In reply to Greenbanks:
I'm a governor of an academy, and I think they have mixed benefits. In an area where local authorities have a strong education service that is able to manage and support schools effectively, they are not (at least as far as results and financial performance are concerned) particularly needed. In other areas of the country, they allow schools to develop and improve far more than they would under LA control.
Since becoming an academy, my school has gone from the worst in the area to one of the best - mainly because we've had more freedom on staffing and have been able to raise money and allocate resources in a way that has had a greater impact.
It would be interesting to see where the money in that case went - schools are under tremendous financial pressure, and it's easy to see that an academy trust might apply for a grant and divert the funds into paying salaries and paying the electricity instead of using it for capital expenditure.