The FD Forum was set up by a group of FDs from the early sponsored Academies and has now expanded to include Academies, Multi-Academy Trusts and Federations. The Forum was created as a self-help group to help and advise members in the early days of the Academies programme and to ensure that Academy FDs were able to fulfil the needs of their Academies from a functional perspective. It has now evolved into a number of distinct streams – Finance, HR, Premises, Premised and DfE Reporting. These forums groups provide a channel for the exchange of information between Members relating to the overall breadth of their roles and enabling them to share best practice. The Forum is not a lobbying group but it will, and does, get involved in any financial matters that impinge on Academies.