Reward on the Orient Express – and all paid for by the school

Outwood Grange Academy, in Wakefield, is said to have spent “significant” sums on overseas trips, hotels and meals out for staff, governors and their families.

These include trips to Canada and South Africa, a hotel bill of more than £5,000 for a training event and a drinks bill at a Christmas meal of more than £200.

A council probe into the flagship school’s finances has also voiced concerns over the purchase of alcohol which was drunk both in and outside of school premises .

Wakefield Council began an audit of Outwood Grange’s accounts after claims that the school had failed to pass on money raised for charity in 2004-5.

However the investigation has also called into question the way public funds were being paid to school staff as part of a “rewards culture”.

The trips, hotel bills and drinks purchases highlighted by the council were only a small sample of the school’s transactions between 2006 and 2009. The volume of transactions initially flagged up by auditors meant it was impractical for them all to be investigated, the final report noted.

The Yorkshire Post can reveal that spending from the school’s budget included items such as £499 to send a teacher and her partner on a trip on the Orient Express, as a reward for her performance and £176 on 22 bottles of Champagne bought from a French hypermarket.

Council auditors were told this was for Outwood Grange celebrations including a “Champagne Toast” on the first day of term to mark success in exams and a governors’ event.

The council investigation relates to spending within the school while it was part of the Wakefield education authority before becoming an independently-run academy in 2009.

Other items examined by auditors include the decision to spend £2,700 to send a member of staff to Canada for a “leadership exchange programme”.

Outwood Grange’s chief executive and executive principal Michael Wilkins has told auditors that four members of school staff attended the trip along with two from Harrogate High – a school which Outwood Grange was supporting through the National Leaders in Education (NLE) programme.

Mr Wilkins also received payments of more than £6,000 from school funds for trips abroad to Shanghai and Cape Town, South Africa, as a member of the Specialist School and Academies Trust (SSAT).

When the council audit was carried out Outwood Grange had not reclaimed this money from the SSAT. The trust has now been invoiced but Wakefield Council believes the school would have failed to recover this cash had auditors not queried it. Thousands of pounds of public money has also been spent by Outwood Grange on hotels, meals and drinks for school staff.

This included footing a hotel bill of more than £5,000 for a “training event”. The money was spent on rooms, a conference and food, wine and bar drinks for 19 people in June 2008.

Auditors were told this was an event for Harrogate High’s senior leadership team and was reimbursed to Outwood Grange with money from the school’s NLE contract with North Yorkshire County Council. North Yorkshire paid a total of £754,573 to Outwood Grange for it to support Harrogate High between April 2007 and August 2009. The training event took place in the middle of this period in June 2008.

Although Outwood Grange has said that the costs of the event were covered by its NLE contract with North Yorkshire, Wakefield Council has still questioned whether the spending can be justified.

The audit said: “There is concern over the extent to which such levels of spending, relating to the choice of venue and nature of spend, are an appropriate use of public funds, irrespective of which authority is footing the bill.”

The audit also questions payments made to Mr Wilkins for a “NLE dinner” two years ago.

The chief executive received £791.16 from school funds to pay for a Christmas meal at a Wakefield restaurant, including more than £200 being spent on bar drinks.

A statement from Outwood Grange Academies Trust (OGAT) said: “With respect of other school fund transactions mentioned in the report, OGAT believes in saying thank you to its hard-working staff and organises occasional events to do so.

“Their hard work has been demonstrated in improved results and outstanding Ofsted reports. Such activities improve staff morale and have helped to create a successful can-do culture.”