Local Authorities may need to give consideration to the size and shape of their retained services.  Implications will vary from Local Authority to Local Authority and are likely to be shaped by factors such as:

• the current Local Authority formula for devolving budget shares to schools and the nature of the services which are automatically retained;

• the nature of the current Local Authority maintained school estate by school type;

• the number and type of schools within an Authority who are actively pursuing conversion to Academy status

Local Authorities may want to consider how and on what basis they can sell existing services back to Academies and Free Schools. This is an area of both opportunity and complexity for Local Authorities.

We recommend giving careful consideration to whether an existing service can continue on a commercial basis and carrying out an assessment of the risks to the Authority of such service delivery. Where services are provided to Academies or Free Schools, a robust service level agreement should be entered into for the protection of both parties.

For further information please contact a member of our academies team.

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