Three Birmingham Labour MPs are paying back £15,000 in political campaign donations to the troubled Perry Beeches schools chain following revelations of financial mismanagement.
Erdington’s Jack Dromey, Ladywood’s Shabana Mahmood and Gisela Stuart, MP for Edgbaston, each received a £5,000 campaign donation from Nexus Schools Ltd in the run up to the 2015 general election.
The firm is at the centre of the financial scandal enveloping the Perry Beeches chain of schools, which led to ‘superhead’ Liam Nolan stepping down as Trust chief executive last month. He remains headteacher.
But following a damning report by the Education Funding Agency (EFA) into Perry Beeches, the MPs and their constituency parties have decided to pay the money back so it can be spent on education.
A regional Labour Party spokesman said: “In light of the EFA report, and after talking with the Constituency Labour Parties, we agreed it would be right to return the donations.”
The donations to the three MPs were all declared on the House of Commons register of interests in line with election rules.
It is understood the MPs were impressed with the improved education performance at Perry Beeches schools and were happy to work with Mr Nolan and his colleagues on education issues. Mr Dromey previously described Mr Nolan as ‘one of Britain’s finest headteachers’.
But the politicians have been shocked by the financial mismanagement exposed by the EFA.
Mr Nolan has actively courted politicians. Prime Minister David Cameron and former Education Secretary Michael Gove famously visited Perry Beeches III and said the chain highlighted the success of their academy and free school policies.
Birmingham City Council’s education chief Brigid Jones, a vocal critic, has likened Mr Nolan to the infamous Kids Company and its charismatic leader Camila Batmanghelidjh in the way that he was feted by politicians, while there was apparent financial chaos behind the scenes.
Meanwhile, Birmingham’s Lib Dem leader Jon Hunt has questioned whether the political donations amounted to a ‘cash for access’ scandal.
The EFA investigation revealed a complex network of links between Nexus, the Perry Beeches Academy Trust and Mr Nolan.
It highlighted conflicts of interest and questioned the way Nexus was awarded £1.3 million worth of contracts and paid Mr Nolan £160,000 on top of his £120,000 a year head teacher salary.
A second investigation revealed that the school claimed Government money for free school meals but could not provide evidence that pupils were entitled to them.
