Conflicts of interest in academy trusts are common, a new report by the Education Select Committee has found.

In its report into the matter, the committee said that this is “not surprising” as the very design of academy trusts – i.e. independent organisations in charge of public money – lends itself to “questionable” financial practices.

The government paper explained that in a small number of cases, academy trusts have failed to deal appropriately with conflicts of interest, which, in turn, has led to a breach in guidelines.

This has resulted in financial notices being issued and even criminal proceedings, suggesting that there are inherent flaws in the ways academy trusts are run.

The Education Select Committee outlined four key areas where “perceived" conflicts of interest can occur in academy trusts.

This includes through connected-party transactions, where individuals on trust boards benefiting personally from their position; through sponsors providing paid services; through intangible conflicts, i.e. the exertion of too much power; and through the wider system.

“The benefits and impact of academies and academy sponsorship overall remain contested, but there is a strong argument that academy sponsors are working to address underperformance in schools that face real challenges and where the previous local authority model has not proved effective,” the authors of the report outlined.

“It seems reasonable that such trusts need powers to intervene and make decisions in the interest of pupils and to secure improvement, often at speed. Academy leaders in larger trusts told us that they already feel highly regulated and that they are developing robust systems over time.”

Some of the recommendations put forward by the committee include reviewing present agreements that allow paid for services to be sold to schools on a “at cost” basis; and looking into whether there is an explicit need for there to be tighter regulations for governance in academy trusts.

Speaking to the BBC, Lucy Heller, chief executive of the ARK academy chain, said: "One of the benefits of being part of a strong academy network is the importance placed on monitoring - not just to drive up standards but to ensure financial good practice.”