Leader says council cannot 'hold back the tide' if more schools opt to become academies

His comments came at a cabinet meeting at which the children’s chief, Cllr Sharon Briggs set out a report about the borough’s ‘changing educational landscape’, which includes a mix of academies, free, independent and local authority schools.

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Pickstone said he still viewed academies as “not a nice thing”.

And he added that elements of the report, together with a Labour group motion set to get before next week’s full council, led him to fear a creeping academisation in the Bury.

Noting that the borough had previously taken pride in its “resistance” of academisation, he asked if the council was undertaking a change in direction.

But Cllr Shori said that while the council may not necessarily be in favour of a greater number of academies, it still had a role to play in assisting schools that model of governance.

He said: “What the motion seeks to do is have a proper process in place, the council can’t stop academisation, schools can make that judgement. But there does need to be appropriate consultation with parents, staff and crucially with governors so any judgement they do make is as reasoned as possible.

“We can’t be like King Canute, trying to hold back the tide, we already have multi-academy trusts – we’ve just had as Tottington High School.

“But it’s important that, if a school is going down that route, we make sure they chose the right partner so the Local Education Authority (LEA) still has a a role to play in an advisory capacity.”

Cllr Shori added: “Our motion is saying, ‘this is happening, we don’t necessarily want it to happen, but lets have a process in place that includes all stakeholders’.”

“Rather than us as a council shunning academisation, lets help shape it if it’s going to happen.”

Conservative leader James Daly raised concerns over school governors often being sidelined, even when it came to the “fundamental and crucial” decisions.

Cllr Briggs said the council was trying to “put together a situation that’s right for Bury.

She said: “We can’t stop schools changing other forms of governance, we can’t stop the Department for Education.

“But we can make a decision, we can either sit back and let it go on, and have more of what you’ve been describing - school governing bodies feeling like they’re not being listened to - Or we can make partnerships, move forward and try to influence.

She added: “They are children at the end of the day, we still have statutory responsibility so, wherever we can influence their education we should be at the forefront . There are lots of governance models and I would like to see a mixture in our borough.”