An urgent rethink of plans for forced ‘academisation’ of schools has been called for by Essex County Council’s education boss.

In a paper released in March, the government announced plans for all schools to become academies, directly funded by the Department for Education but independent of council control.

Although the county council says it supports the concept of academies, it prefers the current mix of schools and believes establishments should have a say in whether they convert or not.

In Epping Forest, the King Harold Business and Enterprise Academy in Waltham Abbey joined an academy trust in 2009 and the Ongar Academy opened in September last year.

In a letter to the government’s education secretary Nicky Morgan, councillor Ray Gooding said schools, communities and parents will lose freedom, and public accountability and democracy could suffer.

He said: “A lot of the proposals outlined in the white paper make good sense, but it is crucial the government listens to feedback from schools and local authorities before railroading through with this.

“We would much rather schools and communities could choose for themselves whether they go down the academy route, and I urge the government to think again.”

More than four in five schools in Essex are rated as good or outstanding by Ofsted, and cllr. Gooding questioned the impact of forced academisation.

“Academies can be a good option in driving up standards in schools, but they are not a magic solution and the assumption that academies will automatically perform better is certainly questionable.

“While we do not run schools, we do play a vital role in proactively working with them to drive improvement.

“I am not convinced that unelected regional school commissioners have the capacity or local knowledge to do this.”

Only 44 per cent of schools in the county are academies, and cllr. Gooding questioned how much it would cost to convert the others.

If the government goes ahead with the proposal, said cllr. Gooding, local authorities should be able to become multi-academy trusts.

The government claims the academisation programme will put schooling completely in the hands of professionals, and out of the control of local authorities.