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| ADONIS IS A GONNIS |
Tribune probe reveals minister’s
conflict of interest
LORD Adonis – in charge of the government’s flagship
city academy education reforms – has been told he cannot make
any rulings on an Islington school due to a potential conflict of
interest, revealed by a Tribune investigation.
He will have to hand over responsibility over the future of Islington
Green School – applying for academy status – to another
education minister, we can disclose. This follows revelations by
the Tribune that his children, who attend a nearby primary school,
could go to Islington Green in the future. Lord Adonis also has
strong ties with the borough, living only one mile away from school.
His children currently attend a Canonbury primary school. The National
Union of Teachers (NUT) say that because his children will soon
be eligible to attend Islington Green it represents a clear conflict
of interest.
Islington Green will be rebuilt in a multi-million programme.
The project was already well underway when Lord Adonis (pictured)
was appointed as education minister earlier this year after working
as a special advisor to the Prime Minister.
His brief is to set up 200 academies by 2010.
The Department for Education and Skills confirmed any final decision
on the school’s future will have to be made by another minister
because of Lord Adonis’s links with the borough.
The school already has firm New Labour links, with another former
advisor to Blair, Peter Hyman, employed as a teaching assistant.
One of the factors for Islington Green deciding on the academy route
followed it being turned down for Building Schools for the Future
funding.
Lord Adonis has no registered interests other than being “in
receipt of ministerial salary”.
The Ministerial Code, which gives guidance on ethics, states: “It
is the personal responsibility of each minister to decide whether
and what action is needed to avoid conflict or the perception of
conflict, and to defend that decision, if necessary by accounting
for it in Parliament.”
Lord Adonis was unavailable for comment when the Tribune visited
his home in Crane Grove, Holloway, on Wednesday night.
There is no suggestion that Lord Adonis’s residency in the
borough would have influenced his decision.
His father, Nicos Adonis, said his son was “putting his money
where his mouth is” by sending his children to an Islington
school.
Islington Green is famously the school to which Tony Blair decided
not to send his children, instead ferrying them every morning to
London Oratory in West London.
It is one of the closest schools to Lord Adonis’s house. Another
option for his children, St Mary Magdalene, is also set to become
an all-ages academy, sponsored by the Diocese of London.
The process for the school is so far down the line that most decisions
on sponsorship and financial structuring have already been taken.
Ian Comfort, chief education officer of the Corporation, blamed
“Chinese whispers” over Lord Adonis’s involvement
in Islington Green.
He said it will be DfES officers, not Lord Adonis, making a decision
on the expression of interest – essentially the next stage
of the school’s transformation – on Tuesday.
Lord Adonis would get involved at the later stages when the financial
minutiae of the contract is agreed.
A DfES spokeswoman said: “Islington Green was an existing Academy
project when Lord Adonis became a Minister, had been agreed in principle
by previous Ministers and a feasibility study was begun.
“This is ongoing. If and when the project comes to the point
of signing a funding agreement – and agreeing the capital investment
and recurrent budget of the Academy – the decision will be
passed to another Minister in the Department.” Ken Muller,
chairman of Islington NUT said: “Because of his personal interest
in the outcome, Adonis should have nothing to do with this project.
“We have taken legal advice and are considering judicially
reviewing some of the decisions made so far and we will also consider
doing the same to any future decision made by Adonis.
“Islington Green is clearly Lord Adonis’s baby and he’s
got a clear conflict of interest.”
The Corporation hopes the school will be open for business in September
2009. |
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DO you enjoy or endure Christmas? It isn’t only that we’re
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