Perry Beeches academies taken over by new trusts
Five schools once hailed by David Cameron as a "real success story", before being drawn into reports of financial mismanagement are to be handed over to two new trusts.
In October 2016, a deficit of £2.1m was revealed at the Perry Beeches Academy Trust in Birmingham as a result of "poor budgetary control". It led to the resignation of the chief executive. Two schools in the once-feted group were also place in special measures. Midlands Live: Three jailed for sexual exploitation of Coventry teenager; Swan killed in air gun attack The Department for Education has now cleared the renamed Arena Academy, City Academy, City Academy Birmingham and Jewellery Quarter Academy to officially join the CORE trust on 1 March, the Perry Beeches trust said. Ark said it had begun a consultation to amalgamate Perry Beeches V with its neighbouring school, Ark Chamberlain Primary Academy, and if approved these would come together on 1 September under the name Ark Victoria Academy. Perry Beeches trust said the academies would remain "non-selective, non-denominational and mixed schools". At one point, schools in the trust were praised by the Department of Education for setting "the bar for schools across the rest of the country". But from 2016, the trust's performance declined and former chairman Liam Nolan resigned in May that year during an investigation by the Education Funding Agency (EFA). Two months before his resignation, the EFA criticised the Birmingham trust for "significant weakness in financial management". Its investigation found an additional salary of £160,000 was paid to Mr Nolan over two years through a third-party agreement - on top of his £120,000-a-year salary. The £2.1m deficit revealed at the Perry Beeches Academy Trust in Birmingham was a result of "poor budgetary control", the trust said.