As of 1 September 2025, the UK’s Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023’s new corporate “failure to prevent fraud” offence came in to effect. Under the rules of this Act, large organisations – including educational institutions – that fail to demonstrate reasonable fraud prevention procedures could face criminal prosecution, unlimited fines and reputational damage. The time for preparation is over and now the focus shifts to implementation, monitoring and continuous improvement.

The key focus of this podcast will be to: • Provide an overview on the legislation and offence • Work through the ‘reasonable fraud prevention procedures’ and what ‘good looks like’ • Understand how organisations have approached their implementation of the procedures and the monitoring and review tools used.

The key focus of this podcast was:

Understanding the rules in the 2025 Academy Trust Handbook relating to Special Staff Severance Payments

Risks of non-compliance and regularity issues

Importance of documentation and internal processes

The key focus of this podcast was:

• To enable a Trust to achieve its strategic objectives, risk management is a key component • How to articulate your risks and to link your internal audit plan • How does risk documentation compare to risk management

The key focus of this podcast was:

• Understanding the requirements of the Academy Trust Handbook 2025 and utilising the Academy Trust Good Governance Guide 2025 • Decision making/delegated authorities • Keeping governance dynamic and not static