The influential public accounts committee has demanded answers from education officials after Schools Week revealed a promise to publish academy scandal investigations had been ditched.
The Department for Education has published 27 academy investigation reports since 2012 under a promise to be “fair and transparent about how public money is spent”.
But in October, an “outcome” report after an eight-year investigation into the Lilac Sky Schools Trust was published.
Unlike full reports, the “outcome” publication had few details, totalling just three pages. Full published reports are normally at least ten pages, with some as many as 30.
Government was berated by the Public Accounts Committee in 2019 for not being “sufficiently transparent about the results of inquiries into concerns” about financial management and governance of trusts.
One of its commitments following the criticism was to publish the results of investigations within two months of the work being completed.
But Schools Week revealed the DfE has quietly changed its policy to now only publish investigation “outcomes”.
‘Concern investigation changes hinder transparency’
Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, PAC chair (pictured above left), has now raised “concern that the [publication] changes hinder transparency and do not align with the view of the committee” from its 2019 report.
He has demanded an explanation from DfE permanent secretary Susan Acland-Hood in a letter published Thursday.
Acland-Hood has been asked to set out how the department “considered transparency against other factors, such as timeliness, when changing [its] guidance to ensure evidence-based decision”.
He also wants assurances on how officials will “ensure sufficient information is available to the sector to understand gaps in practice and learn lessons with just investigation outcomes published”.
The additional information will “allow my committee to consider whether publication of investigation outcomes, rather than reports, on a timely basis sufficiently complies with the substance of the Committee’s 2019 recommendation”.
The DfE said previously its commitment was still met by publishing outcome reports.
Doing so “enables the investigation team to publish the pertinent information from these reports without an overly protracted” legal process, such as allowing those criticised to provide a response.
This rule, known as the Maxwellisation process, has “historically led to significant delay in publishing investigation outcomes”, the DfE added
The change also enables the government investigation team to “spend more time on its core function of investigating fraud and financial irregularity across the academy trust and further education sectors”.
The DfE was approached for comment.
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