Hathern Church school endowment split under 2026 order

The legal wording is heavy, but the change itself is easier to follow than it first looks. Statutory Instrument 2026/1091, made on 15 October 2026 and in force from 16 October 2026, resets the rules for an old endowment linked to Hathern Church of England Primary School's former teacher's house in the county of Leicester. According to the official legislation record from the Department for Education, the asset at the centre of this case is £70,300 from the sale of that house, plus any income earned from it. If you have never come across an educational endowment before, think of it as a gift or trust set up long ago for a school purpose. That money cannot simply drift into general spending. It stays tied to the purpose set out in law, unless the Secretary of State signs an order to update how it should be used.

This one reaches right back to a deed dated 3 July 1849. The original arrangement was made between Charles March Phillipps and the minister and churchwardens of the Parish of Hathern. In other words, we are looking at Victorian school history still shaping decisions in 2026. The reason for the new order is that the original premises connected to that foundation are no longer being used for the kind of voluntary Church of England school named in the old trust. Once that happens, the government can step in under the Education Act 1996 and decide how the endowment should be reorganised so the money still serves an educational purpose rather than sitting in legal limbo.

The order says the trust assets must be split into two new funds after any administration costs are paid. Eleven-fourteenths go into the Hathern Church of England Primary School Teacher's House Fund, known as the School Fund. Three-fourteenths go into the Hathern Church of England Primary School Teacher's House Religious Education Fund. **What this means:** most of the money will now support Church of England schooling across the Diocese of Leicester under a standard trust structure, while a smaller share is kept back for religious education connected to Hathern itself. The exact cash figure can move because the order also covers any income earned on the money and allows expenses to be paid first.

The Leicester Diocesan Board of Education is now appointed as trustee of the foundation, the trust assets and the School Fund. The minister and churchwardens of the Parish of Hathern become the trustees of the Religious Education Fund. The order also says that any funds already held for the foundation must be transferred to the Diocesan Board. That split matters because a trustee is the body that holds and manages money under legal duties. It does not own the money in an everyday sense. It must use it for the purposes laid down in the trust. So this is really about who gets the responsibility to make decisions, keep records and make sure the original educational aim is still respected.

For the Religious Education Fund, the rules are fairly specific. The trustees must use the income, and may also use the capital, for educational purposes related to the Parish of Hathern in connection with religious education in line with the tenets of the Church of England. The order even spells out that this can be done through a Sunday school or in other ways. That last phrase matters more than it may seem. It means the fund is not locked into one Victorian model of teaching religion. It can still support Church of England religious education locally, but with room to do that in ways that fit current practice in the parish.

The School Fund works differently. The order says it must be folded into the Leicester Diocesan Uniform Statutory Trusts Fund and then held on what the law calls uniform statutory trusts. That sounds forbidding, but it simply means a standard set of rules in Schedule 36 to the Education Act 1996. Under those rules, capital and income can help with school sites, buildings, repairs, maintenance and teacher's houses for relevant schools in the Diocese of Leicester where Church of England religious education is provided or planned, including voluntary schools, foundation schools, academy schools, alternative provision academies and certain specialist colleges. The income can also be used for advice, resources, inspection work and staff costs linked to that support. So an asset once tied to one former teacher's house in Hathern is now being redirected to serve a much wider Church school network.

There is also a small but important democratic detail here. The Department for Education says notice of the proposed order was given as required by section 555 of the Education Act 1996, and no representations were made. In plain English, people had a formal chance to object or comment, and none were recorded before the order was made. If you are reading this as a lesson in how education law works, the bigger point is clear. Old school endowments do not vanish when buildings are sold or original arrangements fall away. They are reviewed, legally reassigned and kept in educational use. In Hathern, that means one historic fund is now doing two jobs at once: supporting local Church of England religious education in the parish, and helping the wider diocesan school system in Leicester.