MP calls on Gove to withdraw answers on free school

Bradford West MP George Galloway has submitted written questions to the Education Secretary after earlier accusing him of misleading Parliament with two answers he gave about the scandal-hit Kings Science Academy in the city.

Last month, the Respect MP told the House of Commons that Mr Gove’s claim that a police investigation came as a direct result of his department’s action was “the opposite of the truth”.

The Department for Education (DfE) reported the school over suspected fabricated invoices to Action Fraud, a national fraud reporting centre, in April last year.

However, the Yorkshire Post has revealed that it was then told on September 5 that the matter was not being pursued by police because it had been recorded as an information report and would not be looked at for criminal investigation. The DfE did nothing to address this until the matter was leaked. A West Yorkshire Police investigation into alleged fraud was only launched at the end of October after the DfE’s investigation report into the school was leaked by a whistleblower which led to the DfE publishing it.

When Mr Galloway raised a point of order in the Commons last month, he also objected to Mr Gove’s claim that Conservative Party vice chairman Alan Lewis was receiving less in rent from the school being built on his company land, in Bradford, than he was previously getting for the site. Now Mr Galloway has tabled written questions calling on Mr Gove to withdraw both statements or provide evidence.

Mr Lewis is the free school’s executive patron and it has been built on his company land in a deal worth almost £6m over a 20-year lease.

A DfE spokeswoman said: “The department acted as soon as it received allegations of wrongdoing at Kings Science Academy. We formally investigated and referred the case to Action Fraud. This resulted in a police investigation which is ongoing.”

On the land deal, she said: “Independent commercial advice was obtained on the cost of the lease for the Kings Science Academy site. This confirmed the cost was in line with the market value. It was also a lower rate of rent than for previous tenants.”

The DfE said the free school is paying £2.27 per sq ft in rent to Mr Lewis which is below the rate of £2.77 to £2.88 per sq ft paid by previous tenants.

Last week, Mr Gove said the DfE would not answer MP questions about financial management at the school because West Yorkshire Police had asked it not to release information which could be relevant to its investigation.