A schools trust has defended the payment of salaries of more than £100,000 to several executives.
Wellsway Multi-Academy Trust (MAT) runs schools in Bristol and nearby areas, including Keynsham and Oldland Common.
The trust has twice received letters from a government agency expressing concern about the amount of money given to executives in 2017/18.
But a trust spokesman has told Bristol Live they are “confident” their salary spend is not unusual, adding: “It has increased because our trust has grown, with more schools choosing to join our trust.”
Local schools under the control of Wellsway MAT include Wansdyke Primary School in Whitchurch and Sir Bernard Lovell Academy in Oldland Common.
In October, the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) wrote to 14 academy trusts about high salaries, with 12 of those having been contacted already, including Wellsway MAT.
In the letter to Wellsway MAT, ESFA chief executive Eileen Milner explained the trust was one of a “very small number” that had paid “multiple salaries” of between £100,000 and £150,000 in 2017/2018.
She wrote: “I originally wrote to you about the issue of high pay … I am writing to you now… to request further information on your process and the rationale for setting these levels of salaries within your academy trust.”
Ms Milner added: “This forms part of our ongoing campaign to challenge academy trusts with high levels of executive pay.”
A Wellsway MAT spokeswoman told Bristol Live that three employees were paid between £100,000 and £150,000 in 2017/2018, up from two employees in 2016/17, while the figures for 2018/19 have not yet been audited and published.
The highest salary in 2017/18 went to the trust’s chief executive officer Andrea Arlidge.
A Wellsway MAT spokesman said: "We welcome the scrutiny of multi academy trust (MAT) finances.
“Our trust seeks at all times to minimise our overheads so that maximum funding goes directly to our schools.
"The Board regularly benchmarks our spending against other trusts and is confident that our salary spend is in line with MATs of a similar size, nature and stage of growth.
“It has increased because our trust has grown, with more schools choosing to join our trust."
Other schools run by Wellsway MAT include Bedminster Down School (joined the trust after 2016/17), Saltford CofE Primary School and IKB Academy in Keynsham.
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