Good Law Project issues judicial review after contracting authority ‘unlawfully’ awarded £70bn public sector net zero procurement process

 Good Law Project  has filed a judicial review against contracting authority East of England Broadband Network (E2BN) after it handed over a £70 billion procurement process to a Cornwall-based ‘micro-company’ specialising in education services.

 

E2BN’s ‘Everything Net Zero’ is a framework agreement that offers the UK’s entire public sector, from the NHS to local government offices, a way to award contracts even loosely connected to ‘climate’ issues without having to comply with the usual rules about public procurement. Despite covering up to £70 billion, management of the framework agreement has been handed over to just one company  - a consultancy called Place Group, listed by Companies House as a ‘micro-company’ run by two directors in Penzance, Cornwall, with net assets of just under £350,000.

 

Jo Maugham, Director of Good Law Project, said:

 

The drive to achieve Net Zero is one of the most important challenges the UK faces today.  Why was E2BN, ‘a regional broadband consortium’, allowed to write such a poor example of a framework agreement and to make a decision that could have such a far-reaching impact on the UK’s climate response? Why did they decide to outsource control over billions of pounds in emissions reductions contracts to the Place Group, a tiny company whose main experience seems to be in the education sector?  Why was Place Group the only company to submit a tender? These are vital questions the public deserves to have an answer to and which E2BN has so far refused to answer.

 

Good Law Project is bringing this action as E2BN’s decisions and conduct in respect of the Everything Net Zero Framework appear to be in breach of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. As it currently stands, it seems that billions of pounds worth of public contracts could be awarded by the Place Group to unspecified suppliers without open, transparent and fair competition. GLP has asked the Court to hold proceedings for a month to give E2BN another chance to provide proper answers.

 

In July, GLP along with Joanna Wheatley, Client Earth and Friends of the Earth successfully sued the Government over its strategy for delivering on its Net Zero targets, on the basis proposals were too vague and lacked enough detail.  GLP will continue to campaign for accountability and transparency where the Government’s approach to the climate crisis is concerned, including its procurement process.  

 

Bellevue Place Education Trust statement on Mossack Fonseca connection

This statement was posted on the Bellevue Place Education Trust  on Sunday April 10th by Mark Greatrex.  The Wembley Matters blog and Sunday Times article on BPET were published on the same day. LINK

Governance of Bellevue Place Education Trust

In response to the recently published Sunday Times article Bellevue Place Education Trust wishes to be very clear that the Bellevue shareholder who made an investment in Bellevue Education via a company registered by Mossack Fonseca in the British Virgin Islands has no connection with the Trust.

Bellevue Place Education Trust is a not for profit charitable trust set up with the sole intention to establish and maintain high performing schools in and around London.  The Trust was established by two parties, Bellevue Education and Place Group.  The Trust’s governance structure is clear as to the structure and who the members and trustees are.

Below for transparency, is our statement we sent to the Sunday Times.  We have made it very clear that Bellevue Place Education Trust is a not for profit charity that was approved by the Department for Education to manage and maintain state funded free schools.  The Trust is a separate, independent organisation from Bellevue Education that is solely focused on offering high quality education provision to its pupils.  We have some fantastic staff and governors who are supporting the delivery of this vision and we aim to see off these allegations as promptly as possible, enabling us to focus on our core purpose.

Below is the statement we have issued we have also included the Department for Education’s clear statement.

Statement from Bellevue Place Education Trust send to Sunday Times:

“Bellevue Place Education Trust is a multi-academy Trust, sponsoring seven primary Free Schools across London and the South-East. The Trust’s core purpose and responsibility is to establish, maintain and manage state funded Free Schools.  All Bellevue Place Education Trust schools are focused to deliver high quality education provision in areas where there is a shortage of primary school places.”

“Bellevue Place Education Trust is an independent charitable organisation, with six trustees, of which one is Mark Malley.  Trustees delegate responsibility to a Local Governing Body for each school, who appoint all staff (except the Headteacher), set the schools budget and ensure the curriculum meets the needs of the pupils, in line with the vision of the Trust.”

“In applying to be a Free School promoter, the Trust undertook stringent due diligence and was approved by the Department for Education and Charity Commission.”

A DfE spokesperson:

“We demand the highest moral and professional standards from anyone involved in educating our children and, in common with every free school proposal, Bellevue Place Educational Trust (BPET) was subject to detailed scrutiny. We are clear that no-one will be handed control of a school unless we are entirely happy with the result of the checks.

“Bellevue Education and BPET are separate organisations. Our records show the individual named is not in any way involved in the governance of BTEP schools. There are strict rules that prevent free schools and academies being run as for-profit organisations.

“These include due diligence checks, credit checks, and enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly Criminal Records Bureau) checks and may include police and other checks necessary to ensure the suitability of people to be part of the free school programme.  As part of those checks, we would look at an individual’s association with other people or organisations.”

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This is what the Evening Standard wrote about BPET in February 2014 LINK

Both partners clearly have interests in financial returns.

Bellevue Place Education Trust is a partnership between two companies, Bellevue Education, founded in 2003 by former prep school headmaster Mark Malley, and chaired by private equity investor Mawan Naja, and Place Group, a provider of educational advisory services, including “potential income generation” and the identification of “appropriate investment vehicles”, to groups setting up free schools and academies.

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These are the most recent accounts of the Belleveue Place Education Trust that I can find: