GMB call on Councils to intervene after Super Head of Schools in Lambeth and Southwark suspended over allegations of fraud
GMB call on Councils to intervene after Super Head of Schools in Lambeth and Southwark suspended over allegations of fraud.
These allegations are extremely serious and need to be fully investigated by both Lambeth and Southwark council immediately says GMB Southern
GMB, the Union for school support staff, today demanded that Lambeth and Southwark Councils intervene after Sir Craig Tunstall, Executive Head of the Gipsy Hill Federation and the highest paid Head Teacher in the country, was suspended over allegations of fraud.
GMB also call on both Lambeth and Southwark Council to immediately halt any attempts to grant Academy status to the schools within the Federation on the grounds that this will remove the ability of the Councils to oversee the finances.
Andy Prendergast, GMB Senior Organise for South London, said,
“These allegations are extremely serious and need to be fully investigated by both Lambeth and Southwark council immediately.
“The fact that they have been uncovered whilst the head in question attempted to convert his schools to academies which would have removed them from Local Authority oversight is extremely disturbing, and in light of these events, we now believe that any such process needs to be stopped immediately. Accepting that we are all innocent until proven guilty, this process raises significant questions about a Head Teacher who had proposed to cut staff terms and conditions to save money whilst paying himself £374,000 a year.
“Sir Craig Tunstall has proved to be a controversial figure within education, having previously been sacked after two days in a job in Croydon and currently enjoying a pay packet twice the size of the Prime Minister, one he continues to enjoy even as he proposes to cut staff terms and conditions to save money, proposals which will only come into force if his attempt to transfer his schools from Local Authority control into an Academy chain is successful.”
Contact: Andy Prendergast, Senior Organiser, 07984492726
Notes to editors
2) Letter from Sarah Wintle, Chair of Governors, Gipsy Hill Federation, 9 May 2017
