Would false accounting at Copland have been possible at an academy?

A letter from the EFA in the Guardian says: 'The difference is that academies and academy trusts are far more transparent and subject to far tighter financial controls and scrutiny than local authority schools.



'Indeed, all this information is publicly available because we require academy trusts' accounts to be published online and to include any transactions of the sort featured in your article. This is not the case for local authority schools.'

Would the false accounting of Copland's former headteacher, Alan Davies, have been possible if it was an academy? (£315,000)  

Would questions about missing cash at Kings Science Academy have been raised if it was under local authority control? (£77,000)

Alan Davies admitted to six charges of false accounting relating to payments made dating back to 2007, totalling £315,000, including several to himself.

Prosecutor John Black QC said: 'Suspicions occurred because of alleged impropriety in bonus payments to staff at the school, over a period of many years.

'As a result of (local authority) concerns about possible criminal offences, police were called in.'