ABSTRACT
The effects of globalisation and the move from bureaucratic to networked forms of public sector governance have created profound shifts in education systems internationally. In England this has given rise to a new ‘mixed’ form of state education along with the creation of a number of federated school structures. This chapter examines the challenges for the governance of such organisations, drawing on literature that examines the theory and practice of the governance of collaborations. The study draws on a funded project of six Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs) located in the North and South of England, which took place in 2016–2018. It employs thematic analysis of interviews with 30 trustees and members of academy boards along with six schemes of delegation, to examine how board members at local and central level are functioning as part of a system of accountability for MATs. In so doing it considers the relationship between local and central boards, the way in which accountability is enacted in MATs and the implications of this for the governance and accountability of collaborations in education and more broadly. The chapter concludes that the governance of collaborations has brought new levels of complexity and challenge, particularly in the areas of power, control and communication, but that the challenges, and ways in which MATs are rising to meet them, lend important insights for the governance of collaborations in the wider public sector.
