Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Education Funding Agency takes to discover related party transactions which are not disclosed Academy Trust financial statements.

Under their funding agreement with the Secretary of State, academy trusts must prepare annual financial statements in accordance with the Charity Commission’s Statement of Recommended Practice and the Education Funding Agency’s Accounts Direction, which include requirements for disclosing related party transactions. The financial statements must be externally audited and the auditor must give an opinion on whether they have been prepared on the required basis. The Academies Financial Handbook can be found on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/academies-financial-handbook-2015