NEU's 'deep disappointment' at role of Brent Labour leader and Chief Whip in The Village School academisation following news it will become part of a Multi-Academy Trust tomorrow

 The Brent branch of the National Education yesterday passed the reolution below on the 'very sad news' the The Village School in Kingsbury will become part of the Woodfield Multi-Academy Trust tomorrow. The NEU has fought hard and long against the proposals with widespread support from trade unions, political parties, parents,  community groups and Brent NorthMP Barry Gardiner.

The move means that apart from Phoenix School Arch on St Rapahel's Estate that special education in Brent has been privatised. A sad day indeed.

Brent NEU congratulates the members at The Village for their brilliant and hard fought campaign against becoming part of a Multi-Academy Trust with Woodfield academy. We also thank Barry Gardiner, Brent North MP, the local Constituency Labour Parties, and the community for their support.

We are however deeply disappointed that Cllr Sandra Kabir, Chair of Governors of The Village and Chief Whip of the Labour Group supported the academisation and Cllr Muhammed Butt, Leader of Brent Council did not use his position and offices to strongly oppose this privatisation of our outstanding Local Authority school.

Brent NEU condemns 'abject failures of governance' at Woodfield School - £400k in wrongful payments uncovered

Brent National Education Union responds to the ESFA report on Woodfield School financial irregularities. NEU statement below:

Damning ESFA Report exposes abject failures of Governance at Woodfield School.

£400,000 in wrongful payments uncovered.

An investigation by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) into financial irregularities related to the academy and Multi Academy Trust (MAT) conversion process between Woodfield academy school and The Village school in Brent has just been published.

£400,000 was wrongly paid to two consultants, one of whom was Greg Foley who acted simultaneously as Chair of Trustees, Member of the Finance Committee and Chief Financial Officer. (All this information can be found out from public records.) Those in charge at Woodfield failed utterly in their duty of oversight and care of monies that should have been spent on their special needs pupils.

Going onto the school Website and looking at the names of Trustees reveals that Kay Charles has been an ex-officio Trustee since September 2017. Kay Charles became the Executive Head of The Village and Woodfield school on the same date. Records show that she was in attendance at every Governing Board meetings for 2017/18.

Kay Charles Ex-officio (appointed 01.09.17)

Resources Committee

Evaluation & strategic development Head Performance management

Brent Schools Partnership

The Village School

None

In the ESFA report there are repeated references to the Chair and Chief Finance Officer (CFO) breaching and not complying with the financial regulations of academy trusts. This was under her oversight.  

Hank Roberts, Brent NEU President and National Executive member said:

“As whistleblower I feel totally vindicated by the findings of this report. The bankrupt academy system is an open invitation to help yourself to school funds. Kay Charles has proved herself inadequate to the task of halting this corruption. If she won’t put the interests of state education above her own, she should go. 

“Cllr Muhammed Butt, Leader of Brent Council and Sandra Kabir, Chair of Governors of The Village were warned that there were questions over the finances at Woodfield a year ago, yet neither expressed opposition to the proposal that Woodfield and The Village become a MAT. Now is the time they should show leadership and call for this proposal to be dropped rather than support this disaster in waiting. This is the agreed policy of Brent Constituency Labour Parties and recently was unanimously confirmed by the Local Campaign Forum (LCF) and fully supported by the local Labour MP Barry Gardiner.” 

Governors and trustees of the two schools were aware of the financial situation and failed to act on NEU members’ concerns. Despite this, the majority of these governors and trustees are proposed as trustees and governors of the new MAT where they will be overseeing a budget almost twice as big.

Cllr Jumbo Chan, who has supported the campaign to stop the academisation throughout, said:

“The decision by the governing body of The Village to academise the school was wholly unnecessary and misguided. In light of the ESFA’s damning report into Woodfield School, it has further highlighted a dearth of wisdom at the heart of the decision.

“In addition to offering no concrete benefit, the decision to academise ignored completely the swathes of concerns voiced by parents, campaigners, and the school’s own outstanding teachers and support staff.

“Nearly a year later, the academisation process has left The Village School in limbo, demoralising and sowing uncertainty amongst its committed staff.

“That the ESFA has now produced a litany of gross failings with regards to Woodfield School – including procurement, related party transactions, governance regulations and register of interests, including large payments of thousands of pounds of public money to consultants – corresponds to problems in the academisation process elsewhere.

The ESFA report is a wake-up call that leads to the unavoidable conclusion that the whole academisation process should immediately cease. I urge the governing body to now finally listen to its staff, and withdraw its application to academise, and remain within the Brent Council family of schools.”

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ESFA find 'failings & weaknesses' that breach the Academies Financial Handbook at Woodfield School



Whistle blowers who raised concerns about financial mismanagement at Woodfield School, an academy, have been vindicated by a report into a review by the Education Skills Funding Agency (ESFA).  The National Education Union had cited these issues as one among many reasons to oppose the academisation of the Village School and the formation on a Multi Academy Trust (MAT) with Woodfield.  Village School education workers have taken strike action against the academisation proposals. In addition to to the finance problems there have also been concerns over equality at the school and the treatment of BAME staff. LINK

The review found that Woodfield, with a current roll of only 157 pupils, had paid consultants £400,000 since 2013-14 for various HR and financial services. They also found breaches regarding procurement, related party transactions (when a governor or trust member sells servics to the school), governor regulations and register of interests.

