Likely Effect of General Election on Schools

The surprise announcement of a General Election on 8 June will give an opportunity for the political parties to reconsider their education priorities and policies.  We will be publishing a legal guide to the education policies when the manifestos are published, but the main immediate effect of the Election will be the suspension of decisions by the DfE and LAs during the “Purdah” period in the run up to the Election.  There is, as usual, some uncertainty about when this period starts, but it would appear that decisions are being made this week, with no current guarantee that decisions will be able to be made next week.  This period is likely, on the basis of experience from the 2015 election, to affect academy projects as follows:

• No academy orders will be granted once Purdah commences; and
• For current active projects, 1 May will probably be a permitted conversion date but after that it is unlikely that any conversion will be allowed to compete until after the election (although current work can continue in preparation).  If the Conservatives are re-elected and current academy policy continues, it could still take a little while for normal business to resume, so we cannot assume that a 1 July conversion would be allowed. This may well create a backlog, so conversions with later anticipated completion dates may well be delayed as a consequence.

We understand from our contacts in the DfE that a formal announcement on the effect of Purdah will be made shortly and we will keep you informed. 

For further information or advice please contact

Roger Inman
07946 181235
​Click here to email Roger

Please read our Likely Effect on General Election on Schools Update here.

For media enquiries please contact

Lucie Willis
01225 478180
LucieWillis@stoneking.co.uk