Academies Financial Handbook

ESFA ‘sorry’ as academy trust handbook issued days before taking effect

With a caretaker government in power, the 2022 academy handbook includes only limited changes

New alliance to stop schools being swept under MAT

Experts said the new West Kent Single Academy Trust Alliance showed there were ‘other models’ to the government’s preferred MATs

Bailed-out academy boss set for £150k payout, despite £1.1m budget hole

A single academy trust facing closure has set aside a £150,000 payout for its chief executive, despite reporting a £1.1 million budget black hole last year and needing two taxpayer bailouts. The Castle Trust is set to be wound up after it was stripped of Delce Academy in Kent last year following an “inadequate” rating. […]

New academy rules put trust autonomy at risk, say sector leaders

Sector leaders are warning the new academy trust handbook could undermine board autonomy , and demanding the government confirm whether it spells “broader intervention” in future. Most of the changes to the rebranded 2021 edition, previously known as the academies financial handbook, are simply pulling in existing school guidance from elsewhere. Minister Baroness Berridge’s foreword […]

Speed read: ‘Academy trust handbook’ 2021 published as DfE rebrands key guide

The DfE has rebranded the academies financial handbook as the academy trust handbook, with ministers dubbing the latest edition a “one stop shop” for academy leaders. The update has also seen financial notices to improve renamed as “notices to improve”, to reflect that the warnings issued to academies sometimes cover “broader governance issues”. Baroness Berridge, […]

Ex-minister’s academy trust ignores governance guidelines

A former academies minister’s trust is failing to meet government guidelines over good governance – and has seemingly been allowed to expand without having to update its arrangements. Newly published accounts for Future Academies, founded by Lord Nash, show a majority of the trust’s members are also trustees. One governance expert said this level of […]

Plymouth CAST receives financial notice to improve

One of England’s largest academy chains has been issued with a financial notice to improve by the Education and Skills Funding Agency. Plymouth CAST, an academy trust that runs 35 schools, has had its spending powers restricted and been ordered to address “weak financial management and inadequate governance”. The trust, which is one of the government’s […]

Bright Tribe investigation reveals chain breached rules – but will not face notice to improve

An investigation into a “top-performing” academy trust given government cash to drive up standards in northern schools has revealed it breached rules over payments to trustees – but will escape a financial notice to improve. A long-awaited investigation into the Bright Tribe trust, and another trust also founded by sponsor venture capitalist Michael Dwan, called […]