Financial notice to improve for Rodillian MAT

Yorkshire academy trust Rodillian MAT has received a financial notice due to failing to balance its budget and “historic failures” of governance.

This means many of the trust’s spending powers are suspended, and it must ask officials before making decisions.

The trust was previously investigated by the Education and Skills Funding Agency for spending nearly £8,000 a 78-night stay in a four-star hotel for its chief executive.

The investigation also found a number of “significant failings and weaknesses” at the trust and that these issues still remain “unresolved”.

Inspectors noted that trustees have taken “positive action” following an initial governance review last March, but reports by the ESFA as well as the trust’s financial statements reveal ongoing weaknesses in accounting controls, as well as an imbalanced budget.

The trust’s chief executive has said, however, that its deficit increased after being put under pressure by the government to take on struggling schools.