To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families which academy sponsors have withdrawn from the academy process (a) before and (b) after signing an expression of interest. (275173)

[holding answer 13 May 2009]: A sponsor’s legal commitment to an academy project (as a member of the academy trust) occurs when a funding agreement is signed. Since the first academies opened in 2002, one lead sponsor (Chelsfield) and two co-sponsors (Intercity and Toc H) have withdrawn after signing funding agreements, but before the academies opened.

Records of academy sponsors that have withdrawn before and after signing an expression of interest, but before signing a legally binding funding agreement, are kept in individual project records and are not held centrally.