Bradford free school invoices were fabricated, says report

A Goverment investigation into the King’s Science Academy in Bradford was held and the matter was passed to the police in April but no further action has been taken.

The revelations, contained in a report published last night by the Department for Education, are a fresh blow to the Government’s free school programme and have been made against a school which was praised by Prime Minister David Cameron after a visit last year.

The report from the investigation by the Education Funding Agency (EFA) an arm of the Department for Education (DfE), has identified £86,335 given to the school by the DfE which has not been used for what it was intended.

The redacted document further reveals someone at the school admitted to the DfE that some invoices were fabricated. It said Kifsa Ltd, the trust responsible for the King’s Science Academy, had created invoices for rent that they did not pay.

The EFA report also found the trust had claimed National Insurance (NI) contributions for four members of staff, including the principal, but no record could be found of NI payments being made to HM Revenue and customs.

Last night, the DfE said the school had launched its own investigation and any disciplinary action was a matter for the school. The free school is also facing separate questions after it emerged that three relatives of the principal Sajid Raza have been employed by the school, which opened in 2011.

The school’s own annual report for the year ending August 2012 shows the principal’s wife and sister were employed as teachers while his father was hired as a minibus driver. It also said that certain minor payments had been made to the principal incorrectly and it had been agreed that these would be repaid.

The EFA inquiry was launched at the beginning of the year following allegations raised by a whistleblower about the way the secondary school was being governed. Its report dated in May was published yesterday.

A DfE spokesman said that police had informed them last month that no further action was being taken.

He said: “We found serious 
failings in financial management at the Kings Science Academy (KSA). We informed the police who decided no further action was necessary.

“We required KSA to address these failings urgently. A plan is in place to recover funds and the school is undertaking its own investigation.”

The Yorkshire Post was unable to contact Mr Raza last night but a statement on the school’s website concerning finance and governance said: “There has been no misappropriation of funds and all expenditure has been academy related.”