A school found to have breached financial rules thirty times has been told to improve and stripped of some powers.
The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) said it “does not have sufficient assurance of good financial management and governance” at St Adian’s Church of England Academy Trust in Darlington, and found 30 breaches of financial rules by the trust.
A letter sent to the school’s trustees by the ESFA, and seen by The Northern Echo, said there are “continued concerns in relation to governance and oversight of financial management” at the school.
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The school has also been restricted from making some spending decisions without prior approval from the ESFA.
The letter said: “We are issuing the Trust with a Notice to Improve because of financial management and governance concerns.
“While I recognise that the Trust has taken some action to address matters, due to the extent of issues identified [during an October 2022 review], the ESFA does not have sufficient assurance of good financial management and governance within the Trust.
“These issues constitute 30 breaches of the Academy Trust Handbook (ATH) and breaches of the Companies Act 2006.”
Failings at the school included failing to keep records for six years, not appointing a “suitably qualified” Chief Financial Officer, and failing to publish details of employees earning over £100,000.
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It was also found that the trust failed to put an investment policy in place or properly document the board’s approval of the budget.
The school will now be forced to carry out an independent review and implement new financial management procedures.
Failure to improve could see the financial agreement terminated, which may lead to the school taken out of the trust's control.
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St Aidan’s headteacher Dean Lythgoe, told the Echo: “The Education Skills and Funding Agency conducted a review of our financial governance in October last year and has noted the positive steps we quickly took to address many of their concerns.
“However, there is more to do and as a result the ESFA has issued a ‘Notice to Improve’. We must stress that this is not about financial impropriety.
“The ESFA has promised to lift the NTI as soon as its expectations are met and the Trust’s board and senior leaders will continue to work closely with them to make sure this happens as soon as possible."
St Aidan’s was set up in 2007, to replace the failing Eastbourne Comprehensive School and was housed in a new £16m campus.
In October 2014, an unsigned protest letter from teachers and support staff at the school declaring their “profound lack of confidence” in the school’s leaders was sent to governors and The Northern Echo.
Ofsted inspectors later that year said while its leadership and management requires improvement, the behaviour and safety of pupils, quality of teaching and achievement of pupils is inadequate", with the inspection team finding the school has “serious weaknesses".
In 2018, it was graded as good with outstanding features.
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