Commentary on Sections Academy arrangements Section 2: Payments under Academy agreements
14.Subsections (1) to (4) of this section make provision about the terms of an Academy agreement (as opposed to Academy financial assistance, which will be given in accordance with sections 14 to 16 of the EA 2002). Subsection (1) enables an Academy agreement to provide for capital as well as current expenditure (such as running costs). Subsection (2) provides that payments under an Academy agreement must continue (provided its terms are complied with) for a minimum period of 7 years or indefinitely with 7 years’ notice. Subsections (3) and (4) provide that Academy agreements may include terms for repayment of funding to the Secretary of State and for the Secretary of State to provide an indemnity to the person entering into an Academy agreement in the event of termination of the agreement. Subsection (5) amends the School Finance (England) Regulations 2008 (S.I 2008/228) to provide that expenditure in respect of services for making provision for Academy pupils with low incidence special educational needs or disabilities becomes a class of expenditure for the purposes of the non-schools education budget. The effect of this is that each local authority must charge expenditure in respect of those services to its non- schools education budget. The Department considers that for these purposes ‘low incidence special educational needs’ will include severe multi-sensory impairments; severe visual impairments; severe/ profound hearing impairments; and profound and multiple learning difficulties. Subsection (6) enables the Secretary of State to make alternative arrangements where a local authority fails to secure satisfactory provision for pupils with low incidence special educational needs or disabilities.