We asked about the large reserves that some academy trusts seemed to be building up. In 2019/20, 22% of academy trusts had built up reserve balances equivalent to more than 20% of their annual income. The ESFA told us that it wanted academy trusts, as charitable trusts, to hold reserves and that the majority of trusts had what would be considered a 20 Q 58 21 Qq 36, 41–42 22 Qq 36, 40 23 C&AG’s Report, para 1.13 24 Qq 40, 63 25 C&AG’s Report, paras 1.9, 1.21–1.22 26 C&AG’s Report, paras 8, 10 27 Q 44 10 Financial sustainability of schools in England reasonable level of reserves. It said that there was no set figure for how much academy trusts should hold in reserve, which had to be looked at case by case, and it was in dialogue with each trust in the country.28