Head of government’s free schools property company awarded �30k-plus bonus, to take remuneration package to nearly �240,000

The chief executive of the government-owned property company which buys and manages sites for free schools received a bonus of at least �30,000 in 2018-19, as the organisation celebrated what it said was a highly successful year.

Lara Newman, of LocatED, saw her total pay and pensions package rise to nearly £240,000, with her bonus up by at least 20 per cent to leave her comfortably better-paid than the most senior official at the Department for Education.

The news came in a report that confirmed that LocatED is continuing to manage scores of “vacant” properties for the government, which have been bought for free schools but are not yet in use.

LocatED was set up back in 2016 as a company wholly owned by the government which was billed as having £2 billion to spend on sites and buildings for free schools.

Its just-published annual accounts for the year to March 31^st 2019 show Newman received £190-£195,000 in core salary. This was an increase in the range 0 to 5.4 per cent on the £180-£185,000 of the previous year.