Reforming how local authority school improvement functions are funded

The local authority role in school improvement has changed significantly in recent years, with the growth of school-led approaches, such as multi-academy trusts, putting school improvement in the hands of the strongest schools and school leaders.

In turn, the local authority role in school improvement in maintained schools is increasingly focused on helping their schools access the support they need from the school system.

Given these changes in respective roles and responsibilities, we believe now is the right time to revisit local authorities’ school improvement functions and how they are funded.