PRESSURE is mounting on the Government for a full inquiry into the collapse of the Collective Spirit trust chain which ran a secondary school in Chadderton.

Blackley and Broughton MP Graham Stringer has branded the quality of education dispensed by the organisation, which also ran a school in Ancoats, under the name Manchester Creative Studio, as “terrible”.

The schools – co-founded and led by boss Raja Miah - received £13m in public funding when they were open, but were placed into special measures following their first Ofsted inspection.

Now, Mr Stringer has joined a chorus of MPs demanding what is being done to recover the money spent on the schools.

He said in the House of Commons: “The children of my constituency who were sent to two free schools set up by Raja Miah had a terrible, terrible education experience.

He said the schools were ‘unsafe’, teaching standards were ‘poor’ and children with special educational needs did not receive support.

The MP is pushing for an internal audit investigation by the Education Funding Agency – an arm of the Department for Education – into Collective Spirit’s finances to be made public.

He went on: “Will the Leader of the House arrange for the Secretary of State for education to come to the house either by way of a statement or by debate, to explain why he won’t release the audit onto these two schools – and also to explain what he is doing to recover the money and whether or not he has engaged the police in this matter?”

Leader of the House Andrea Leadsom, responding to Mr Stringer’s question, suggested a parliamentary debate was now likely.

She said: “The honourable gentleman raises a very serious issue and I’m very concerned to hear about it.”

“It’s obviously very significant for children in his constituency and I would encourgae him to seek an adjournment debate. I’m sure you, Mr Speaker, would look favourably on that.”

Meanwhile, Oldham West and Royton MP Jim McMahon and Royton Manchester Central MP Lucy Powell who represent the constituencies where the schools ran, have also been pressing for a parliamentary debate on the free school trust’s collapse.

Collective Spirit opened in Chadderton in 2013, while its sister school Manchester Creative Studio opened the following year.

In 2016 the Oldham school was immediately placed in special measures following its first Ofsted inspection. After a damning second report, the Government closed the school in 2017.