Struggling trust failed to clear payment to outgoing ‘senior executive’

An under-pressure academy trust broke rules over a £15,000 payment to a former school leader.  

Latest accounts for the Tenterden Schools Trust (TST) in Kent show it made the error as it entered into a settlement agreement with an outgoing “senior executive” last year. 

The six-school chain also admitted to failing to carry out internal financial checks last year. Its reserves fell by more than 40 per cent over the period.

Jonathan Wilden, TST’s CEO, said his academies were “finding rising costs a challenge while wanting to do as much to support children”. 

He added: “They have no choice but to utilise reserves while conducting an accurate analysis of curriculum and staffing models with headteachers.”

Accounts show a settlement agreement – entered into before Wilden’s arrival – contained a “provision for pay in lieu of notice together with pension contributions” for their notice period.

It is not clear who the member of staff was but, as their employment was “terminated” a third of the way through their notice period, it was “agreed the pension contributions would be paid as a lump sum”. 

The trust received legal advice confirming that, if it did not do so, “it risked litigation”. 

No internal checks

Despite this, the payment was found to have breached academy rules as TST did not receive the Department for Education’s “prior authorisation”. 

“The academy trust has been open and transparent with the DfE about this payment, and the DfE have acknowledged that … [TST] acted in good faith and in accordance with the legal advice obtained,” the accounts added. 

TST also revealed “no financial internal scrutiny checks were performed during 2024-25”. 

This meant “key financial procedures and controls have not been independently reviewed”. 

Wilden acknowledged this was also a breach of the rules but stressed the issue “has been rectified”. 

By the end of August, TST registered a surplus of £297,000, down from £530,000 in 2023-24.