Controversial Birmingham faculties boss ‘paid £60ok to sit down at dwelling on gardening go away’

A controversial academy trust chief who resigned after being criticized for spending and school contracts is expected to pick up £ 60,000 while on “gardening vacation,” sources claim.

We shared last week how Bev Mabey left her senior position at the Washwood Health Multi Academy Trust (WHMAT) after a tumultuous 12 months in her role with £ 180,000 a year.

Government investigators highlighted some mileage information she provided for meetings related to a private company called Mindful Healthcare Ltd “which may not be directly related to the trust business” and in which her daughter owned stocks.

Read more: School boss criticized for spending and school contracts resigns

Ms Mabey has also been charged with a conflict of interest for having sanctioned her son’s £ 550 mileage allowance while the Trust has shown “a lack of honesty in public spending” on some of the £ 1.2 million contracts it has awarded should have private companies.

Last week, the Trust alerted employees to the departure of Ms. Mabey and stated that she had submitted her resignation “for personal reasons”.

Employees were advised that the resignation would not take effect until December 31st. The Trust also said she was “unwell” at the moment and that chairman Pete Weir would continue to act as CEO “in her absence”.

Now sources claim Ms. Mabey will receive her full wages by Jan.

The huge potential payout has been criticized by Joe Ventre, Digital Campaign Manager for the TaxPayers’ Alliance.

He said, “This is an exceptional amount of money that can be spent on gardening vacations.

“Taxpayers expect their hard-earned money to be spent in the classroom, not feet up on education managers.

“The Washwood Heath Multi Academy Trust should ensure that funds are spent prudently.”

Bev Mabey, former executive director of the Washwood Heath Multi-Academy Trust, pictured at Saltley Academy in 2015
(Image: Birmingham Mail)

The Trust previously paid tribute to Ms. Mabey in a statement on her resignation.

It says: “Dr. Bev Mabey has stepped down as our CEO for personal reasons after nearly twenty years of raising educational standards for thousands of children.

“The Board of Directors has started the thorough process of appointing your successor.”

We revealed in November 2020 how the trust was criticized following an investigation by the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA).

WHMAT received a financial notice for improvement after highlighting “Errors and weaknesses in financial management and governance” in their report.

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As part of the investigation, the investigators looked at model contracts awarded to 10 companies that had received a total of £ 1.2 million from the trust.

They alleged there may have been attempts to “divert control” of some contracts that were not tendered because they were below a price threshold of £ 5,000. The total payments to some of the firms ran into tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Investigators also asked the Trust to terminate its relationship with Mindful Healthcare Ltd. to review, an online based company in Stratford-upon-Avon that provides psychological therapy to young people.

The ESFA report claimed that Ms. Mabey’s daughter worked for the private company and owned five percent of the shares.

Mindful Healthcare Ltd previously announced to BirminghamLive that Ms Mabey’s daughter Beth had worked for the company for a brief period and her appointment was based solely on her ability. She held a 1.43 percent stake in the company.

A company spokesman previously said, “We recruited Beth to work on parenting engagement following a recruitment process. She was good at work but had to quit when the Covid lockdown hit and schools closed, “a spokesman said.

“The context of Dr. Bev Mabey’s website quote is that we are a good value for money service. As discussed, Washwood Heath has tested our service and digital health model for free.

“Five children received excellent feedback from schools, parents and children through the program. From the results of the pilot project, Bev was able to say that the service is good value for money.

“Washwood Heath has not commissioned any positions. No money has been exchanged between Washwood Heath and Mindful Healthcare.”

“We didn’t get any contracts with Washwood Heath. If we had them, they’d be the same price we sell to other schools and universities.”

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