Multi-Academy Trust (MAT) Case Study

Problem:

Trinitas Academy Trust is a growing MAT based in Kent who were looking for a comprehensive solution to satisfy an array of Governance, Risk and Compliance requirements with certain issues to be managed centrally – for example, the Trust’s Academy Trust Handbook and high-level Safeguarding obligations, recruitment risks and the establishment of good Data Protection practices.

They wanted other issues such as student and employee Health, Safety & Welfare, local HR concerns, local IT, Data Protection practices, and Campus Environment risks to be managed at each Academy but to be overseen to varying degrees by the local Governing Bodies and the Trust.

It was important to Trinitas that their Senior Leadership Team would, as well as being able to manage their existing risk and compliance environments effectively, have the ability to track the establishment and operationalisation of the MAT’s risk and compliance framework in its new academies.

Their ideal solution would allow the MAT to impart consistent information to and gather meaningful data from all its constituent academies, irrespective of the levels of knowledge or previous experience of the individuals managing them.

Before implementing our solution, the MAT’s risk management arrangements were not working efficiently for them. Manual risk registers were being managed for each Academy and for the Trust separately, making reporting a protracted process and using information that often was out-of-date. With a strategic plan in place to actively grow their MAT, they needed a way to create cohesion between all constituent entities in relation to the governance and management of risk and compliance. They also wanted a central repository in which they could register, monitor and report on all incidents centrally.

Solution:

The Trust needed a value-for-money solution that would integrate the MAT’s governance, risk and compliance efforts rather than them continuing to rely on manual systems. The ability to focus on certain issues across the whole Trust as well as creating up-to-date, reliable risk registers and compliance reports for the group and each of its constituent academies were key requirements they wanted from their new solution. Having the ability to combine them all together into a single MAT risk register in a couple of key-strokes was an added bonus.

At the end of their procurement process, Trinitas made the decision to licence CalQRisk and to implement it across the MAT, thus enabling the automation of their governance, risk and compliance processes. The CalQRisk features they adopted to address their needs include:

Dashboards – with one for each academy, one for the Trust and another that has the functionality to combine all data, CalQRisk dashboards enable the senior leadership team, local governing bodies, and the Trust to engage in effective oversight. They provide an instant snapshot of the MAT’s risk and compliance profile whether at the level of a specific issue, in a particular academy or for the whole Trust.

Compliance Monitoring – this provides the MAT with gap analyses against their current legal obligations (e.g. Safeguarding, Data Protection, and the requirements of the Academies Financial Handbook).

Monitoring – used for focused testing of the application of key controls across the MAT, this feature allows our client to pinpoint where the weaknesses are in its risk and compliance framework.

Risk Assessment – ensuring a consistent assessment of risks against established risk criteria and the production of up-to-date Academy, Trust and MAT risk registers at the touch of a button. Each academy can also add risks unique to them that are then automatically assimilated into the Trust’s risk reports.

Task Management – for assigning and managing the completion of identified improvements to the MAT’s extensive control environment.

Incidents – used by the MAT to record and report on incidents and near misses, which are then linked to relevant risks and tasks.

Outcome:

Trinitas is reaping the benefits of an easily operated, group-wide solution that represents tremendous value-for-money for them. CalQRisk allows them to utilise instant and dynamic access to information for the Trust and for each academy. Academy risks are aligned with the MAT risk appetite and are appropriately monitored and managed both at a local and central level. Continuing to add new academies, they are benefitting from increasing operational efficiencies thanks to the automation and integration ability that CalQRisk provides. They make significant time savings while effectively managing, monitoring and reporting on their risk and compliance position.