The minister who will oversee the academies system simultaneously holds two key roles at the academy trust he founded, despite guidance from the DfE that raises concerns about such arrangements.
The government today announced that Sir Theodore Agnew would succeed Lord Nash as minister for the schools system.
He is currently chairman of the Inspiration Trust, which runs 14 primary and secondary schools in Norfolk and Suffolk.
According to its financial accounts, Sir Theodore is both a “member” and a “trustee” of the trust, despite government guidance that raises concerns about the same person holding both roles.
The Academies Financial Handbook says members have a similar role to shareholders of a company, while the board of trustees manages the business of the trust.
In his forward to the latest version of the handbook, published this summer, Lord Nash wrote that it “emphasises how having separation between those individuals who are members, trustees and employees promotes objectivity and reduces concentrations of power”.
The handbook itself warns that “if members also sit on the board of trustees this may reduce the objectivity with which the members can exercise their powers”.
And in a letter to academy trust chairs last October, Lord Nash wrote: “The most robust governance structures will have a significant degree of separation between the individuals who are members and those who are trustees. This enables more objective oversight of the board’s performance and decision-making.”
According to Inspiration Trust’s website, two of its three members are also trustees.
The minutes of the trust’s January 2017 board meeting say the clerk “advised the trustees on the ‘suggested’ improvements from the DFE to governance structures in MATs [multi-academy trusts]. The chairman advised that the board had considered the suggestions but asked that it be noted that no changes to the current membership or trustee structure would take place unless the changes were obligatory.”
A spokesman for Inspiration Trust confirmed Sir Theodore would step down as chairman but remain a trustee of the trust, but did not know if he would also remain a member.
A chief executive of another Norfolk multi-academy trust, who asked not to be named, said the fact Sir Theodore held the two roles despite the government guidance raised questions about his credibility.
They said: “Lord Nash has been pushing for separation so that there is accountability, and Inspiration has not had that separation between the roles, because [Sir Theodore] is both.
“The Academies Financial Handbook is pushing for separation, and the Inspiration Trust model does not follow that.”
They added: “If he is now the man holding us to account, how can we feel confident about the decision-making being correct when he had made this decision about his own academy structure?
“It’s the confidence in him, when he is not following the structure in his own organisation.”
The Department for Education declined to comment, but emphasised that Sir Theodore was ensuring processes are in the place to prevent any conflict of interest between his ministerial role and his charitable interests.
Lord Nash founded Future Academies trust where, according to its latest accounts, he is both a member and a trustee.
