EXCLUSIVE: Probe into 'Trojan Horse' school suspected of funding extremism
A FAILING school closely linked to the “Trojan Horse” plot is being investigated amid fears that public money may have been used to fund extremism.
In June, the entire governing body was barred from the premises of Al-Hijrah School in Bordesley Green, Birmingham, after it was revealed that it was facing a £900,000 deficit.
Now Birmingham City Council has confirmed it is carrying out an investigation into “financial irregularities” surrounding the school’s finances.
Last week the council’s cabinet member for children and family services Brigid Jones was questioned by Parliament’s Education Committee about the inquiry into the 100 per cent Muslim school.
Graham Stuart, chairman of the committee, asked if the “misuse of money could have led to those monies being used for the purposes of extremism”.
She said: “The school has a rent agreement with a trust and we know that money goes into that trust.
“As to what the trust does with the money, that is subject to an investigation and it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.”
It is understood that the council pays rent to the Al-Hijrah Trust, which owns and, until May, ran the school. The trust runs what its website calls a “training academy” for Muslim parents to “empower the community to ensure our needs are met” and “get more Muslims involved so that they can influence the education of their children”.
Tahir Alam, the alleged ringleader of the Trojan horse plot, is the academy director and until recently a trustee and secretary of the Al-Hijrah Trust, which has offices in Birmingham and Pakistan.
As to what the trust does with the money, that is subject to an investigation and it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time
Sources have previously claimed that until 2012 the council only paid a peppercorn rent to the trust of £1 a year, for the use of the school buildings.
The rent was suddenly raised to £300,000 a year, above the market value for Victorian premises in a run-down area of Birmingham, although this figure has never been confirmed by the council. Al-Hijrah is not one of the 21 schools inspected by Ofsted in connection with the Trojan Horse plot to oust secular heads and governors and impose Islamic doctrine.
Yet it was placed in special measures after an Ofsted inspection in December 2013 and a follow-up visit in April found the “governance remains inadequate”.
In May, governors reportedly refused to co-operate when members of the Interim Executive Body (IEB) tried to move into the school, which caters for children aged between four and 16. Council chiefs are now suing former chairman of governors Waseem Yaqub for up to £100,000 over claims he led a campaign of harassment of staff brought in to turn it around.
Ms Jones told the committee: “In the particular case of Al-Hijrah, we applied for an IEB because we were very concerned about the actions of the governing body. We were concerned about the severe deficit the school had got itself into and where that money might be going.
“We now have an IEB in place in the school with access to financial records and we are carrying out a retrospective investigation. If we find anything criminal it will be referred to the police.”
The Sunday Express attempted to speak to the trust but it could not be contacted to give its response.
