6. Accountability
How accountability and assurance help to deliver a trust's strategy.
This section covers the trust quality description of accountability.
Accountability
The board holds the executive leadership team to account for the effective implementation of the trust strategy and operating plan, including in relation to the use of resources and the drivers of impact.
The board assures itself:
- of the integrity of financial information
- that there are robust risk controls and risk management systems
- that there is compliance with regulatory, contractual, and statutory requirements, including safeguarding
The board agrees:
- the annual operating plan and budget for the trust, which delivers on the trust’s strategy
- metrics and process by which progress will be assessed
The board must have robust strategic oversight of the operations and performance of the trust including:
- holding the senior executive leader to account for improving pupil and staff performance by asking the right questions, informed by data
- having a regular cycle of meetings and appropriate processes to support business and financial planning – NGA’s board reporting templates provide an effective format for recording and sharing relevant information at meetings
- managing the trust within the available resources and ensuring regularity, propriety and value for money
The board has a collective responsibility and avoids getting involved in operational matters unless the trust is in breach of a statutory duty.
The board must ensure and embed robust accountability that improves educational standards and financial performance. It is therefore essential for the board (and a committee, where it has delegated powers for education or financial data) to:
- agree a range of metrics, including both quantitative and qualitative data, to measure progress and impact
- have access to objective, high quality and timely data
- scrutinise pupil progress, attainment and financial information, comparing these with local and national benchmarks over time
- monitor and oversee school improvement and financial health
- know the questions that need to be asked of the executive leadership team
- put in place an external audit of finances and strategic priorities
Accountability in a trust also involves compliance with statutory and contractual requirements, across a range of areas, through adherence with:
- the trust’s funding agreement and articles of association
- the Academy Trust Handbook
- charity and company law
- The Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations (2014) and any other applicable education, employment and health and safety legislation
- conditions and obligations imposed by funding or regulatory bodies
- Keeping children safe in education, relating to safeguarding and safer recruitment
- the Equality Act 2010, including the public sector equality duty, as set out in section 149 of the Equality Act – trusts must actively promote equality and diversity as public authorities
- The Procurement Act 2023 and associated regulations, alongside the national procurement policy statement
- legal duties in religious measures and laws where applicable
The board is also accountable for:
- effective planning to ensure key duties, such as SEND duties and the PSED are met
- overseeing and monitoring the impact of pupil premium and other targeted funding stream conditions
Find out more about accountability from the:
- academies planning calendar
- assurance framework for trust governance from Confederation of School Trusts
- Academy Trust Handbook
- Statutory policies for trusts
6.2.1 Rigorous analysis of education data
An effective board will:
- have at least one person with the skills to interpret the full detail of educational performance data and ensure the board has a correct understanding of the trust’s educational performance
- understand the limitations of performance data, including being clear about what the data implies
- have access to objective, high quality and timely data and know the questions that need to be asked of executive leaders
- identify issues of priority that need to be addressed and discussed
- seek explanations from executive leaders where performance is below expectations
Find out more about analysing your data from:
- Making data work: teacher workload advisory group
- Eliminating unnecessary workload associated with data management
6.2.2 Sources of education data
The executive leadership team helps the board access:
- data published by the Department for Education (DfE) and Ofsted
- management information
- information on priorities for improvement
The executive leadership team is not the only source of information – the board can commission or request audit reviews from external partners.
The board:
- agrees with the senior executive leader how data will be provided – this will help the board stay focused on its strategic functions, while being mindful of staff workload
- identifies ways to validate and cross-reference the data provided by the executive leadership
Find out more about understanding and analysing school performance from:
- School and college performance measures – guidance and tools to help boards understand and analyse trust performance
- performance tables – check your trust and other trust’s performance data
- MAT performance measures statistical data release – performance data (key stages 2, 4 and 5) for MATs and sponsors
The trust’s DfE Sign-in approver can provide the board with a trustee account for:
- Analyse School Performance (ASP) – boards can look into their academy’s performance and identify its strengths and weaknesses, and trustees who lead on attainment data can analyse the ASP full report
- Ofsted Inspection Data Summary Report (IDSR) –also covers 16 to 18 provision and includes key stage 5 data
Trustees and executive leaders must maintain robust oversight of the academy trust. Trustees must ensure regularity and propriety in use of the trust’s funds, and achieve economy, efficiency and effectiveness.
A trust’s significant level of autonomy makes it important for the board to consider the regularity, propriety and value for money of trust business.
Trusts must comply with the Academy Trust Handbook as a condition of their funding agreement, including the requirements on related party transactions and executive salaries.
Trustees must take ownership of the trust’s financial sustainability and ability to operate as a going concern.
The board should:
- oversee financial performance and ensure public money is well spent
- identify the skills and experience it needs, including sufficient financial knowledge to hold the executive to account
It is important that everyone on the board has a basic understanding of the financial cycle, legal requirements on accountability, procurement and an oversight of the trust’s spending.
The board must:
- use the school resource management self-assessment checklist to ensure its trust is meeting the right standards to achieve good financial health and resource management
- submit the trust’s checklist online to DfE, through a link on the page
- maintain adequate accounting records and prepare an annual report and accounts in accordance with the Charity Commission’s Statement of Recommended Practice (SORP) and the Academies accounts direction
Find out more about financial management for trusts from:
- Academy Trust Handbook
- Operating an academy trust as a going concern
- School resource management: top 10 planning checks for governors
6.3.1 Sources of financial data and tools
Boards can use the following financial tools to help achieve value for money:
- School resource management – information, tools, training, guidance and a YouTube playlist to help schools and trusts save money on day-to-day costs
- Integrated curriculum and financial planning (ICFP) – tools and training to helps trusts plan the best curriculum for their pupils with the funding they have available
-
Financial Benchmarking and Insights Tool – a benchmarking tool which allows anyone with a role relating to school resource management to:
- benchmark a school’s spending against other similar schools
- identify areas for improvement and share best practice with other schools
- produce a workforce deployment plan
- easily access commercial resources, guidance and frameworks provided by DfE
- build a report to share analysis with governors, trustees and senior leadership
- Helping schools manage resources and money: guidance for governors
- Get help buying for schools - a free procurement service for schools and multi-academy trusts
- Procurement in schools and trusts
Further guidance is available on school and academy funding.
Managing risk is essential to ensure the trust is meeting its key objectives and to protect its funds and assets.
The requirement for the board to appoint the audit and risk committee is set out in the Academy Trust Handbook.
The board must take a whole trust approach to making sure risk assessments are in place to safeguard and promote pupils’ and staff welfare.
Further information on basic control principles is outlined in the Academy Trust Handbook.
The board must establish policies and procedures that support the independent and effective use of internal and external audit functions, including reporting arrangements.
Find out more about risk management from:
- DfE: academy trust risk management guidance
- Academy Trust Governance Code: principle 4: decision-making, risk and control
Conflicts of interest must be avoided or managed.
The Academy Trust Handbook has useful information on avoiding conflicts of interest.
The Charity Commission’s guidance on Conflicts of interest: a guide for charity trustees (CC29) and the Academy Trust Governance Code principle 3: Integrity are also useful sources of information.
For information on related party transactions see the Academy Trust Handbook.
The academy trust is the legal entity with the board having collective accountability and responsibility for the academy trust. If trustees act reasonably in the course of their duties, they are generally protected from personal liability, with liability falling on the trust (company).
Trusts must have adequate insurance cover to comply with its legal obligations or be a member of the academies’ risk protection arrangement (RPA).
Articles of association provide a power for the trust to indemnify the trustees. Further information is available in the Academy Trust Handbook.