Academy chain scraps plans to take over 'inadequate' pupil referral unit

Exceed Academy Trust announced it would be taking on the Bradford District PRU late last year in a bid to turn the struggling facility around.

The unit, based in Anerley Street, Bowling, provides education some of the most vulnerable young people in the district, including pupils excluded from school.

But at a meeting of Bradford Council's Children's Services Scrutiny Committee on Wednesday night Councillors were surprised to hear that the academy chain had pulled out of the deal in the last few days.

One Councillor, a governor of another Exceed school, said he was "staggered" at the news.

The District PRU was rated inadequate in every category when it was inspected by Ofsted in March 2017, with inspectors saying highlighting “frequent incidents of violent and aggressive behaviour”, weak safeguarding arrangements and “unacceptably high” absence rates. The Council run facility was ordered by the Department For Education to find an academy sponsor as soon as possible to help improve performance.

Last year Exceed, which runs the Central PRU as well as Appleton Academy and five primary schools, was named as sponsor. It was due to take over running the PRU this September.

Bradford District Pupil Referral Unit on track to come out of special measures

At Wednesday's meeting members were expecting to hear an update on the school's efforts to improve, and the academy takeover.

But in a surprising turn they were informed that Exceed had decided to abandon plans to take on the PRU after they carried out a "due diligence report."

Councillor David Ward (Lib Dem, Bolton and Undercliffe) is on the governing body of the Central PRU. He said this was the first he had heard of the news and added: "I'm staggered. I'm very unhappy this hasn't been made known to me as part of the Central PRU board."

Asked what the significance was of the decision, Marium Haque, Deputy Director Education and Learning at the Council, said: "It means Exceed feels it is not able to take on the District PRU. What will be happening is it will continue to be run by the Council. It will be up to the Regional Schools Commissioner to decide whether they want to secure another sponsor."

Councillor Mike Pollard (Cons, Baildon) said: "The key question has to be 'why?' Can anything be said in the public domain as to why due diligence was found to be problematic?"

Mrs Haque said: "Not in anything they have chosen to publish. They may have felt it was too much of a risk to take on on their part."

She said the Trust had said they would keep a dialogue with the Council.

The District PRU has 80 spaces for young people who have been excluded from school, and many of its current pupils have special educational needs.

A monitoring inspection by Ofsted earlier this year found the school was improving, and was on its way to coming out of special measures."

A spokesman for the Trust said: "Exceed Academies Trust was approved as the sponsor for Bradford District PRU by the Department for Education pending due diligence. The Trust completed its process of due diligence in March and Trustees were provided with the information gathered through this process at their board meeting on 28 March.

"It was with regret that they unanimously felt unable to agree sponsorship at this time.

"Throughout the process, the Trust has worked closely with Bradford District PRU, the Local Authority and the Department for Education and provided them with the rationale behind the Board’s decision immediately after the meeting.

"Exceed Academies Trust remains firmly committed to supporting Bradford’s most vulnerable young people and the Board is happy to be involved in any continued dialogue with the Local Authority and the Department for Education in the search for a solution.

"Exceed Academies Trust continues to be open to pursuing a mechanism which would allow the Trust to support Bradford District PRU in its improvement journey."