The number of academy trusts paying leaders at least £150,000 has fallen since the DfE demanded explanations of their pay policies, MPs have heard.

Jonathan Slater, permanent secretary at the Department for Education, was questioned about academy CEO pay by the Commons Public Accounts Committee this afternoon.

Since December 2017, the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) has written letters to single academy trusts who pay a member of staff more than £150,000, multi-academy trusts that do the same, and academy trusts where at least two people are paid more than £100,000.

This afternoon, Mr Slater told MPs that 117 single and multi-academy trusts had paid more than £150,000, but now this number has fallen by 18 since the ESFA wrote its letters.

He said this was “as a consequence of that engagement between us and them”.

The permanent secretary added: “I would expect more of the same to follow. I don’t think 18 is going to be the limit of the change.”

He told the committee that it was too early to say how many academy trusts paying at least two people between £100,000 and £150,000 would reduce the number of people paid that amount.