Luton-based Barnfield College claimed £1m for students ‘it did not have on record’

A school claimed nearly £1m in government funding for students it had no record of teaching, an investigation has uncovered.

A dossier upon the financing from the Luton-based Barnfield College, jointly compiled via the Skills Funding Agenc
y (SFA) and also the Education Funding Agency, has also been passed onto the police for the attainable criminal investigation.

Barnfield was the initial more education school within the country to sponsor academies. Today, the particular Barnfield Federation, the particular umbrella entire human overall system for that academies, runs four academies and also a costabsolutely no cost faculty. News from the investigation involves light-weight in the very same week The Independent disclosed in which police are looking at allegations of economic irregularities in Glendene Arts Academy, a special faculty in Easington Colliery, County Durham. A leaked SFA report, which has been sent to BBC Three Counties Radio, reveals in which Barnfield claimed £464, 176 for funding 16 to 18-year-olds, which has been not matched by info gleaned from attendance registers, and £477, 000 to its adult skills budget.

The report talks of “substantial spend rises” granted to senior executives “without correct oversight”. It conjointly checked out payments created to former chief government Sir Peter Birkett, who resigned in May. He had asked for only one “few nights additional holiday in excessive of his contractual requirement” however was given a lump sum equivalent to his annual bonus, a more lump sum “as an incentive to sign a compromise agreement” and an extra month’s holiday.

A spokesman for that SFA mentioned : “A joint SFA and EFA investigation was launched last year subsequent serious allegations relating to monetary irregularities and governance in the Barnfield Federation. This investigation has concluded and most definitely has been passed onto the police. The police have suggested us to not publish the particular reports till they've concluded their assessment. It could be inappropriate to comment more at this time. ”

Hertfordshire Police mentioned finally it was reviewing the data it were sent. Barnfield mentioned it'd not comment till the report were officially printed.

The Department for Education mentioned in which monetary regulations governing costabsolutely no cost faculties and academies were a lot of stringent than all those people for native authority-maintained faculties. A spokeswoman additional in which there were 191 cases alleging monetary irregularities within the maintained sector during the past year.

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