On Thursday afternoon, just as most people were getting ready for the long Easter weekend, the government quietly published the findings of an inquiry into a chain of Academy schools in Birmingham.
The story was an embarrassment because the Tories are planning to turn all primary and secondary schools into Academies, claiming this will raise standards.
But if the Birmingham investigation is any indication, it also illustrates what happens when schools face less scrutiny, as Academies do.
The investigation found that a Birmingham academy trust, which runs five secondary schools in the area, paid nearly £1.3 million to a business which then paid a “second salary” to one of its headteachers.
It revealed that the Trust made payments of £1.297 million over two years to a business called Nexus Schools Ltd, which itself sub-contracted another company called Liam Nolan Ltd, whose sole director is Liam Nolan.
Liam Nolan is also one of three executive headteachers at Perry Beeches The Academy Trust, and its Accounting Officer and Chief Executive.
http://politicalscrapbook.net/2016/0...dal-yesterday/