Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many headteachers or board members of academies have been (a) prosecuted and (b) found in a court judgment to be responsible for the financial irregularities of an academy.

The Department knows of one case at an academy trust which resulted in a prosecution and conviction. This involved the conviction of the head teacher and two other board members for fraud as part of the same trial. The Department is not aware of other court judgments where head teachers or board members have been found to be responsible for financial irregularities at an academy trust.