Scandal-hit school trust formally disbanded

A Birmingham education trust once hailed by David Cameron and Michael Gove has been formally disbanded – almost two years after the body was rocked by a financial scandal.

The disbandment of the Perry Beeches academy trust has seen its five schools handed to other trusts.

Four of the schools will now be managed by the Core Education Trust, which was set up in the wake of Birmingham’s so-called ‘Trojan Horse’ affair, while the fifth has been handed over to the charity, Ark.

The former trust made national headlines in 2016 when its headteacher and CEO, Liam Nolan (pictured) quit after a whistleblower raised concerns about the financial management of the schools group.

The Education Funding Agency carried out an investigation in relation to the activities of the trust’s Accounting Officer (Mr Nolan), who was also a member (with no voting rights) and a trustee of the trust.

It said there was a conflict of interests within the trust, with the AO providing consultancy services through a third party private company, Nexus.

Nexus was used by the trust as a business support consultancy service to assist with procurement and facilities management.

The trust paid Nexus for providing the services of a CEO for Perry Beeches. Nexus then sub contracted this role to Liam Nolan Ltd, whose sole director was Mr Nolan (the AO). The EFA report found Mr Nolan was also paid for his concurrent role as Executive Headteacher separately through payroll at £120,000.

The academy paid Nexus £72,000, including VAT in 2013/14 and £88,800 plus
VAT in 2014/15 for the CEO role.

The EFA said this arrangement was a breach of the Academies Financial Handbook (AFH) 2014.

It concluded the academy could not provide documented evidence to demonstrate value for money in relation to the £1,297,711 spent with Nexus. Specifically, it said no evidence of a formal procurement exercise, including quotations and tendering, was available for expenditure with Nexus.

Mr Nolan quit his role in May 2016 but left saying that he stood by his record and was proud of the achievements made by the trust.

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