academy finances | Schools Week

‘Reckless’ spending and academy rule breakers: DfE reveals its school leader banning powers

School staff involved in “reckless budgeting” or breaching academy funding rules can be banned from the profession, new government guidance has laid out. The Department for Education has today published detailed rules on its powers to bar people from managing schools. Under section 128 of the Education and Skills Act 2008, the education secretary can […]

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 […]

Academy trusts to face tougher financial checks

Academy trusts can expect tougher checks on their finances as auditors sharpen up following high-profile auditing scandals – and cash-strapped chains can no longer rely on government bail-outs. Government guidance published last week said trustees and finance staff would face “more detailed questioning” from auditors assessing whether their trusts have enough cash to continue. The […]

Beware the government’s sleight of hand on academy finances

The government’s new method for calculating school budgets obscures the true number of schools in financial deficit, explains Jon Andrews The Department for Education yesterday published new statistics on the revenue balances of academy trusts. This does not provide data for individual trusts let alone individual academies, this is expected later in the year, but provides […]

Related-party transactions in schools: the debate

Schools should be forced to run related-party transactions past the government for prior approval, a powerful parliamentary committee has recommended – dividing opinion among unions and lobbying groups. The public accounts committee published its assessment of academy trust finances and the regulations in place to prevent malpractice just before Easter. It criticised the Department for […]

Government investigates severance payouts in academy trusts

Government finance bosses are investigating several unnamed academy trusts that failed to get Treasury approval for hefty payments made to staff. The Education and Funding Skills Agency has launched investigations into three “special severance payments” worth £184,000 that were paid to staff after they resigned or were fired. According to one trade union, some of […]

Academy trust broke rules over CEO’s £8,000 four-star hotel stays

An academy trust in financial trouble breached government rules after paying nearly £8,000 so its chief executive could stay in a four-star hotel for 78 nights. An Education Funding Agency investigation, published yesterday, found a number of “significant failings and weaknesses” at the Rodillian Multi Academy Trust. The government launched an investigation into the trust, […]

The 8 most important findings from the government’s new-look academies report

The Education Committee has today published a “dry run” of how the Department for Education plans to report finances in the academy sector. It reveals more than 100 academy chiefs are paid more than £150,000 – with two staff receiving bumper pay-offs of up to £200,000. The dry run, covering the 2014-15 financial year, has […]