The Department for Education has published a notice to improve for Mighty Oaks Academy Trust, framing it as a formal intervention on financial grounds. The GOV.UK publication appeared on 2 October 2026, while the underlying letter to chair Fee Stagg is dated 1 July 2026 and says the trust’s breaches of the Academy Trust Handbook were serious enough to justify action. The letter adds that the notice reflects both a weak financial position and continued concerns about board oversight of financial management. (gov.uk)
The Department for Education letter also notes significant leadership change at the trust since September 2025, including the appointment of a new accounting officer and, in May 2026, a new chair of trustees. Even so, the department concluded that stronger oversight was required. Under the Academy Trust Handbook, compliance with the handbook is a condition of an academy trust’s funding agreement with the Secretary of State, which gives a notice to improve direct contractual force. (assets.publishing.service.gov.uk)
Annex A says the notice follows breaches of Academy Trust Handbook paragraphs 2.8, 2.10, 2.18, 2.19 and 2.20. Those provisions require trustees to prepare and monitor financial plans, approve and minute a balanced budget, produce monthly management accounts, share those accounts with the chair each month and take timely action to maintain financial viability. Taken together, the cited provisions cover forward planning, budget approval and routine in-year monitoring, indicating that the Department for Education’s concern extends across both financial control and board assurance. (assets.publishing.service.gov.uk)
One immediate effect is the loss of several delegated authorities. The notice and paragraph 6.19 of the handbook mean Mighty Oaks must now obtain Department for Education approval in advance for special staff severance payments, compensation payments, debt write-offs, certain asset disposals, longer lease or tenancy arrangements, carrying forward unspent general annual grant beyond permitted limits and pooling general annual grant. The trust must also publish the notice on its own website within 14 days of publication on GOV.UK and keep it there until the notice is lifted. (assets.publishing.service.gov.uk)
Annex B imposes a reporting cycle designed to give the department monthly visibility of the trust’s finances. For a minimum of 12 months, and by the 20th of each calendar month, the trust must send revenue income and expenditure reports, a balance sheet, a rolling 12-month cash-flow forecast, details of aged creditors causing cash-flow pressure and separate accounting information for any central or core teams. It must also submit a revised financial plan within eight weeks showing how it will reach a cumulative surplus by the end of August 2028, supported by budget forecasts through 2027/28, realistic pupil number assumptions and a clear efficiency and savings plan. (assets.publishing.service.gov.uk)
Governance requirements run alongside the financial ones. The Department for Education must receive notice of all board meetings, including extraordinary meetings, and draft minutes must be shared within five working days, with those minutes expected to show that trustees are providing the right balance of challenge and have the skills needed to discharge their duties. The trust must also submit, within four weeks, a credible plan setting out which school resource management adviser recommendations it will implement and how, followed by monthly progress updates until those actions are complete. (assets.publishing.service.gov.uk)
The final condition points to structural change as well as recovery oversight. Mighty Oaks is required to continue working with St Barts Multi Academy Trust and the Department for Education to complete a planned transfer as soon as possible; if delay caused by the trust is considered unreasonable, it must adopt the latest model funding agreement and articles of association and commission an external review of governance. The department states that failure to meet the notice conditions may trigger further contractual intervention, amount to a funding agreement breach, lead to referral to the Charity Commission and or Insolvency Service, and ultimately result in termination of the funding agreement. (assets.publishing.service.gov.uk)