UNISON has today welcomed the announcement by Academies Enterprise Trust (AET) that it will not be proceeding with plans to set up a Joint Venture Partnership with a private provider. The AET board had been working with Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC) although they had not been declared as a formal ‘preferred bidder’.
AET announced in January this year that it intended to set up a joint venture with a private company to either directly provide or manage contracts for a wide range of school services. Under this plan, the private partner would have been able to take a share of any savings as profit. Services under scope of this proposed joint venture included support for children with special educational needs, school finance staff, bursars, catering, IT and health and safety.
UNISON had opposed the joint venture plan from the outset because we were concerned that it would open the door to a new kind of privatisation of support services in schools.
AET and the unions will now have detailed discussions on an in – house alternative to the Joint Venture.
Jon Richards UNISON national secretary for education and children’s services said:
“We welcome the announcement by AET that it will not be proceeding with the joint venture with PWC. The AET team and board deserve credit for being prepared to listen to the concerns that UNISON and others such as parents, staff, head teachers and governors had. UNISON will now work closely with AET and our staff side colleagues to achieve an in-house solution.
“I would like to thank UNISON members, reps and staff across the union who have worked tirelessly on this issue and the work of MPs such as Alex Cunningham and David Blunkett who have raised concerns and asked difficult questions of the Government throughout. “
Note
(1) AET is the largest multi academy trust with 75 schools across England
