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‘Fraud’

Free school fire escape door at centre of tax evasion allegations

An MP is to call in the Serious Fraud Office after a collapsed free school leader used a “false VAT number” when billing a council for consultancy services. Alun Morgan was the sole listed director of Morgan Bristol Limited, which was registered to the steel fire escape door on the side of Manchester Creative Studio […]

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Blacklisted academy bosses were a one-off, says DfE

Academy bosses being secretly banned from running other schools has happened on just the one occasion, the government claims. Schools Week revealed last month the Education and Skills Funding Agency wrote to former leaders of two collapsed Manchester free school trusts “strongly discouraging” them from “further involvement in schools”. Lord Agnew, the academies minister, also […]

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Number of teachers banned for life has halved

The number of teachers banned from the profession for life without the right to appeal last year has almost halved, while those escaping misconduct hearings without any prohibition rose. Our analysis has prompted further calls for reform to a system that one senior lawyer says leaves the Teacher Regulation Agency (TRA) without the “nuance” needed […]

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Bright Tribe investigation referred to fraud police

A police investigation into the collapsed Bright Tribe academy trust has been referred to the City of London’s fraud squad. The trust was reported to Cumbria police back in 2017 following allegations of financial mismanagement at Whitehaven Academy. However police have refused to provide information about the nature of their enquiries. Schools Week has now […]

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DfE and ESFA accounts: £3m settled out of court, bigger bonuses and millions in debt written off

The annual accounts for both the Department for Education and the Education and Skills Funding Agency have been published today, in a deluge of information released as parliament heads into the summer recess. The accounts, covering the year to March 2019, reveal the write-off of hundreds of thousands of pounds given to academy trusts, fraud […]

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More trusts in deficit, plus 4 more academy sector accounts findings

The DfE has published its annual accounts for spending in the academies sector during the 2017-18 year. The previous report was published in November last year, but the government had promised to make publication of the report more timely. Here’s what we found.   1. More academy bosses on £150k+ despite Agnew’s crackdown Despite academies […]

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Revealed: How the DfE plans to increase financial transparency in maintained schools

The government wants local authority schools to get permission for any related-party transactions from their council under plans to increase spending transparency in the sector. The Department for Education also wants maintained schools to publish their annual finances – details of their income, expenditure and balances under their Consistent Financial Reporting statements – on their […]

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Academies minister to ‘look into’ whistleblowing procedures

Lord Agnew, the academies minister, has pledged to look at whistleblowing procedures for academy trusts to ensure those who report foul play are protected. Answering questions in the House of Lords about the financial arrangements and auditing of academy trusts, Agnew told peers that whistleblowers “play an important part in the regulation of the system”, […]

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Government warns academies as email ‘phishing’ scams inflict financial losses

Academies and other educational institutions are being warned about new cyber-attacks which have already claimed some victims and resulted in financial losses. The latest Education and Skills Funding Agency update, published today, contains information about a “phishing” scam – where a fraudster disguises as a trustworthy source in an electronic communication to trick people into […]

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