SCHOOL ACADEMIES

That this House is grateful to the Committee of Public Accounts for its authoritative report on school academies, but regrets that it makes dismal reading for educationalists and taxpayers; especially notes that the Department for Children, Schools and Families has admitted that it does not yet know the cost of running academies in the longer term; and, in the light of this, calls on the Department not to authorise further applications for academy development until it has more evidence on which to base realistic spending plans.