A trust CEO said he has been left puzzled after a merger that would create England鈥檚 second-biggest academy chain was referred to ministers to rule on. Delta Academies Trust boss Paul Tarn took over Coast and Vale Learning Trust as chief executive in April, following an 鈥渋n-principle agreement鈥 between the organisations to join forces. The proposals 鈥 which will take Delta鈥檚 tally to 63 schools 鈥 were due to be decided on by the Department for Education鈥檚 Yorkshire and Humber advisory board last month. Coast and Vale has six schools. But documents reveal the case has instead been escalated to government ministers, but don’t say why this has been done. 鈥淚鈥檓 at a loss,鈥 Tarn said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e well above national for all the key measures, we鈥檙e the most efficient trust, financially, in the country, we鈥檙e rebuilding all our schools from the ground up 鈥 this is the kind of trust you want to grow.鈥 ‘We work as one trust already’ Regional directors have powers devolved from the education secretary to make important decisions such as ordering schools to convert to academies, taking action when schools are underperforming, and managing academy sponsors. Along with the advisory boards of leaders who support them, they can choose to 鈥渆scalate鈥 a decision to a DfE minister, in circumstances where they don鈥檛 feel they can decide themselves. Coast and Vale decided to merge after all nearby 鈥渃apacity giver鈥 schools had academised. Its advertisement for a new boss stated it would be 鈥渁n interim post鈥, with the new chief expected 鈥渢o manage a merger鈥. Paul Tarn Tarn proposed stepping into the position and 鈥渋f you like what you see, you take a decision at a later stage over whether you鈥檇 like to formally join us鈥, he said. Trustees came to an 鈥渋n-principle agreement鈥 to join Delta. But one trust leader warned of the risks of such a move, noting: 鈥淸The trusts] are so far down the line If the board doesn鈥檛 think it鈥檚 the right match, what happens then?鈥 Tarn said the two organisations 鈥渨ork as though we鈥檙e one trust already鈥. Coast and Vale has been given more than 拢200,000 worth of support, he added. 鈥淲hat we鈥檙e not doing is going in and making major investments in the buildings themselves or replacing all the IT equipment that needs replacing. We鈥檙e not allowed to spend our [Delta鈥檚] money in another trust.鈥 Tarn previously said he had not been paid for his second post.
Marie 24 January 2025 I鈥檓 sure poor old Mr Tarn will cope on his 拢200,000 plus a year! He hasn鈥檛 been near the coast anyway so won鈥檛 have incurred much extra inconvenience! They only want Scalby School to boost there overall statistics as it out performs them all despite is coastal disadvantages. #deltaarecreatingrobotswhoteach