Trust broke rules over payments to CEO’s mum

An investigation by the government has revealed that an academy trust violated regulations by paying nearly £5,000 in “consultancy services” to the mother of its Chief Executive Officer.

The violations were found during a lengthy inquiry into the Heart Education Trust, prompted by whistleblower reports concerning “financial irregularities”.

A report detailing the findings of the investigation, released today, also indicated that the trust failed to comply with rules after spending £24,000 on training for a senior leader and hiring an executive without following the standard recruitment protocols.

The trust, which oversees four schools, has now merged with the Unity Schools Partnership.

Concerns over £24k training costs and family consulting

The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) initiated its investigation into reports of “unfair recruitment practices for senior management” and concerning “related-party transactions” at Heart in January of the previous year.

The investigators “identified expenditures for two training programs for a senior leader, amounting to £24,050, lacking adequate evidence of value-for-money assessments as mandated by trust policy”.

While there was “evidence of approval from the board for one of the two courses”, further scrutiny revealed issues.

Additionally, a “senior external hire” was found to have been appointed in a manner that “circumvented the trust’s usual recruitment process”; the position was neither advertised nor was there any formal reference verification.

Specific details about the staff involved have not been disclosed.

Heart also “engaged in four related-party transactions worth £4,747 with a former senior staff member without following appropriate policies, contracts, or value-for-money evaluations”, as noted. These transactions were not reported in annual accounts or communicated to the ESFA, despite being required.

According to Heart’s most recent financial reports for 2023-24, regulations concerning “related-party transactions were not observed concerning payments totaling £1,790” made to Christina Kenna, the trust’s founding CEO, for “consultancy services and additional support”.

Kenna is the mother of Hazel Cubbage, who took over as CEO of Heart in 2022, and remained in this position until the recent merger with Unity Schools Partnership in September.

Combined roles of CEO and CFO

Moreover, the accounts indicate that the trust also acquired similar services worth £2,958 from a company at Kenna’s control the year prior, which appear to have been omitted from the 2022-23 financial records.

The investigation report highlighted that the trust’s governing body “failed to maintain effective oversight of personal relationships with related parties, leading to actual and perceived conflicts of interest”.

For seven months, the ESFA noted, a “senior leader held two positions at the same time”, undermining “the separation of duties with minimal scrutiny”.

This was a breach of “the requirements for the separation of roles of accounting officer and chief financial officer”.

Board meeting minutes were “often lacking in detail and decreased in quality, making it challenging to track essential decisions” starting from December 2023. The ESFA stated this “hindered the assessment of the factual basis and rationale” for these decisions.

The investigation also revealed that another inquiry was conducted by the DfE’s regional group, which “led to its own intervention with the trust, resulting in all… [its] schools being transitioned to a different management group”, Unity Schools Partnership, a year ago.

Discrepancies in merger narratives

The accounts of the trust and the findings of the government investigation seem to contradict earlier descriptions of the merger process. Writing for Schools Week last year, Cubbage stated, “How many CEOs are willing to jeopardize their careers by suggesting a merger instead of remaining in post for a few more years?”

She expressed, “There’s me for a start. I’m currently merging my own small MAT with a larger one, completely by my own choice.”

Cubbage, who served as Heart’s CEO from June 2022 until September 2024, has been contacted for a statement, along with Kenna.

Cubbage’s LinkedIn indicates she held a position with Unity until July as the “transferred CEO of the Heart Education Trust”.

Extensive investigation

Heart’s latest accounts indicate that its board raised “issues regarding governance” during three meetings with the Department for Education toward the end of 2023 and early 2024.

The trust sought governmental assistance to consolidate in February 2024, according to the financial statements.

This decision followed the resignation of its CFO in October 2023, who left after merely two months, provoked by “whistleblowing allegations” that initiated the “large-scale ESFA investigation”. This probe, as mentioned in the accounts, took place from March to June 2024, “placing considerable stress on already limited resources within the trust”.

Sarah Garner, now interim CEO at Unity, stated in the accounts that she was “dissatisfied with certain procedures previously employed at the trust.”

However, the merger enabled her to feel “confident that these issues have been resolved and that substandard practices have concluded”.

She was assured that since the appointment of a new CFO in April 2024, they have “implemented best practices consistently… even in challenging circumstances”.

Garner also expressed to Schools Week that Unity has been “thrilled to support and collaborate with Heart’s four primary schools”, “welcoming them” into their educational community.

“We have been greatly impressed by the commitment and enthusiasm shown by staff, along with the favorable results achieved by each school over the past year.”