David Ross Education Trust<\/a> (DRET) is looking to make the cuts after a review of its central team failed to address the \u201cscale of the funding reduction\u201d caused by the decrease in pupils.<\/p>\n\n\n\nBosses of the chain \u2013 which runs 36 academies across the country \u2013 stressed the changes will not impact all its schools but confirmed there will be redundancies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Central team review<\/h3>\n\n\n\n A trust spokesperson said: \u201cLike many schools and trusts across the country, we are seeing the impact of the national decline in birth rates through falling pupil numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOur priority remains providing a high-quality education for every pupil, while ensuring our schools are sustainable for the long term.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They added DRET has \u201ctaken a range of steps over time to manage the financial pressure this creates, including holding vacancies and not replacing some roles when colleagues have moved\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Where further change was needed, the trust \u201cdeliberately started by reviewing our central team structures before considering any changes at school level\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That consultation has now closed, with DRET working \u201cwherever possible to support colleagues into alternative roles\u201d in the organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It would not say how many roles were impacted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
‘Limited’ redundancies<\/h3>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhile these steps have helped, they have not fully addressed the scale of the funding reduction and in some cases, schools also need to make staffing changes,\u201d the spokesperson continued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhilst there will be a limited number of redundancies, our approach has prioritised central teams and redeployment where possible.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The spokesperson stressed this will affect \u201caround a third\u201d of DRET schools. The changes will in \u201cmost cases\u201d involve a \u201csmall number of roles\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Latest accounts for the trust show it ended 2024-25 with reserves of \u00a38.5 million, up from \u00a36.6 million the year before. This is the equivalent of 7 per cent of its annual income. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Around 90 per cent of trusts hold reserves of at least 5 per cent of total income, according to the government. But they have \u201cthe flexibility to maintain a level of reserves that trustees decide is appropriate\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sector struggles<\/h3>\n\n\n\n This comes after Schools Week revealed<\/a> Aspirations Academies Trust plans to make over \u00a33 million of savings by \u201cremodelling\u201d its curriculum and staffing, reducing central support and \u201creshaping senior leadership structures\u201d after racking up seven-figure losses last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe 16-school chain blamed unfunded pay awards and falling rolls for the downturn, as well as \u201cunfavourable government policies\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Research by the Kreston group, a network of accountancy firms, found that all types of trust except medium-sized MATs are forecasting that reserves will fall by up to 43 per cent over the next two years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Confederation of School Trusts\u2019 annual survey revealed many chief executives were looking at leadership redundancies and cutting classroom staff to balance the books.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Cuts loom at 36-school MAT after central team review failed to address funding reductions<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":311204,"featured_media":94171,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[32,28,239],"post-theme":[2381],"class_list":["post-243700","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-academies","tag-dfe","tag-education-policy","post-theme-academies"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t