PROPOSED ACADEMIES LEGISLATION

That this House notes with serious concern and rejects the Secretary of State for Education's proposals to expand the number of academies by conferring on all school governing bodies the right for their school to become an academy without proper consultation with parents, school staff or the local authority; notes the Secretary of State for Education's recent invitation to all schools deemed outstanding to become academies; and believes these plans will result in further disadvantage to already disadvantaged children and families, and raise fundamental issues such as loss of local democratic accountability, excessive cost, lack of fairness and administrative confusion.