It is understood the rules would be enforced via the Academy Trust Handbook but have not been included in consultations with the sector on the handbook’s annual review.
Confederation of School Trusts Chief Executive Leora Cruddas CBE said: “The government appears to have rushed into these changes without consulting with school trusts to understand their impact.
“Schools are already dealing with multiple reforms and need strong and capable leaders, supported by government. Our school trust leaders have been at the forefront of improving life chances for children in England, especially in areas of disadvantage and long-term educational underperformance, because trusts as independent charities have had the freedom to respond to local circumstances.
“These changes are the latest example of micromanagement from Whitehall, that together risk creating significant operational and strategic risks for trusts. We should be empowering trusts and local leaders to do what their communities need, not assuming the Department for Education knows best.
“School trusts must of course be careful with the money they receive from Government, which is why trusts have led the way in working more efficiently, and ensuring the best outcomes for children. That work happens because of – not despite of – high-quality chief executives and leadership teams, that give school staff they space to focus on the classroom.”
Under the proposals, trustee boards will have to get permission from the government every time they want to recruit on a salary over £174,000. Trusts will not be able to agree an individual pay rise greater than that of the national teacher pay award.
The change risks adding slow, bureaucratic process to recruitment, harming the ability of trusts to recruit and retain strong leaders. Similar requests on staffing matters to the DfE currently take at least three months for the DfE to respond.
The changes also risk limiting trust’s ability to reward successful headteachers, due to the need to maintain pay differentials between heads and their managers.
Trust leaders have also warned that inflexible restrictions on pay could damage school and trust leadership as a career option for talented graduates. Data from pay monitoring firm Brightmine suggests that on average trust chief executives receive salaries of just 40% of comparative roles in the private sector.
Supporters of the changes have pointed to pay frameworks elsewhere in the public sector, but as independent charities school trusts are not directly part of the civil service. Examples like the NHS very senior managers framework give employers much more flexibility to respond to local circumstances.
Other changes put forward for the Academy Trust Handbook include new restrictions on trust’s ability to choose supply staff arrangements, pick the best value energy supplier, and select management software. Trusts will be instead be expected to use the Department for Education’s preferred suppliers.
