Moves to take the borough's top performing schools out of control by Richmond Council – and its elected representatives – are being fought by councillors.

The borough council is calling on the Government to think again over plans to require all across the country schools to join a Multi-Academy Trust (MAT).

These trusts are groups of academy schools that have come together under a single board of trustees. Significantly, they are directly funded by the Department for Education and independent of local authority control.

Most of the primary schools in Richmond upon Thames are either Faith schools or maintained by the Council through Achieving for Children, its children's service.

Under Council control, these schools are among the highest achieving in the country and they regularly share top rankings for academic achievement.

However, the upcoming Schools Bill would require all schools, including special schools and alternative provision, to join a trust by 2030.

A Local Government Association report from March 2022, shows that schools which do not convert to become academies are more likely to achieve higher ratings from inspectors at Ofsted.

The study found that 92% of council-maintained schools were ranked outstanding or good by Ofsted in January 2022, compared with 85% of academies that have been graded since they converted.

The Full Council and the Chair of Richmond borough's Education and Children's Services Committee, Cllr Penny Frost, have called on ministers to abandon the policy.

She said: "There is a significant lack of local democratic accountability in Multi-Academy Trusts, individual schools lose their legal identity and the freedom to opt out of the Trust if they are not being well-supported.

"Furthermore, there is no clear body of evidence that academisation improves results and strengthens a school's performance."