DfE quietly ditches pledge to publish academy scandal investigations

The government stands accused of reneging on promises of academy transparency after quietly ditching its pledge to publish investigations into trust scandals.

Twenty-seven investigation reports have been published since 2012 under a promise to be “fair and transparent about how public money is spent”.

But last month the Department for Education published an investigation “outcome” report after an eight-year look into the Lilac Sky Schools Trust.

Unlike full reports, the “outcome” publication had few details, totalling just three pages. Full published reports are normally at least ten pages, with some as many as 30.

The DfE updated its publication policy last year. At the time, the Conservative government said there were no major changes for academies.

‘Maxwellisation process’

But Schools Week has now been told the department had actually “shifted from publishing a full investigation report to reporting a summary of the outcomes of an investigation”.

This “enables the investigation team to publish the pertinent information from these reports without an overly protracted” legal process, such as allowing those criticised to provide a response.

This rule, known as the Maxwellisation process, has “historically led to significant delay in publishing investigation outcomes”, the DfE said.

The change also enables the government investigation team to “spend more time on its core function of investigating fraud and financial irregularity across the academy trust and further education sectors”.

But Dr Mary Bousted, the former general secretary of the National Education Union, said: “Publishing very little information is not a satisfactory outcome.”

“It’s incumbent that anyone in receipt of public money is accountable for it. Money should be spent on children’s education, and where it was misused it really affected quality of education and children’s education.”

Bright Tribe probe unlikely to see light of day

Bousted became heavily involved in collating evidence from those affected by the Bright Tribe scandal.

Founded by businessman Michael Dwan, the trust was eight years ago accused of making false claims for hundreds of thousands of pounds for building and maintained government grants, among other issues.

An investigation into the trust, now wound up, has still to be published. It is unlikely to see the light of day.

The investigation report decision could also put ministers on a collision course with the Public Accounts Committee.

Its MPs berated the government in 2019 for not being “sufficiently transparent about the results of inquiries into concerns” about financial management and governance of trusts.

The results of inquiries should be published within two months of the work being completed, the committee said.

DfE plans to publish ‘outcomes’

The DfE believes this commitment is met by publishing “outcomes”. The PAC would not comment.

The department also said the new policy aligned better with other government departments, but would not say which. Councils also do not routinely publish investigations into maintained schools.

But Leora Cruddas, the chief executive of the Confederation of School Trusts, said publishing findings more speedily needed to “be balanced with providing sufficient detail to enable the sector to truly understand any gaps in practice and improve for the future”.

“Trusts are guardians of public funds and it is crucial they are well governed and effectively regulated – and that includes thorough and timely investigation so that if things do go wrong we can learn from them.”