News

Trust to close after losing £4m council legal row

Parallel Learning Trust's six schools are to be handed to other trusts but it's unclear who will pick up the tab for any remaining deficit

Parallel Learning Trust's six schools are to be handed to other trusts but it's unclear who will pick up the tab for any remaining deficit

Exclusive

A special school trust saddled with a seven-figure deficit after having to repay a near £4 million bill to its local council over unpaid services is to close.

Parallel Learning Trust’s six schools are to be handed to new trusts. The board took the decision after Mark Jordan, the former chief executive, left in September last year, a spokesperson for Parallel said.

Rather than appoint a new CEO, the government installed its chief troubleshooter Angela Barry to oversee the closure.

Angela Barry

Parallel this year finished paying back a £3.38 million settlement it struck with Lambeth council in south London following a legal claim for unpaid payroll services.

A settlement was agreed in 2019-20, and the cash was repaid in March. A further £504,000 relating to a pension fund liability is also due to be repaid.  

Annual accounts for last year, published in February, show the trust had a £2.3 million deficit.

This was “predominantly linked to the financial challenges arising from the historic payroll debt”, which related to its Evolve Academy special school in Lambeth, accounts stated.

The school was created in November 2022 following the merger of Park Campus Academy and Kennington Park Academy. 

The accounts blamed “poor financial management many years ago, overseen by the previous executive team” for a £1.7 million deficit. 

Accounts for 2016-17 show its chief executive at the time, human resources manager and financial accountant were dismissed for “attempted falsification of salary-related documentation”. Jordan took over after this.

As well as the repayments, the school has struggled with reduced pupil numbers and funding levels.

Schools Week previously revealed the government had stepped in to resolve the legal battle between Lambeth and the trust, which also runs schools in Essex and Kent.

A reduction in high-needs top-up funding had been “challenging”, the trust said in 2019, criticising the council for declining “repeated attempts to renegotiate this”.

A spokesperson for the trust said this week: “Our board voluntarily took the decision to transfer our academies to new providers following the departure of our CEO and to best assure the schools’ ongoing improvement. This process is underway and progressing well.”

It is not clear who will pick up any remaining trust deficit. The government has written off trusts’ debts before, and sometimes does the same when academies with deficits are handed to new trusts.

Government accounts for last year show it waived more than £4.5 million in debt owed by trusts that had schools rebrokered to others.

Lambeth council said it “entered into a negotiated agreement with PLT” and costs have now been “fully recovered”.

Latest education roles from

IT Technician

IT Technician

Harris Academy Morden

Teacher of Geography

Teacher of Geography

Harris Academy Orpington

Lecturer/Assessor in Electrical

Lecturer/Assessor in Electrical

South Gloucestershire and Stroud College

Director of Management Information Systems (MIS)

Director of Management Information Systems (MIS)

South Gloucestershire and Stroud College

Exams Assistant

Exams Assistant

Richmond and Hillcroft Adult & Community College

Lecturer Electrical Installation

Lecturer Electrical Installation

Solihull College and University Centre

Your thoughts

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *