educational institutions, focusing on institutions providing full-time education to a certain number of children. It introduces new standards and inspection procedures, including the power to suspend registration and impose stop-boarding requirements for boarding institutions that don't meet standards. New provisions allow for more robust investigation and enforcement of regulations concerning independent educational institutions. Behavior orders may be introduced in cases of non-compliance.

Teacher Misconduct

The bill expands the teacher misconduct regime to include individuals teaching in independent educational institutions, further education institutions, special post-16 institutions, independent training providers, and online education providers.

Government Spending

The bill's impact on government spending is not explicitly detailed in the provided text. The changes to school funding formulas and the introduction of new locally determined budgets could lead to shifts in resource allocation but the overall financial implications require further analysis.

Groups Affected

• Academies (with religious character): Increased oversight and influence of religious bodies in governance.
• Local Authorities: New responsibilities for school attendance registration and enforcement, funding allocation and reallocation.
• School Governing Bodies: Changes in funding allocation and processes.
• Parents: New requirements for informing local authorities about children not attending school; potential impact from changes in school funding and school attendance policies.
• Independent Educational Institutions: Expanded regulatory oversight, new standards and inspection procedures.
• Teachers: Broader application of misconduct regulations across various educational settings.
• Students: Potential impact from changes to school funding, attendance policies and independent educational institution regulations.

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