The NEU had repeatedly requested Brent Council leader Muhammed Butt to meet with them to discuss their concerns about the school.

The Executive Summary states:

Multiple concerns were received on 24 April 2018 in relation to Woodfield School, (hereafter referred to as the trust), raising concerns about financial management and governance. As a result, ESFA commissioned a financial management and governance review of the trust which took place from 25 to 27 June 2018.  

The ESFA review identified a number of failings and weaknesses in financial management and governance arrangements that breach the Academies Financial Handbook (AFH) 2017, the accounts direction, the charities SORP and potentially tax legislation. These also validate the concerns raised. Key findings of the review have confirmed: 

•           in relation to procurement practises, non-compliance with the at cost requirements and the trust’s scheme of delegation (paragraphs 11 to 17 refer) 

•           failure to declare related party transactions with the former chair’s limited company in the audited accounts, as required by the accounts direction in relation to disclosure of material transactions with related parties and the Charities SORP relating to the disclosure of the remuneration and benefits received by charity trustees (paragraphs 18 to 21 refer) 

•           the trust engaged the services of two consultants, one from 2013/14 and the other from 2014/15 to July 2018. One of which held the role of chief financial officer (CFO) off-payroll, between 1 December 2015 and 26 June 2018, as well as being appointed as the chair of trustees and a member of the resources committee (paragraphs 22 to 24 and 31 to 34 refer) 

•           the trust have not reported their current governance arrangements and structure on their website and Get Information about Schools (GIAS) (paragraphs 25 to 30 refer) 

•           the trust’s register of interests has not been kept up to date (paragraphs 35 and 36 refer) 

It is likely that the MAT proposal will be delayed until the ESFA are satisfied that the issues have been dealt with or perhaps the whole MAT project will be abandoned.

The full report is available below - click bottom right for a full-size version:

Village School academisation delayed again as more questions arise

The date for the academisation of The Village School in Brent, in preparation for the formation of a Multi-Academy Trust (MAT) with Woodfield School, has been put back again. I understand that this is in order for the Education and Skills Funding Agency to be sure that alleged irregularities at Woodfield have been addressed.

The new closure date according to Edubase, the government school information service is now February 28th, 2019 although that could change.

Interestingly one of the concerns has been the lack of separation between proposed Trustees and the governing board. As far as I know Sandra Kabir, (a Labour councillor) is still Chair of Governors at the school but Edubase records her as having resigned from that position last July:

 

 

Cllr Muhammed Butt has still not responded to the National Education Union's request for a meeting about the academisation and MAT proposals despite their heart-felt plea reported on Wembley Matters HERE

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NEU plea to Brent's Labour leader: 'Please, please Muhammed, can you respond to us' on academisation

Cllr Butt maintaining silence

The President of Brent National Education Union and The Village School NEU representatives have written to the borough's Labour councillors and their leader, Cllr Muhammed Butt, asking for a response to their communications about the academisation of The Village School, in Kingsbury and alleged financial irregularities.

Brent North MP and Labour Shadow Minister, has written to government ministers about the NEU's concerns over the financial background to The Village's academisation move. The NEU had sent Butt and his fellow councillors the Brent NEU resolution on the issue, the resolution from The Village School NEU and the Brent Constituency Labour Party  motion of support and requested a meeting.

Butt has not responded.

The NEU write:

We attach for your information the letter from Barry Gardiner, MP for Brent North. We commend his continued commitment for The Village school and his support and actions to keep the school within the local authority.  Barry wrote to the Government Minister, despite the fact that he is obviously really busy in Parliament particularly with his role as Shadow Minister, and has written on more than one occasion to the Chair of Governors and the Headteacher of The Village over this time when the staff and community are campaigning to stop the academisation of the school. As you can see he references being contacted by Hank (President of Brent NEU).

We are therefore very disappointed that, despite reminders including copying you all in, both our letter and resolution from Brent NEU, the resolution from the Village NEU members and a request to meet, and the resolution passed at the Brent Central LP meeting, all asking for Cllr Muhammed Butt to act with regards to The Village or even just to respond to our communications, we have heard nothing.  Anything you can do to make this happen would be much appreciated.

Please, please Muhammed can you respond to us?

