Sharpe Pritchard has extensive experience of working for local authorities and governing bodies and can provide expert advice on all legal issues arising from setting up and operating a new academy or free school, including governance, the transfer of assets and land, employment, TUPE and pensions issues and advising on the full range of contracts relating to the operation of a school and school building programmes including PFI arrangements.

We understand that both schools and local authorities are under pressure to do more with less. As a result, we have developed an innovative  CTA app for Academy commercial transfer agreements, or CTAs.

• Acting on the conversion to academy status of a large number of schools nationwide, including special schools, trust and foundation schools and community schools.

• Advising on associated issues relating to the transfer of assets and treatment of land, in particular the legal issues arising from community use/joint use of leisure facilities on school sites.
• Advising in relation to one of the country’s first free schools, which opened in refurbished premises in September 2011.
• Advising in relation to both the procurement of and the conversion of PFI schools, including where variations are required to the project agreement.
• Representing local authorities in negotiations with DCSF/DfE and sponsors on a number of high profile conversions and considering the risk of legal challenge.
• Advising in relation to the re-build of academy buildings, including negotiating the development agreement between the local authority and the academy trust and securing PfS approval of the FBC.
• We have substantial experience of advising on and closing a large range of education-related PFI, PPP and construction projects: we are one of the few firms appointed to the PfS framework for legal services and since advising on one of the very first new-build academy projects, academy construction contracts have become one of our specialist areas.
• We have considerable experience of drafting and negotiating CTAs, leases, shared use agreements and overarching partnering agreements in respect of academies.
• We are also frequently called upon to provide urgent opinions on specific matters arising from academy conversions, in collaboration with local authority legal teams who, where their capacity allows, handle the day-to-day legal work.
• We also have extensive experience of advising governing bodies changing category from community to foundation schools and acquiring trusts, including schools ranging from those within the National Challenge Programme to highly successful establishments. We therefore have a full appreciation of the issues and concerns of governing bodies.

Our Academies Team:

Gareth Rees 

Contact us individually or at academies@sharpepritchard.co.uk