Education’s new royal family: how control of England’s second- largest chain of academies will pass to the family of its founder upon his death

One of the first Harris academies: Harris Academy Peckham

A group of 48 state-funded academy schools is to stay under the control of the family of the multi-millionaire businessman who founded it – even after his death, its constitution documents have disclosed.

In what seems to have marked the creation of an education dynasty, the south London-based Harris Federation has been set up to be in the apparently permanent control of the family of the Conservative peer and carpets tycoon Lord Harris of Peckham.

In what may be a staggering revelation for those not familiar with how academy trusts can be set up, Lord Harris currently has the legal right to appoint up to 32 directors of the trust which bears his name.

The Harris Federation is England’s second-largest academy chain, educating 32,500 pupils and with income from the government in 2017-18 of £173m.