Free school that flew staff to Ibiza for a meeting being investigated for financial mismanagement

Running the workshop in Blackpool would have ‘cost considerably more’, trustee says

Trustees deny any form of financial deviancy (Google)

A free school that flew trustees to Ibiza for a board meeting has denied financial mismanagement.

An Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) investigation criticised Langdale Free School, a primary school in Blackpool, for failing to be transparent in reporting overseas travel costs.

The watchdog added that the school had “failed to exercise effective control” over its finances.

But a trustee of the free school said the larger deficit was due to a property purchase and he added that it would have “cost considerably more” to host the board meeting in Blackpool, rather than in Ibiza.

The school, which has 125 pupils, was investigated following concerns about financial management.

The report, published earlier this month, identified “a number of failings and weaknesses” at the primary school – including a deficit of £238,000 by the end of August 2018.

It adds: “The costs incurred for the flights to Ibiza, for a board meeting, should have been reported in the audited accounts as a related-party transaction.”

The EFSA has called on the Blackpool school to take “urgent action” to resolve the issues.

But the free school has denied the allegations and claims the report is full of factual inaccuracies.

A trustee at Langdale Free School, who wished to remain anonymous, said the flights had been paid for by Montague Place, which provides corporate services to the school, rather than the school itself.

He told The Independent: “The school were unaware that such a de minimis amount of only £900 when paid for by a supplier needed to be declared.

“The £900 enabled a two-day strategy workshop for five people and it would have cost considerably more to travel to and accommodate in Blackpool to do that.”

On the reported £238,000 deficit, the trustee said: “It is simply not true. It completely ignores the fact we bought a property which is an asset, not a deficit, to the value of £175,000.”

The chair of the school is due to meet with the EFSA on Thursday to discuss the next steps.