Academies in payments row

Two of the government-favoured academy schools have paid out hundreds of thousands of pounds to organisations owned by their sponsors, it emerged yesterday.

The King's Academy in Middlesbrough has been billed by organisations and individuals connected with its founder, the car dealer Sir Peter Vardy, to the tune of £290,214, an investigation by the Times Educational Supplement revealed.

Meanwhile, the West London Academy in Ealing paid £180,964 to businesses and a charity connected to its sponsor Alec Reed, chairman of Reed Executive.

The payments were for marketing, recruitment, training and "educational advice".

Academies are central to the government's five-year plan to improve secondary schools, but have been criticised by teachers' unions for allowing private organisations too much influence over teaching.

The government plans to introduce 200 new academies by the end of the decade to replace failing schools. Private sponsors are asked to donate £2m, which is met by a £22m cash injection from the government. The school's running costs are covered by the public, while private sponsors control the school's governing body and have the power to employ staff and set the curriculum.

According to the Times Educational Supplement, West London Academy paid £140,030 to Reed Charity, chaired by Mr Reed; £37,683 to Reed Learning; and £3,251 to Reed Training, firms of which he was also a director.

Payments by the King's Academy, which is sponsored by Sir Peter's Emmanuel Schools Foundation, include £111,554 for "support services such as marketing and recruitment" to his car dealer firm, Reg Vardy plc; £121,514 for "educational advice" from Emmanuel College; and a £43,107 consultancy fee to the college's former principal John Burn.

A spokeswoman for the Emmanuel Schools Foundation said it did not follow the usual protocol for schools, which dictates that they should put contracts out for tender and seek three quotes before contracting a company.

"We have a lot of experience in this and we test the market regularly. We haven't found better prices," she said.

Steve Sinnott, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said: "It doesn't matter how much money an organisation is putting in, it has to obey the rules and it has to ensure that that money is there. If the government is to ensure that these schools operate to the benefit of pupils then their methods must be open and transparent and conform to best practice."

The Department for Education and Skills said: "It is easy to criticise radical steps to break the cycle of educational underachievement. We prefer to get on with giving children in these areas the very best education that we can."