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City academy will be run by inexperienced charity
Controversial school sponsor makes shock announcement
ONE of London’s flagship comprehensives is to be handed over to a one-year-old charity with no experience in running schools, it was revealed this week.
The educational credentials of John Nash, the future sponsor of Pimlico School, were called into question during Monday’s scrutiny meeting after opposition councillors picked holes in his portfolio.
Mr Nash’s charity Future was appointed as preferred sponsor of the proposed academy because of its “extensive experience in the secondary sector” and its ties with “premium education provider” Alpha Plus.
In October, Steve Farnsworth, Westminster’s director of schools, reported to education chiefs that Future would “be supported in developing the proposed Pimlico Academy by Alpha Plus”.
But in a meeting in City Hall this week Mr Nash surprised everyone by revealing Alpha Plus, which runs 200 independent schools across the country and is owned by the venture capitalist, was in “no way connected with Pimlico’s future”.
The admission has enraged campaigners who question why without any public consultation, Future, a charity just over one year old and with no experience of running secondary schools, has been given the keys to one of London’s flagship comprehensives.
In Monday’s meeting the leader of the opposition, Councillor Paul Dimoldenberg, said: “How could we have got this so wrong? We have been told that one of the benefits in engaging with Future was Alpha Plus. Either you have an educational track record, or you do not?”
Mr Nash said: “Alpha Plus is in no way connected with Pimlico’s future. We have considerable expertise in education – mainly through investment.”
When further grilled about his experience in running inner city schools he claimed to be working with Lambeth Council on a proposed academy in Brixton.
But a Lambeth spokeswoman told the West End Extra she “had never heard of Future or Mr Nash”.
Padraic Finn, secretary of Westminster NUT, said: “The only organisation that has anything like that capacity, and even that is limited to running small private schools, is Alpha Plus. Yet Mr Nash denies Alpha Plus would have any role in running Pimlico School.
“If Alpha Plus is not the company providing the ‘pre-existent management capacity and project network’, who is? Parents, pupils, staff and taxpayers ought to be told.”
The selection of Mr Nash has courted controversy from the outset after it was revealed he sat on committees with Westminster Council and was a major donor in the David Davis Conservative Party leadership challenge in 2005.
In Monday’s meeting, Westminster’s schools director Mr Farnsworth was quizzed by opposition councillors about the “informal process” that saw Mr Nash selected.
Councillor Barbara Graham said: “It sounds a bit like there was a cup of tea and a chat – which must have been nice. But the sponsor was put forward without the kind of formal procedure we in the council would expect.
“Would you accept that the selection process is out of synch with what we have done with Westminster’s other academies?”
Mr Farnsworth said: “No I don’t. With Westminster’s other academies there was only one sponsor option. Everyone expects everything to be open to scrutiny. There has been no skullduggery and no shortcuts.” |
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