Academy donors 'can expect honours'

Millionaire donors to Tony Blair's flagship city academy programme may expect to receive honours, knighthoods and peerages in return for their money.

In an undercover newspaper investigation, a Government adviser told a reporter posing as the assistant of a potential sponsor that donations to one or two academies might win an OBE, a CBE or a knighthood, while a peerage would be "a certainty" for giving to five schools.

Six millionaire donors to the controversial academy programme have been honoured under Labour since it was launched in 2001. Academies are state-funded directly from Whitehall, and are independent from local education authority control.

Sponsors can have influence over the running of an academy in return for gifts usually amounting to about £2m towards building costs.

The Sunday Times reported that Des Smith, a London headteacher and an adviser to the chairman of the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust, Sir Cyril Taylor, told an undercover journalist that "the Prime Minister's office would recommend someone like [the donor] for an OBE, a CBE or a knighthood".

For a donation of £10m, "you could go to the House of Lords", he said.

However, when confronted by the paper, Mr Smith insisted that it was "not possible" to acquire an honour in return for donations.

Sir Cyril said: "In no way is giving money to the academy linked to the award of an honour," he said.

A spokeswoman for 10 Downing Street added: "It's nonsense to suggest that honours are awarded for giving money to an academy." A spokesman for the Department of Education said: "This is not the view of the department nor has this view been expressed by the department."

John Reid, the Defence Secretary, later said on ITV's Jonathan Dimbleby programme that Mr Smith was a minor figure who did not speak for the Government. "I don't know who Mr Des Smith is," he said. "He doesn't speak with any authority for the Government at all."

He added that people who contributed to the city academy programme usually "have made other contributions to society".