Wednesday newspaper round-up: Budget, Sorrell, Barclays, Fed, Sports Direct

George Osborne is set to promise an extra £1.5bn to speed up the school academies programme as part of an overhaul of England’s education system that will see all local authorities lose their control over schools. David Cameron has previously promised to “make local authorities running schools a thing of the past” so that every school in England had the power to set its own curriculum. – Financial Times

Sir Martin Sorrell, founder and chief executive of advertising giant WPP, will receive a £63m pay cheque in one of the largest corporate payouts in history. Sir Martin, who is Britain's highest paid chief executive, will collect a share award worth £62.78m and cash in £30.2m to meet "consequential tax liabilities", WPP said in a statement released after the end of Tuesday's trading. – Telegraph

Barclays has paid its top bankers almost £9m in shares, including an award worth £1.8m for new chief executive Jes Staley as he slashes jobs and pares back dividend payments. The bank has revealed that nine directors were this week awarded almost 5.2 million shares in various long-term bonus and payment schemes. – Telegraph

The Federal Reserve is expected to keep interest rates unchanged in a range of 0.25% to 0.5% when it concludes its two-day March meeting on Wednesday, putting off a planned rise after fears of a slowdown in China and collapsing oil prices have rattled investors worldwide. Most economists expect Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen to hint at two interest rate hikes to come later this year – down from four hikes that were expected back in December, when the Fed raised interest rates for the first time since 2006. – Guardian

The Sports Direct founder, Mike Ashley, is to be formally summonsed to appear before MPs to explain his company’s treatment of its workers. Ashley will be issued with a demand to appear before the business select committee on 7 June after refusing to agree to a number of dates suggested by MPs. – Guardian

It is the end of an affair that began in the dotcom boom and has had its fair share of ups and downs. Simon Nixon, the co-founder of Moneysupermarket, is to sell his final stake in the website that was founded during the internet bubble and floated on the stock exchange just as the credit crunch was pricking. – The Times