The Department for Education has revealed how much it spent on turning the Hewett School into an academy, reversing an earlier decision to keep some of the information secret.

Ministers decided to convert the school into an academy sponsored by the Inspiration Trust after it was put into special measures following an Ofsted inspection in October 2014, and it formally changed its status in September 2015.

Last December, the Department for Education partially rejected a Freedom of Information request submitted by this newspaper asking how much it spent on the process.

It said the Inspiration Trust had received a £150,000 pre-opening grant, but refused to say how much it had paid the members of the interim executive board (IEB) it appointed in March 2015, arguing 'release could compromise the department's ability to secure best value for money in the future and would prejudice the commercial interests of the department'.

It also refused to say how much it paid the Government Legal Department to respond to issues raised by the council because 'release would potentially prejudice the effective conduct of public affairs'.

However, after we appealed against the decision, the government has now revealed that, in addition to the £150,000 grant to Inspiration Trust, it spent £15,303.25 on payments to members of the IEB, and £4,638.48 in payments to Government Legal Department.

In its response to the appeal, the Department said: 'It is normal practice to pay members that are self-employed and who potentially could lose money due to the time taken undertaking work for the IEB.'

The Hewett was one of two Norwich high schools undergoing academisation at the same time last year, and we have already reported that Norfolk County Council spent £50,764 in salaries and clerking the IEB at the-then Sewell Park College, which was in place from July 2014 to August 2015.

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