A schools quango chaired by a former Conservative minister is set to be brought in-house at the Department for Education, permanent secretary Susan Acland-Hood has announced.
LocatED was set up in the mid-2010s to acquire sites for the then-Conservative government’s free schools programme. Incorporated as a company – with DfE as its sole shareholder – in 2016, the arm’s length body went live the following year.
However the organisation, which currently has former housing minister Mark Prisk as its chair, will not now get to celebrate its 10th birthday because it will be “integrated” into DfE by April next year.
LocatED’s absorption into DfE follows a Cabinet Office-led review into arm’s-length bodies, and prime minister Keir Starmer’s March comments calling on minisers to stop outsourcing decisions to regulators and quangos.
The merger of NHS England back into the Department of Health and Social Care is the biggest example of an ALB being scrapped by the current government so far.
DfE said bringing LocatED in-house would combine the quango’s “exceptional personal property expertise” with the department’s “deep understanding” of what schools need to deliver outstanding education – at the same time as “delivering maximum value for taxpayers”.
LocatED’s work has included buying, developing, and managing sites for schools and colleges as well as providing strategic property advice to government and education organisations.
In addition to helping deliver complex and mixed-use developments, such as projects that include housing as well as schools, LocatED’s remit also includes maximising proceeds from the sale of surplus sites and managing a portfolio of assets.
The body, which has a staff of around 50 according to its most recent annual report and accounts, says it has created more than 100,000 new school places since 2017, helped to “future-proof” the schools estate and saved taxpayers “millions of pounds”.
Acland-Hood said bringing LocatED into DfE would create a unified approach to managing and developing the education estate.
“LocatED will bring commercial property expertise into the heart of the Department for Education to help us manage and transform the education estate, make it sustainable, give great value to the taxpayer, and support excellent outcomes for children and young people,” she said. “I’m delighted to be welcoming LocatED colleagues even more closely into the department.”
LocatED chief executive Lara Newman said she was incredibly proud of the body’s achievements to date.
“Our success has been built on the specialist expertise of our team, our can-do approach to problem-solving, and the strong relationships we’ve developed with clients, partners and stakeholders,” she said.
“Throughout this transition, our clients and partners can expect the same high-quality service and expertise they’ve come to rely on.”
DfE said the “unified team” will be better positioned to identify opportunities, streamline processes, and deliver more coherent support to schools, academy trusts, local authorities, and other education providers in need of specialist property guidance.
According to LocatED’s 2024-25 accounts, DfE gave the quango a budget of just over £9m for the year, of which it spent £8.6m to cover its operating costs. Staff costs were £5.4m and premises costs were £223,000.
Thge LocatED chief exec, Newman, received a salary bracketed at £220,000-£225,000, plus performance-related pay of £40,000-£45,000. She also received a pension contribution of £13,400, making for total remuneration of £280,000-£285,000.
DfE’s annual report and accounts show Acland-Hood received a 2024-25 salary bracketed at £180,000-£185,000. Her stated pension benefit was £137,000, making for a total remuneration of £300,000-£325,000.