Lord and Lady Nash stand down as trustees of the academy chain they founded. Or do they?

Two of the most prominent academy “sponsors” in England appear to have stepped down from their roles as trustees of the academy chain they founded. Or have they?

In an illustration of what can seem a bizarre quality to the governance of schools in England since the introduction of the academies policy, there is now some confusion about the positions of Lord and Lady Nash at Future Academies and its first-established school, Pimlico Academy, in central London.

Earlier this month, Education Uncovered had sight of a letter to staff from Lawrence Foley, chief executive of the 10-school Future Academies, in which he stated that the Nashes were standing down from their joint positions as chair of governors at Pimlico Academy.

This stated: “I am writing to inform you that John and Caroline Nash, after 16 years of dedicated service, have decided to step down as chairs of governors at Pimlico Academy at the end of this academic year…

“John and Caroline have been instrumental in the success and improvement of Pimlico Academy over the years. On behalf of the whole trust community, I would like to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation for their outstanding contribution and commitment. They will continue this work as trustees and sponsors of Future Academies.”

So far, so straightforward. However, on perusing information, on a government website and also on that of Future itself, the picture became more puzzling.

First, both the Department for Education’s official “Get Information about Schools” website on Pimlico Academy and Future Academy’s own site indicate that at least one of the Nashes remains chair of governors at Pimlico Academy.

On Future’s own site, the chairs of Pimlico Academy, for the 2023-24 academic year, are listed as Lord and Lady Nash, on terms which last until June 30^th, 2025.

On Get Information about Schools (GIAS), it is stated that the chair is still Lord Nash, again on a term that lasts until June 30^th, 2025. On this site, Lady Nash is listed not as co-chair, but as simply one of a number of governors, though again service for a term which ends on June 30^th, 2025.

So the information on these two sites does not tally. This seems concerning in itself, given that the DfE’s site states that school governing bodies have a legal duty to provide information to it.

Perhaps, though, it is the case that neither of the Nashes is now chairing this local governing body, and that information on these two websites has just not been kept up to date. (It is possible to wonder if a decision on this was taken relatively recently, perhaps spurred by the changing political picture with the election of a Labour government).

Nashes appear to have stood down as trustees of Future Academies

But the story gets even more perplexing when considering the position of the Nashes as trustees of Future Academies. For, although Mr Foley’s letter to Pimlico staff had stated that they remained trustees of Future Academies, both GIAS and Future’s website indicate that they had actually stood down from these posts, earlier this year.

On GIAS, Lord and Lady Nash are listed as “historic” trustees. That is, Lord Nash stood down as chair of trustees on 18^th May, while Lady Nash stood down as a trustee on that date, too. Neither are among the list of current trustees of Future on GIAS, with the replacement for Lord Nash as chair not disclosed.

Swinging over to Future Academies’ website, this also states that Lord and Lady Nash are no longer trustees, having served in their latest terms of office from May 19^th, 2021 to May 18^th, 2024.

The Nashes are still serving as members of the trust, however, according to GIAS, and Future Academies’ website. Members of an academy trust hold a role similar to that of shareholders in for-profit companies: this is a less hands-on layer of governance than the trustees, with members having powers including the ability to appoint and dismiss those trustees.

Did Mr Foley just confuse their position as members with that of trustees, then, in that letter to staff?

To be fair, this may underline how confusing it can be, with individuals allowed to serve, under the academies policy which can still highly centralise power around individuals, in multiple roles. That is, they can serve at the same time on “local governing bodies,” as trustees on the board and then at the ultimate level of governance, as members.

It remains especially remarkable that this trust cannot seem to get its public declarations of governance consistent or up-to-date, given that Lord Nash for several years oversaw school governance across the whole of England for the government, as school system minister, and indeed that he oversaw non-executive governance across across government not too long ago. But this point has been made fairly consistently, over the years.

If Future Academies, then, cannot get its governance information consistent and up-to-date, which organisation could be expected to?

Education Uncovered has asked Future Academies what the true position is on the Nashes’ role in its governance structure and that of Pimlico. But I have yet to hear back.