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Former Perry Beeches ‘superhead’ Liam Nolan to face misconduct hearing

The former chief executive of the collapsed Perry Beeches academy trust has been hauled before a teacher misconduct panel.

The Department for Education today published an updated list of teachers due to face a professional conduct panel.

It includes Liam Nolan, the former superhead of Birmingham-based Perry Beeches Academy Trust.

The trust is closing down after its schools were handed over to other chains after financial regularities were discovered.

That included a private firm that paid a “second salary” to Nolan with payments totalling £160,000 over two years on top of his £120,000 salary.

The trust, and Nolan, had been praised by former education secretary Michael Gove and former prime minister David Cameron.

The notice today does not include the allegations Nolan is facing – so it’s not clear if they relate to his role at Perry Beeches. It only states that the hearing started today, and will run until Friday.

INVESTIGATION: What went on at Perry Beeches

Schools Week has approached the Department for Education to confirm the allegations.

Nolan stepped down from Perry Beeches in May 2016. It following a government investigation that found the trust paid £1.3 million to a private firm without following proper funding rules.

That firm, Nexus Ltd, then paid Nolan a second salary of £160,000 over two years, on top of his £120,000 wage as head.

The trust’s governing body also stood down.

Schools Week reported in July last year that Nolan had been appointed as a headteacher at the Ruth Gorse Academy, in Leeds, however he left the role after three months.

We reported at the time that some in the sector were calling for an NCTL misconduct panel, which can ban heads from the classroom, to step in.

An investigation by Schools Week also previously highlighted the sticky issue of whether academy chief executives fell under the NCTL.

The government later confirmed academy bosses don’t fall under the disciplinary remit.

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