The Kilburn Times reports this week LINK that  the Executive headteacher of The Village has given a provisional date for academisation as February 2019 but quotes her as saying this is subject  to confirmation next term. According to the NEU academisation was delayed by an Education Funding Agency investigation into the accounts of Woodfield School which was to partner The Village in a multi-academy trust. LINK

Despite recent changes in Labour Party policy pledging to oppose any further academisation Cllr Butt appears to continue to support academy schools. He pushed for the academisation of Copland High School and sat on the successor Ark Elvin governing body. He has supported the extension  of Ark's empire in Brent through the new Ark Somerville Primary School which will be built in the car park of York House, near Wembley Stadium, next to a poor air quality main road. He removed a Labour councillor who had opposed planning permission for the school from the council's Planning Committee. LINK

Despite this and the Brent Central CLP's support for the staff's fight against academisation, Cllr Butt has remained unmoved and has supported the Labour Chief Whip, chair of governors at the school, who was a major force behind the acadmeisation bid.

Cllr Jumbo Chan, (Labour) himself a teacher in a neighbouring borough, in contrast has been vociferous in his support for the NEU and Labour Party position on academisation. In February, before the local elections,  many of his Labour councillor colleagues signed a letter oppoasing academisation and this was followed by another joint letter by the newly elected Labour councillors to the Kilburn Times in June. LINK

Barry Gardiner's letter to  Lord Agnew, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for the School System: (Click on bottom right corner to enlarge):

The Village School to stay with the LA for now and the NEU wants that to be permanent

I understand that the Village School, a special school in Brent that was to join a Multi-Academy Trust, will remain within the Brent  local authority into January 2019.

The academy and MAT conversion process has been “deferred” pending an ESFA investigation into financial “irregularities”. 

The investigation was triggered by whistleblowing from NEU members regarding allegations that  off-payroll consultants  were interfering with governance and Human Resources matters at the Woodfield Trust whilst receiving up to £240,000 for “services as defined by the school”. They claim the financial due diligence process carried out by governors was led by one of these consultants.

Furthermore they allege that since the MAT process was started, consultants have continued to be paid with funds intended for the education of SEND children in the borough. Restructure of the senior leadership teams has increased the funds at the top levels while vacancies remain unfilled and agency staffing increases in the classrooms.

NEU members at the school are seeking a further ballot for strike action, following their 13 days last year, to try to keep their school in the local authority.

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FoI reveals why approval for the Woodfield-Village School Multi-Academy Trust was delayed

Brent NEU sent an FoI request to Martin Post, the Regional School's Commissioner, asking why a letter had been sent to the DfE  suggesting that the controversial MAT proposed for The Village and Woodfield special schools was not approved.  The NEU allege that the school had denied there was any such decision and  had replied to the FoI request in a misleading way.

Post's response indicated  that the Head Teachers' Board (HTB) that approves MAT requests had concerns over governance:

The proposed structure was not felt to be robust:

• Two proposed members are also Trustees, and these individuals are also the Chairs of the Governing Bodies at each school, which raises issues for accountability.
• Both the vice chairs of the local governing bodies are also trustees
• Three of the proposed trustees are also employees
• All of the trustees are either employees or on the current local governing bodies of the two schools
• Ex-Head of the school as a member
• Overall there needs to be some independent individuals on the Board

Has the trust completed a skills audit for the Board of Trustees? Would expect appointments to be made based on skills - would expect the trust to aim for a skills based Board post the transition phase

Both The Village School and Woodfield currently have interim heads of school - what happens when these individuals leave/.what is the future plan for Heads of school?

Governance and particularly the lack of  public and democratic accountability has long been a major issue raised by those of us opposed to academisation and the HTB's comments reinforce those reservations.

Surely these are are issues that should have concerned Brent Council. Why did they not seek information from the RSG or make their own representations over governance. Surely it can't be because the Labour Chief Whip, Cllr Sandra Kabir, is Chair of Governors of one of the schools,  a key champion of academisation and apparently unaware of these problems?

In the absence of an Education Committee on Brent Council it is surely time that the Scrutiny Committee looked into the issue of academisation and its impact in Brent in some detail.

The NEU's local newsletter, with more on this issue and the background. is posted below. Click on the bottom right square for full page version:

Brent NEU call on Brent Council to lobby for halting of Woodfield-Village Multi-Academy Trust

The following motion was adopted unanimously at the meeting of Brent National Education Union on Tuesday. It refers to the proposed Woodfield/Village Multi-Academy Trust:

‘We commend The Village staff on their ongoing campaign to fight against an imposed academy conversion. We note the [allegedly] corrupt practices that have been exposed in Woodfield academy and are subject to an Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) investigation. A further business consultant is now being bought in to work on finance at the school without any record of their business at Companies House. This was and is being overseen by both the former Headteacher and the existing Executive Headteacher.

We welcome the decision by the Labour Party at their Conference to halt all academy conversions and new free schools. We note with regret how out of touch the Brent Labour Party Chief Whip Sandra Kabir is, who pushed forward the academisation as Chair of Governors. This despite the overwhelming opposition by staff, parents, the community and local Labour Party members. The Conference vote underscores the fact that she did not, and does not, have Labour Party support for her stance.

There is still time for her to act and the proposal to be withdrawn. We hereby call on Brent Labour Council to lobby the Government and the DfE to halt the deeply flawed proposed Woodfield/Village multi-academy Trust. Should this not happen, we urge Brent Council to call on any new Labour Government to take The Village back into local authority control as a first priority.’

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