Six more councils join JR claim over academies funding transfer
Six more local authorities have signed up to the judicial review action being brought against the government over academies funding.
The six additional councils – joining the original 23 – are:
- The London Borough of Brent
- The London Borough of Greenwich
- The London Borough of Merton
- Salford City Council
- South Tyneside Council, and
- City of York Council.
The claimant authorities are seeking to challenge the Communities Secretary’s reduction of the amount of Revenue Support Grant for 2011/12 by £148m.
The government’s intention was to transfer this funding from local authorities to the Department for Education. However, the councils argue that the amount of this transfer – the so-called 'Academies Funding Transfer' – is far in excess of the costs savings that local authorities will make.
Three grounds have been advanced for the claim against the Communities Secretary (the Education Secretary is also an interested party). The first is that the decision to implement the Academies Funding Transfer breached their legitimate expectations arising from the government’s published policy on funding transfers, known as the New Burdens Rules.
The New Burdens Rules, the councils argue, set out that the funding transferred on a transfer of functions from local to central government should equal the financial savings accruing to local government.
The rules also set out a process for consultation on the amount of any such savings. The second ground is therefore that the Communities Secretary failed to consult, or consult adequately, with the claimant councils or the Local Government Association on their behalf about the appropriate amount of the Academies Funding Transfer.
The third ground advanced is that Eric Pickles has breached his statutory equality duties.
The councils also fear that the scale of the problem will be much greater in 2012/13, although this is not part of the claim because no formal decision has yet been made by ministers.
The councils are being advised on the claim by Bevan Brittan.
