The annual accounts of the Department for Education and the agencies it covers were published today.
They reveal concern over the department’s readiness for the new data protection regulations earlier this year.
But what else was in the accounts? Here are nine revealing numbers:
4.2
Jonathan Slater, the permanent secretary, as the DfE’s highest-paid director, earns 4.2 times the median pay of the DfE workforce. Mr Slater was paid between £160,000 and £165,000 in 2017-18, while the median pay is £38,755.
11,052
There are 11,052 people employed in the departmental group - which includes the Department for Education and 18 other organisations, including the Standards and Testing Agency and Education and Skills Funding Agency. This figure was up from 10,533 in 2016-17.
£8.9 billion
The departmental group was £8.9 billion below budget in 2017-18. It had £101.3 billion to spend but the actual amount spent was £92.4 billion. The underspend included budget cover set aside to cover programmes such as apprenticeships.
3
Three DfE directors received bonuses in 2017-18 - of up to £25,000.
Paul Kett, director general, education standards, got between £5,000 and £10,000; Peter Lauener, the former chief executive of the Education and Skills Funding Agency, got between £20,000 and £25,000, and Andrew McCully, director general, infrastructure and funding, got between £10,000 and £15,000.
£27,000
Former non-executive director David Meller received £27,000 in remuneration from the DfE over two years.
Mr Meller was co-chair of the Presidents Club and resigned as a DfE director when the club was at the centre of accusations of sexual harassment after a charity dinner it hosted in January.
44
Forty-four free school projects were cancelled between 2013-14 and 2016-17 and had not been previously reported.
There were also two cancellations in 2017-18: Daubeney Gate AP primary free school, at a value of £651,000, and Gipsy Hill at a value of £355,000.
£27.2 million
The DfE spent £27.2 million on temporary staff, and a further £23.1 million was spent on temporary staff by the other organisations in the departmental group. The departmental group also spent £14.6 million on consultants.
£450,000
The DfE gave £450,000 to the Tudor Trust after the Grenfell Tower Fire, to support organisations working in the area to help young people and families affected by the tragedy.
There was also £336,000 given to Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea to reflect the fact that local schools lost funding for children who were temporarily displaced by the fire and so did not appear on the school census rolls.
16
There have been 16 whistleblowing cases recorded at the department since April 2014. All cases have been investigated and brought to a conclusion. This was four more than in last year’s accounts.
