More schools face axing staff or closure amid falling rolls, ministers have been warned, after a nationwide trust announced that redundancies are on the way across many of its academies. It comes as an MP said the government had agreed to investigate the financial management at another trust which is proposing budget cuts of up to 拢800,000. But Jonathan Simons, of the think tank, urged politicians not to turn such cases into political footballs. 鈥淣o one goes into education wanting to sack teachers or close schools,鈥 he said. 鈥淏ut the fact is that school funding is tight at the best of times, and that means that, when pupil rolls fall, schools and trusts are faced with very difficult decisions.鈥 DRET woes At the David Ross Education Trust, a third of schools are set to make 鈥渟taffing changes鈥 as they wrestle with the falling rolls crisis. The 36-school chain is looking to make the cuts 鈥 which will include redundancies 鈥 after a review of its central team failed to address the 鈥渟cale of the funding reduction鈥 caused by the decrease in pupils. 鈥淲hile these steps have helped, they have not fully addressed the scale of the funding reduction and, in some cases, schools also need to make staffing changes,鈥 a trust spokesperson said. 鈥淲hile there will be a limited number of redundancies, our approach has prioritised central teams and redeployment where possible.” The changes will in 鈥渕ost cases鈥 involve a 鈥渟mall number of roles鈥, they added. 拢800k cuts Meanwhile in the south-west, the Initio Learning Trust has faced criticism from local MP Vikki Slade as it consults on restructures at two of its academies, Queen Elizabeth鈥檚 and Corfe Hills. In a letter to education minister Georgia Gould, Slade, a Liberal Democrat, said the schools are 鈥渇acing cuts of 拢700,000 to 拢800,000 next year鈥. One is 鈥渕ore than halving its teaching assistant cohort and reducing staffing in French and science鈥, she wrote. The other is 鈥渃utting teaching staff across creative subjects鈥 at GCSE and A-level. She demanded an independent investigation into Initio鈥檚 financial management and governance, along with 鈥渓egislative measures to ensure MATs are meaningfully accountable to parents, staff and communities鈥. Slade continued: 鈥淲hile falling rolls are cited as a cause of frontline cuts, this was predictable demographic variation. 鈥淵et MATs continue to expand and fund high executive pay, while children, teachers and support staff bear the brunt. Success is too often measured in the number of schools absorbed 鈥 rather than the outcomes or wellbeing of pupils.鈥 Following a meeting with Gould this week, Slade said the minister 鈥渁cknowledged that the concerns raised about Initio Learning Trust warranted closer examination and agreed to investigate whether similar issues are occurring nationally鈥. The Department for Education was approached for comment. 鈥楳ore schools will shrink鈥 Simons argued that there 鈥渋s absolutely no evidence鈥 academy trusts are negotiating funding issues differently to local authorities. Jonathan Simons He pointed out that 鈥淟abour-run London councils closed more than 30 schools last year鈥. An Initio spokesperson noted that the trust has 鈥渨orked to ensure this process is approached with transparency and fairness鈥. This has involved 鈥渉olding meetings and providing reassurance so that all stakeholders, including local MPs, are able to engage in a meaningful way鈥. Initio stressed that the 鈥渇uture sustainability of our schools is a key priority鈥. Its consultation is ongoing and 鈥渘o final decisions will be made until all options have been fully considered鈥. Simons added: 鈥淚t is highly likely that more schools will shrink and close in coming months and years and teacher numbers may fall. 鈥淚t would be a shame if MPs and ministers made this a party-political issue, or an issue of trusts versus local authorities. That鈥檚 not in teachers鈥 interests 鈥 or children鈥檚.鈥 Strike action Last week, Schools Week reported that dozens of schools across two trusts have been rocked by support staff strike announcements over planned restructures labelled 鈥渘either fair nor sustainable鈥. Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic MAT chief James McGeachie stressed that he had already exhausted other cost-saving options as academies struggle with falling rolls. Stephen Morales, chief executive at the Institute of School Business Leadership, warned: 鈥淚f we continue to find ourselves in a tight fiscal environment, then it is inevitable that we鈥檙e going to see more of this. 鈥淵ou shouldn鈥檛 be surprised to see leaders make difficult decisions, and it is inevitable disputes with unions will emerge.鈥