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Original poster

oh dear, another v embarrassing free school débâcle

91 replies

edam · 25/10/2013 22:53

This time involving the Tory party deputy chairman. Serious financial mismanagement to the tune of £90k. Can't link as on tablet but see BBC news, king's science academy Bradford.

Tory bigwig Alan Lewis's company trousers £300k a year in rent for the site. And the Tories have the cheek to call the unemployed scroungers!

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straggle · 25/10/2013 23:58

OMG there should to be resignations at the top of the story party and DfE now

www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-24677371

'Alan Lewis, a successful businessman and the Conservative Party's vice-chairman, was a key benefactor and supporter. And the school is built on land owned by Mr Lewis and leased to the academy by his company at a cost of £296,000 a year for 20 years.'

'The EFA investigation found that £59,560 of payments were not supported by any evidence of payments being made, and £10,800 of this was supported by fabricated invoices for rent.'

K8Middleton · 26/10/2013 00:01

Fabricated invoices? Fucking hell. Heads should roll for this - no pun intended.

Original poster
edam · 26/10/2013 00:02

Great typo there, they are indeed the story party - as in, telling tall stories. Greedy, grasping feckers.

Did you see the head was giving jobs to all his relatives as well? Exploiting taxpayers every which way.

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straggle · 26/10/2013 00:08

Sssstory lying bastard party Grin

Jobs for the boys, bribes for the mafia

You couldn't make it up

straggle · 26/10/2013 00:22

And this article too

www.theguardian.com/education/2013/oct/25/flagship-free-school-kings-science-academy

'"We found serious failings in financial management at the Kings Science Academy. We informed the police who decided no further action was necessary," said a spokesman for the DfE.'

'The EFA report is particular damning about the failures of the school's governors, saying that they did not understand their financial responsibilities and so could not discharge them.'

So the DfE is saying it's the police's fault that this fraud has been allowed to go on for a year? And since then ministers have cut checks on financial oversight?

LittleSiouxieSue · 26/10/2013 00:42

Yet another one for the Police to account for too. (Ha ha) Fabricating invoices is fraud.

How many more schools will have similar issues? I think the press will turn up more. When money is thrown at projects, people feel a bit will not be missed, so they start being reckless. The money would have been better spent on local schools.

Bakingnovice · 26/10/2013 07:52

Heads should roll. But they won't. This school is notorious for nepotism and money appropriation.

Talkinpeace · 26/10/2013 11:09

and as a Free School, the public sector auditors have no right to inspect the books.

One rule for Councils under Pickles,
another rule for schools under Gove

joined up government

Original poster
edam · 26/10/2013 11:25

YY Baking, the Newsnight investigation found the head had employed several family members, without going through the normal processes of application and interview. So his family are creaming off possibly hundreds of thousands of pounds of taxpayers' money...

Do you live near the school? Don't think I'd want my child to be taught by this dishonest shower.

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rabbitstew · 26/10/2013 11:34

Amazing how in response to serious financial mismanagement by banks causing a global crisis, the current Government have opened the doors for more of the same in more sectors. Let's all cut the red tape getting in the way of nepotism - like we were constantly told we had to cut red tape in the innovative banking industry to let the innovators do their thang.

Onesleeptillwembley · 26/10/2013 11:34

Sadly this had been covered up, as is lots of other issues here due to overly PC issues. This has been widely known and yet allowed to continue.

Onesleeptillwembley · 26/10/2013 11:36

And don't just blame Gove - the rot set in here with the last lot. Nobody can challenge this without being decried as racist.

Original poster
edam · 26/10/2013 11:36

Let's hope the headlights of the Newsnight investigation make it more difficult for them to ignore it and pretend it hasn't happened.

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Onesleeptillwembley · 26/10/2013 11:37

It may (or may mot) be dealt with, but it'll be brushed under the carpet like so much else.

rabbitstew · 26/10/2013 11:38

Well, we're in a global economy, now, so we have to up our corruption to international levels.

rabbitstew · 26/10/2013 11:41

I reckon we'd be quite near the top, though. We could all congratulate ourselves for being at the top of the OECD league tables in something. Unless we bribe them to put us lower down, of course. GrinGrin

curlew · 26/10/2013 11:42

"And don't just blame Gove - the rot set in here with the last lot. Nobody can challenge this without being decried as racist."

It's PC gorn maaaaaaad, I tells ya..........

Original poster
edam · 26/10/2013 11:45

Grin rabbit

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Onesleeptillwembley · 26/10/2013 11:46

Sadly, Curlew, it is.Confused

straggle · 31/10/2013 23:40

The police have got involved again in the Bradford free school fraud case:

www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/main-topics/education/police-launch-inquiry-into-bradford-school-s-finance-claims-1-6204140

sadsqueaker · 01/11/2013 11:57

So, last week the DfE said the police were aware of this in April and had decided there was no case to answer but now the police say this wasn't reported to them for investigation.
Somebody is lying.

(It's always the cover-up that does for them Wink)

Talkinpeace · 01/11/2013 12:00

Anybody in the area.

Shout and scream and jump up and down to demand that free schools and Academies are subject to the same level of public sector audit scrutiny as council funded schools

In fact I think it might be worth starting to tackle Mr Pickles about what he thinks of the chunks of council money handed to unaccountable private companies .....

the police only act on fraud if they are hassled into it as they do not understand the numbers
HASSLE THEM

nlondondad · 02/11/2013 10:48

@Talkinpeace

If forged invoices were discovered at the community school where I am a governor:-

  1. They would have been discovered by the the people who come in from the LA to do our audits at frequent intervals. (Audits which also include matters like checking whether the governors are doing their job by having required policies in place and also checking that all the required criminal Record Checks -DBS as they are now called - have been done, which was yet another failing in this Academy)
  1. The matter would have been reported at once to the police, by the LA.

No doubt this will now be quoted by a proponent of Free Schools as an example of how an LA can "interfere" with a community school..

Travellingsouth · 02/11/2013 11:23

Talkingpeace, I'm not defending what happened. It's a disgrace. But free schools are already very closely audited. That's why the problem was spotted. Clearly the person responsible just didn't realise how closely audited they would be, and thought they could get away with it.

Free schools sign a funding agreement with the dfe and their accounts are scrutinised very closely by the audit commission.

Original poster
edam · 02/11/2013 13:00

I'm glad the police are now involved - shameful that the Dept for Education did not actually alert the police at the time. Handy for Gove that his officials are quite so keen to cover up potential fraud at fee schools. Hmm

As for free schools being closely audited, really? If they were, why was this only picked up by journalists months after it happened? Clearly there is plenty of scope for fraud - and not only fraud, but senior politicians managing to trouser £300k a year from the public purse in 'rent'. Makes the expenses scandal look trivial.

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