School cash spent on bosses’ stay at £270-a-night hotel
PRIMARY school funds were used to pay for leaders of an academy trust to stay in a London hotel where rooms cost more than £270 per night.
The hotel spending was among a list of ‘significant failings and weaknesses’ exposed in an official review of finances of the Leading Learners Multi Academy Trust (MAT), the trust in charge of Tyldesley Primary School in Wigan.
‘Contentious and potentially irregular expenditure,’ including three London hotel rooms costing £277.44 per room per night, were identified in a report written by the government’s Education & Skills Funding Agency (ESFA).
The money was spent between 2015/16 and 2016/17. Bosses at Leading Learners say the report, seen by the M.E.N, was in ‘draft form’ when sent to the school in 2017.
“The hotel rooms were a purchase made in error,” the trust said. “Three staff members attended a conference in London. Given that overnight stays in the capital are a rare occurrence, we did not have an agreed budget hotel to use. A wellmeaning staff member asked organisers for recommendations, who suggested hotels that cost considerably more than was permitted. Approval processes were not followed before booking non-refundable stays at the hotel.”
The ESFA review into finance management and governance was launched after anonymous allegations were made about Leading Learners MAT in April 2017, according to the report.
Other ‘significant failings and weaknesses’ identified by the review included ‘inadequate’ financial oversight and scrutiny at the trust.
It is unclear when a final draft of the report will be published. Superhead Yvonne Brown is chief executive of Leading Learners MAT and executive head of Tyldesley Primary. According to gov.co.uk, she was the accounting officer at the time of the review.
Brian Wilson, Leading Learners MAT chair, stressed it was a draft report and said: “We accept and acknowledge that the ESFA rightly found that some of the processes around expenditure made over two years ago were not in line with best practice and the Academies Financial Handbook.
“The period covered is when the trust grew from one to four academies. It became clear that, while education standards significantly improved, our policies, systems and training on financial procedures had not progressed at the same rate. This has since been resolved.”
Since the review they had continued to work with ESFA, who now said processes were robust and fit for purpose.
A Department for Education (DfE) spokeswoman said she didn’t know when the ESFA’s final report of the financial management and governance review of Leading Learners would be published.
A DfE spokesman said: “Academy trusts operate under a strict system of oversight and accountability.
“Any allegations of wrongdoing are investigated and any issues are identified and dealt with appropriately. It would be inappropriate to comment on an individual case.”