A newly published investigation shows external reviewers identified serious problems at a school facing potential closure.
These concerns emerged through an internal examination that followed earlier inspections which had flagged 17 matters requiring attention at Middle Street Primary School in Brighton.
When the subsequent review took place during the autumn term, several of these problems remained unaddressed. The official document specified that remedial measures were required to properly declare and manage conflicting interests, strengthen financial procedures around raising purchase orders, demonstrate monthly payroll approval and maintain a contract register, enhance the new starter process to ensure all pre-employment checks were completed with suitable records kept, improve exit interview procedures for departing staff to ensure feedback was appropriately shared with senior leadership, and implement a data protection policy. The review noted that at that time the institution was being run by an interim executive board which had received Department for Education approval in June 2025.
The initial audit was launched as the school’s finances were deteriorating under head teacher Rob Cooper and the governing body members who were replaced last June. That previous leadership recently faced criticism during a council meeting.
The problems were detailed in an internal audit and counter fraud progress report covering the last three months of the previous year, from October through December.
These findings are due to be presented to Brighton and Hove City Council’s Audit, Standards and General Purposes Committee at Hove Town Hall next week.
The report to elected members indicated that reviewers found 11 of the 17 recommended actions from the prior audit had been put in place. The problems identified during the review related to transactions and recruitment that took place before the IEB. The report noted that since the IEB was established, controls had progressively improved.
The school became the first in Brighton and Hove to have an interim executive board replace its governing board, a measure only allowed when a school is causing concern.
An IEB must receive official approval from the Education Secretary, and for Middle Street this followed multiple issues.
Parents raised safeguarding concerns about the school and its leadership, with some taking their children out as a result.
Significant staff turnover drove up agency costs for substitute cover, adding to a financial deficit that has risen to more than £400,000. The school operates on an annual budget of roughly £1 million.
Funding largely depends on student numbers, and falling pupil numbers have made the deficit almost impossible to recover.
While many parents welcomed the IEB’s arrival, some suggested that earlier intervention by the council in appointing the board might have allowed the school to be saved.
A final decision on whether to close the school, the oldest in Brighton and Hove, is expected at a special council meeting on Thursday 21 May.
Both internal audit reports remain unpublished. The most recent findings appear in the agenda papers for the council’s forthcoming Audit, Standards and General Purposes Committee gathering.
The committee is due to meet at Hove Town Hall at 4pm next Tuesday, 21 April. The session is planned to be streamed online.