A trust that runs four primary schools spent thousands of pounds on overseas trips for its leaders, more than £1,000 on two hotel rooms for two nights and almost £10,000 on Facebook adverts for a free school that has not yet been set up, according to allegations in a draft investigation seen by the Observer.
In a case that will raise further questions about the financial management of academies, an inquiry into Silver Birch Academy Trust claims it spent £6,117 on a fact-finding trip to China and New Zealand for its chief executive Patricia Davies, a former headteacher of the year, and her deputy. The draft investigation states that the trust allegedly spent £99,000 refurbishing a former caretaker’s house, later to be rented out to a member of staff. It claimed £10,000 of work had been done without quotes having been obtained, while no rent had been paid.
It alleges the trust spent £3.26m on services from six companies without providing evidence of any contracts having been signed. It also alleges that the trust had contracts with four consultancy companies, together worth £326,044, without the work having gone out to tender. Meanwhile, a school within the trust spent £1,064 on two rooms for two nights at the Hyatt Regency hotel, Birmingham, with £507 of this for a room where the guest did not turn up.
The report seen by the Observer was a draft version. A final version has not yet been published and could differ from the draft.
Silver Birch, which runs four primary school academies educating nearly 2,000 pupils in the London boroughs of Waltham Forest and Redbridge, also allegedly spent nearly £5,000 on four laptops for management. The findings are contained in a draft investigation report by the Education and Skills Funding Agency, which oversees academies. It is the second time in four years that the trust’s spending has been examined.
An inquiry in 2014 criticised it for spending £26,000 on refurbishing Davies’s office. Queries have also been raised about her earnings. The trust’s latest accounts show she was paid £211,082 in 2016-17 – a rise of 10% from the previous year. The leaked investigation states that her pay was in the range £180,000 to £261,000 in January 2018.
The report questions the financial understanding of those running the trust. Its 2016-17 accounts show that overall spending of £9.5m was nearly £1m higher than the income it received for its “education operations”, meaning it had an in-year deficit. “Discussions with both [Davies] and [the] acting chair of the board demonstrated a poor understanding of the current financial situation of the trust,” the draft report states.
“Neither could explain the in-year deficit that the trust incurred and did not show any understanding of what an in-year deficit was.”
The findings come after the Commons public accounts committee concluded that “too often academy trusts are falling short” of the “highest standards of governance, accountability and financial management” and that the Department for Education is often “too slow to react”. The draft report highlights 11 alleged breaches of the Academies Financial Handbook, a government document setting out spending rules for academies. Several “novel or contentious payments” should have been sent to the ESFA for approval in advance, the report suggests.
A spokeswoman for the trust said the overseas fact-finding mission had been “approved”. She said it had been part-funded by a group called the National Leaders of Education, which contributed £6,000 to the trip’s cost of £12,117. The remaining £6,117 came from the schools’ budget.
In relation to the other allegations, she said: “As part of its recent review ESFA raised an inquiry in relation to the manner in which certain payments were made, evidenced or demonstrated value. Further information and evidence by way of clarification has already been provided to the ESFA. The payments referred to were made in accordance with trust policies and procedures. “Changes already under way and further measures introduced in response to the ESFA enquiries have dealt with many of the points raised. A final report has not as yet been published.”The Education Department said it did not comment on leaked documents, but added: “The department investigates all allegations of financial impropriety.”
Soure:-theguardian.
