The decision follows discussions at a dinner hosted by Anthony Collins Solicitors where delegates received presentations from Frank Green, National Schools Commissioner, and Pank Patel, West Midlands Regional Schools Commissioner.
The event was attended by over 60 guests including the chief executive officers of a number of leading local multi-academy trusts and the Head of Education and Portfolio Holder for Children and Young People in Birmingham.
Simon Ramshaw, a partner at Anthony Collins Solicitors, said: “Three themes emerged from our dinner event at Hotel du Vin.
“We need to re-imagine what we mean by ‘school’ and mentally compare this to the transition from Stephenson’s Rocket to The Flying Scotsman, the bullet train and the jumbo jet.
“The economic situation can be turned to our advantage. Innovation thrives when times are tight.
“And the academy system must develop to become self-serving. Academies and MATs need to work together to find solutions to challenges as they emerge, rather than wait for the regulators to address them.”
He said the event heard that 40 per cent of children and 40 per cent of teaching staff are now in academies, so although the number of academies may seem small, the proportion of those working in and being educated by academies is larger than might be thought.
“The event was extremely successful and it was very helpful to hear the views of Frank Green and Pank Patel.
“We want to harness the energy generated at this event and the aim is now to set up a Midlands Forum for MATs.
“We hope that academies and MATs will see this as a positive initiative and drive it forward. Anthony Collins Solicitors will provide support and encouragement in any way we can.”
He added that other themes to come out of the evening included the idea of an annual awards dinner that would foster and support best practice and help the development of initiatives in the Midlands region.
The Prime Minister announced on Tuesday 22 September a new range of restrictions to protect us from the Covid crisis, some of which will apply to charities.
Following the end of the possession stay on 21 September, Helen Tucker & Rebecca Sembuuze from our housing litigation team discuss the most recent guidance, priority cases and what to expect in court.
Covid-19 has resulted, on the whole, in a marked co-operation between contracting authorities and their suppliers as everybody focuses on maintaining delivery as far as possible.
Employment Tribunal rules in favour of claimants in minimum wage case – has the interpretation of “working time” changed?
As we enter a recession, we have been here before, and a key question is what did we learn and how can we benefit from that learning?
It is anticipated that as lockdown restrictions ease, and particularly with children and young adults returning to education, cases of meningitis will start to rise.
As we continue to emerge from lockdown measures and deal with local measures and the short and long term economic impact of Covid-19, local authorities will need to re-assess how services will be delivered for years to come.
The Government first announced plans for a shared ownership right to buy in October 2019. At the time the sector raised concerns about the impact the plans would have on housing associations ability to borrow. An election and a pandemic later the Government announced, during the CIH Housing Festival last week, the return of the right to shared ownership as part of its Affordable Homes Programme (AHP).
Two final pieces of the possession jigsaw have been published on 15 September 2020. Mr Justice Knowles’ working group on possession proceedings has issued its guidance on the “overall arrangements” for possession proceedings.
One change proposed by the Building Safety Bill is the introduction of a duty holder regime, which will see statutory responsibility for the safety of higher risk buildings placed on key individuals
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