Further to the question of 'hey Gove, where have the title deeds of our state schools gone?' there is a post on the Guardian comment is free site, in response to the story about Gove's criticism of Etonians in the cabinet.
I offer it with no comment. People better informed than me can judge whether it's on the button or not...
Start:
"Since Gove took over - schools all over England failing, free schools being shut down, academy companies being stripped of control of schools
Absolute CHAOS - so why did Gove deliberately create such chaos
Each time a school becomes an academy the council must hand over the title deeds for the school if it has them (avg value £5m per school)
As over 2,000 schools have been forced to become academies that is £10 billion (min) state assets Michael Gove has demanded the title deeds be handed to him
I wrote an FOI request to Michael Gove's department and asked him where are the title deeds to England's schools
After 3 months he still refused to answer - I had to involve the information commissioner who wrote and demanded they answer within 10 days
And now we find out why Michael Gove did not want to answer
the reply I got
The department of Education has absolutely no record of any of the title deeds for the school - not in paper format or electronic format
Now as councils held title deeds for state assets safely for decades - and Michael Gove used the Academies Bill to force councils to hand them to him - the Secretary of State For Education -
Where are all the title deeds for the schools Mr Gove
At the end they told me to write to a company the Tory Party Treasurer is on the board of - and ask the private company if they know what Michael Gove has done with the title deeds for state assets
Any good magician will tell you - create a distraction - to get away with the trick
And the trick here is - Michael Gove transferring £10 billion of state assets to private companies - where no payment was received for the state assets - and taxpayers forced to pay over £50,000,000 in legal fees alone to fund the trick
Thatcher sold state assets - Michael Gove gives them away - and some of the companies he gave them away to - just happen to have very prominent Tory party members on the boards - with us even paying all legal fees
Now I live in Scotland - but if it was my school that became an academy I would be writing to Michael Gove right now - and speaking to my councillors right now and demanding to know where are the title deeds for my school - because these schools are state assets (or they were until Michael Gove disposed of the title deeds with absolutely not a thing on record in the Dof E)
that's what you call magic
Now the reality is Michael Gove has set up Southern Cross For Education - where
Academy companies have the title deeds for schools - they can sell them - and then sign extortionate leases to rent them (and the money goes offshore to the Cayman Islands as "excess funds")
Now Gove changed the law to say Academy's don't have to publish their accounts publicly - unlike every other charity in the country
And Gove changed the law to say No Academy trustee can be held liable for any losses
And Gove is currently trying to change the Academies bill to say instead of the title deeds going to " the proprietor of the school" - to "someone associated with the school"
Now does that mean the Tory Party Treasurer, instead of putting your school's title deeds in Ark Schools name - he can instead put your school's title deeds in the Tory Party Treasurer's name
Now if that is not "cronyism" of the most absolutely shocking sort - I don't know what is
Serious investigations need to be asked as to how Michael Gove can have "lost" the title deeds for £10 billion of state assets without a trace - after councils kept them safe for decades!"
End
