Top general faced school fees probe ‘after two complaints’

AN investigation into a senior Army officer accused of falsely claiming private school fee allowances for his children was launched after two separate complaints were made against him, a court has heard.

Major General Nick Welch is on trial at Bulford Military Court accused of one charge of falsely claiming £48,000 to pay for his children’s boarding school fees between December 2015 and February 2017.

The prosecution state that the 57-year-old had applied for the allowance on the basis that both he and his wife would not be living close to the children’s schools in Dorset.

This was in order to claim for the Continuity of Education Allowance (CEA) to allow their children to stay at £37,000-ayear Clayesmore School and £22,500-a-year Hanford School.

The payment is aimed at allowing children of service personnel to remain at the same schools to enable their serving parent to be accompanied by their spouse as they are posted to different locations.

But the prosecution claims that Welch’s wife, Charlotte, actually spent most of her time at a cottage in Blandford Forum, Dorset, close to the two schools rather than at their stated military accommodation in Putney, London.

Lieutenant Colonel Elizabeth James-Park, commanding officer of the Joint Service Administration Unit (JSAU), said she was alerted to a concern raised about the “lack of occupancy” of Welch’s London accommodation in February 2017.

She said that she sought guidance from her line manager because of Welch’s rank as a two star general and as it was the “second allegation about the same individual”.

She added: “This is a sensitive issue we were dealing with as it was a senior military figure. I wanted to handle it as sensitively as possible as I didn’t want to embarrass anyone.”

Welch denies the charge and the trial continues.