More from this theme Recent articles Academy bosses are urging ministers to give them “clarity” over whether recently dumped trust growth funds will come back from the dead. Labour’s schools white paper unveiled its vision to move all schools into “high-quality” chains to defragment the system and “drive excellence in standards and inclusion”. However, questions over how the moves will be paid-for remain, with trust growth funding “notably absent” from the document.  Schools Week analysis suggests applications to convert to academy status have more than halved since the government’s surprise decision to cut three expansion grants. All schools in trusts The white paper revealed ministers want all schools to join or form trusts. To aid this, councils and local area partnerships will be given the power to launch their own chains. It follows mixed messages on academies from the Labour administration, which has previously described itself as “agnostic” about school structures. It also axed the £25,000 grant available to schools to cover the legal, rebranding, human resources and employee costs incurred while converting to academy …