Listen to this story Members can listen to an AI-generated audio version of this article. 1.0x Audio narration uses an AI-generated voice. 0:00 0:00 Become a member to listen to this article Subscribe Union leaders warn plans to slash dozens of jobs at one of England’s biggest academy trusts are “utterly disgraceful” and “bad news” for pupils. It was reported this week that 73 jobs at the Harris Federation – run by Dan Moynihan, the country’s best-paid trust chief executive – could be axed as the MAT wrestles with the impact of falling rolls. Speaking , Moynihan said union reps had told him that restructuring was happening “all over” the country and that they understood the pressures schools were facing. But union leaders have vowed to “support members who take whatever action they deem necessary” to challenge the plans. ‘Not unique to Harris’ Mike Short, Unison’s head of education, said: “Issues around funding and falling pupil numbers are not unique to Harris. Dan Moynihan “Support staff who survive a round of redundancies will be left with increased workloads, high levels of stress and low pay, which is bad news for pupils and for their education.” Tes reported that Harris is consulting on plans that could place as many as 44 teachers and 29 support staff at risk of redundancy. Moynihan – who was paid at least £530,000 last year – said the 55-school trust has reduced central costs and removed some director positions. But he said more needed to be done to “soften the impact” of tumbling pupil numbers, adding: “Our priority is to keep those schools viable.” ‘Deeply alarming’ Matt Wrack, the general secretary of the NASUWT teachers’ union, said redundancies were not an inevitable consequence of falling pupil rolls as “employers have a responsibility to plan for this and exhaust all alternatives”. Matt Wrack Describing the scale of the job losses as “deeply alarming”, he said: “The behaviour of this trust is utterly disgraceful. If we want to improve education, it will not be done by sacking teachers and other school staff. “It is simply not credible to claim that job losses are unavoidable while the federation’s chief executive pockets more than half a million pounds a year in salary. “Parents and the public will rightly question these priorities.” Moynihan said he hoped there would be fewer than 73 jobs lost, following employee turnover and transfers. Union’s vow The move comes after Harris scaled back redundancy plans last year, after blaming unfunded pay rises and a “critical drop in income” from falling rolls for its squeezed budgets. The number of teachers at risk was later reduced to 15 from 45. Daniel Kebede, the leader of the National Education Union, expects Harris “to engage proactively and meaningfully with the NEU to find ways these proposed cuts can be avoided”. Daniel Kebede But the union would support members “to take whatever action they deem necessary to challenge the cuts”. Harris’s schools are in and around London. Numerous parts of the country have been rocked by falling rolls, with the capital among the areas most heavily impacted. £290m funding hit A National Audit Office (NAO) report released this week found demand for primary places across England fell by 3 per cent between 2018 and 2025. Last year, 14 per cent of primary places went unfilled, compared with 10 per cent in 2018-19. With 90 per cent of school funding following the numbers on roll, the NAO predicted schools could receive £288 million less in per-pupil funding in 2027. National projections predict a further 7 per cent drop in primary numbers by 2030, while demand for secondary places will start falling consistently from this year. Harris did not respond to Schools Week’s requests for comment.