Pay of CEO of leading academy trust stays at �150k-plus, while second-highest pay jumps by at least 25 per cent, newly-published accounts reveal

This winter’s academy accounts season has opened with those of a high-profile trust, much written about in these pages, seeing the pay of its chief executive remaining above the level which the Department for Education has said should denote “exceptional” performance.

In addition, the remuneration of its second-highest-paid person rose by at least £30,000, or at least 25 per cent, to £150-£160,000.

Future Academies, based in central London, saw the pay of its chief executive, the former Regional Schools Commissioner Paul Smith, standing at £165-£170,000 in 2018-19, its just-published accounts for the last academic year reveal. Smith also received £25-£30,000 in employers’ pension payments.

Smith’s remuneration figures remain unchanged from 2017-18.

The latest accounts also show that one unnamed individual – they are allowed not to be named because academies do not need to disclose remuneration details by name unless an employee happens to be on the trust’s board – was paid £150,000-£160,000 last year. This means the number of people in the organisation paid at least £150,000 rose from one to two last year.