Created: 13th January, 2026
Robert joined Barker in 2002 and is a Partner based in our Braintree office. A Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, he has over 20 years’ experience of all core building surveying services and provides strategic estates advice to key accounts in the education, commercial, ecclesiastical and public sectors.
An education specialist, he provides the following services: estates and energy strategy, asset management planning, project management and capital funding applications.
Robert works closely with clients to plan and implement energy efficiency and sustainability strategies to save money, reduce carbon emissions and meet ESG objectives.
As a RICS Certified Historic Buildings Professional he provides conservation consultancy for clients with listed and historic buildings.
Robert is an experienced APC Assessor and Chairman and is also an external examiner for Anglia Ruskin University
As a Partner Robert leads the Business Development and Marketing function at Barker, builds relationships with key sector bodies and helps steer the strategic growth of the company.
Email: rgould@barker-associates.co.uk
Tel: 01279 648057
The Department for Education has confirmed plans to introduce statutory inspection of academy trusts, giving Ofsted powers to inspect trusts directly rather than focusing solely on individual schools.
While inspections are not expected to begin before 2027/28, the direction of travel is clear.
For those responsible for school estates, this represents a significant shift. The spotlight is moving decisively towards trust-level strategy, governance, value for money, and how effectively estates and capital investment support educational outcomes.
The government has tabled legislation to enable Ofsted to inspect academy trusts as responsible bodies.
This fills a long-recognised gap in the system: while schools are routinely inspected, trusts (which make strategic decisions about governance, finance, people and property across multiple schools) have not been subject to a consistent inspection framework.
Under the proposed legislation, Ofsted inspections will consider areas including governance and executive leadership, improvement capacity, wellbeing, and critically, the effectiveness with which trusts manage their resources.
While the detailed framework is still to be developed and consulted on, it is clear that estates, capital programmes and financial stewardship will form part of the inspection picture.
For many trusts, the estate is their single largest asset base and a major call on public funding.
Decisions about buildings, maintenance, condition, compliance and capital investment directly affect teaching, learning and staff wellbeing. Increasingly, these decisions will be scrutinised at the trust level.
This is not simply about whether buildings are safe and compliant, important though that is. Trust inspection brings a wider lens:
In short, estates management is moving further from an operational function and firmly into the strategic core of trust leadership.
Trust inspection does not arrive in isolation. It sits alongside a series of frameworks and guidance that already signal rising expectations, including the School Estate Management Standards, Good Estate Management for Schools (GEMS), the Estate Management Competency Framework and the Academy Trust Handbook.
Taken together, these point to a more rigorous, evidence-based approach to estate stewardship.
Trusts are expected to understand their estate in detail, plan over the long term, manage risk proactively and demonstrate how investment decisions support educational delivery.
Inspection will not create these expectations, but it will test how well they are being met.
While the inspection framework is still to be defined, the emphasis on “management of resources” is particularly relevant for estates leaders.
In practical terms, trusts should expect scrutiny of:
Importantly, inspection is likely to focus on consistency and coherence across the trust, not just isolated examples of good or poor practice.
With inspections not expected to start until at least 2027, there is time to prepare but not to delay. The trusts that will be best placed are those that use this period to strengthen foundations rather than chase compliance at the last minute.
For estates teams and senior leaders, this means:
A good place to start is the Barker Estate360 Tool.
Discover how your estates function measures up against the DfE’s School estate management standards & Good Estate Management for Schools Guidance.
It takes just 10 minutes to see how you score, and we’ll send you a personalised report.
Find Out Your Estate Maturity Score
Ultimately, trust inspection should not be about ticking boxes. The most effective estate strategies are those that create safe, inspiring and sustainable environments where pupils can thrive, and staff can perform at their best.
Done well, stronger accountability can reinforce the core purpose of the school estate: enabling excellent education and improving life chances. Trusts that can clearly articulate and evidence that connection will be well placed for the next phase of inspection and beyond.
At Barker, we see this shift as an opportunity. With the right strategy, governance and professional support, trusts can turn increased scrutiny into stronger stewardship and better outcomes for the communities they serve.
Get Prepared For Trust Inspections
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