Thread by @warwickmansell

New: DfE keeping confidential the job titles of hundreds of academy staff on six-figure salaries. educationuncovered.co.uk/themes/transpa…

This story came about after I was staggered to read, in a DfE consultation on “greater transparency” in the non-academy sector, the government saying that academy trusts disclose details of their people paid £100k...

This was in a section of this DfE paper going on about a “disparity in public access to information on high salaries between maintained schools and academy trusts”, seemingly with the latter being said to be more transparent.

I have long been curious about this information. So I asked for it, under FOI. And the DfE’s reply? Yes, we have this information (academy trusts seemingly send it to them). But no, we’re not going to make it public.

So in fact there is no “public access” to this information within the academies sector, as the DfE’s policy paper had implied, in arguing for greater transparency for non-academies. You couldn’t make this stuff up.

By the way, it is clear that this leaves academy trusts less transparent, in terms of what they are required to disclose re senior pay, than local and central government.

Re LAs, government rules say remuneration of senior staff must be disclosed against their positions,regardless of any concerns about privacy/data protection, “because of the legitimate public interest in the scrutiny of such senior individuals”. Similarly for central government.