Catholic Church should “put its hand in its pocket” to help out schools which have slumped millions of pounds in the red on its watch, unions say

Three unions warning about the situation at two academy trusts controlled by the Catholic Diocese of Nottingham, one of which is nearly £10 million in the red, and where the government may also face questions about failures so far under its oversight.

The Catholic Church should donate money to two of its multi-academy trusts, one of which is nearly £10 million in debt because of failures of governance systems which it controls, a union is arguing.

In a controversy which shines a light on centralised control and oversight of academies within the faith school sector, the National Education Union is making the claim in relation to two linked chains, together running 61 schools, which are ultimately controlled by the Catholic Diocese of Nottingham.

Meanwhile, the Unison union, whose members at the two trusts were on strike this week, is also arguing that the diocese should help out financially, with hundreds of lowly-paid support staff having been in line to bear the brunt of proposed cutbacks.

A third union, the National Association of School Masters Union of Women Teachers, has been on strike over cutbacks at one of the schools this month, with its general secretary saying that those in control should be looking at cuts to central services, “including executive salaries,” rather than the frontline.