The academies minister has scaled back the control he and his wife exercise over the controversial academy trust he founded, seven months after being appointed as an education minister.
The move follows concerns about his role at the Norfolk-based Inspiration Trust, which he founded.
When Lord Agnew became a minister in September 2017, the DfE said he would agree arrangements “to ensure that processes are put in place to prevent any conflict of interest between his ministerial role and his charitable interests”.
Since August 2012, Lord Agnew and his wife have been two of the trust’s members. Until recently, there was only one other member, David Tibble.
All three were listed as “persons of significant control” of the Inspiration Trust.
The definition of “significant control” includes those who hold more than 25 per cent of the shares or voting rights in a company, or have the right to appoint or remove the majority of the board of directors.
The Academies Financial Handbook says members have a similar role to shareholders of a company, with the power to amend the trust’s articles of association and appoint and remove directors.
However, Inspiration Trust has now appointed two additional members, Edwin Harrell and Justin DeWinter, meaning that Lord Agnew and his wife, as well as Mr Tibble, no longer have “significant control” of the organisation.
The appointment of the additional members means that, seven months after Lord Agnew joined the DfE, the Inspiration Trust now has the minimum number of members recommended by his department.
When Lord Agnew was appointed, Tes revealed that he was both a member and a trustee of the Inspiration Trust, despite guidance from the DfE that raised concerns about such arrangements.
According to the trust’s website, the minister still holds both of these roles.
Lord Agnew’s simultaneous roles at his academy trust and the DfE were raised in the House of Lords yesterday.
Labour peer Lord Watson of Invergowrie said: “The website for the Inspiration Trust, which runs 14 academies in East Anglia, lists him as a trustee and a person with significant control. Noble Lords may wonder why, seven months after being appointed as an Education Minister, he is allowed to continue to hold those posts.”
Former Labour minister Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean later sought clarification whether Lord Agnew was a director of Inspiration Trust “while holding the office that he holds at the moment”.
In response, he said: “I am a director and a trustee. I stood down as the chairman. That matter was discussed with the propriety and ethics team in the Cabinet Office. It was fully disclosed and is in my ministerial declaration.”
