Academy trust board minutes appear to raise conflict of interest questions around participation of chief executive

Interim chief executive of one trust appeared to take part in board discussions about joining another, where she is permanent CEO.

The leader of an academy trust, who was also serving as interim chief executive at another, appears to have taken part in a board meeting at which a merger between the two organisations was discussed and given the go-ahead, a document released under Freedom of Information shows.

In a development which may again put the management of possible conflicts of interest in the academies system under the spotlight, discussions marked “confidential” but nevertheless released under FOI appear to show the chief executive from one trust talking about merger moves with the other.

It does not appear that the leader actively advocated for the merger during the minutes, though she is minuted as having indicated that the Department for Education wanted a “firm decision” on the issue “as soon as possible”.

Remarkably, this is the second case in which conflict of interest questions appear to have arisen in relation to this chief executive.

Both the academy trust which is now running both organisations’ schools and the Department for Education have been approached for comment.