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Ian Comfort

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Ian Comfort
EducationOpen University Mathematics, University of Law, Postgraduate Diploma in Law, City, University of London Inns of Court Law School, Postgraduate Diploma in Professional Legal Skills, Plymouth University, Master of Laws, Barrister of the Inner Temple
Occupation(s)Lawyer and Educationalist

Ian Comfort is a British educator and lawyer. He began his career as a maths teacher and youth worker. He progressed to become Director of Community Education for the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and then Chief Education Officer for the City of London, where he became actively involved in the Government's Academy programme. He moved from the City in 2006 to become the Chief Operating Officer for Ark Schools [1] a newly-created academy trust. In 2008, he was appointed as the first Chief Executive of the newly formed Edutrust, a Multi-academy Trust chaired by Lord Amir Bhatia, which was renamed as E-ACT in 2010.

In 2012, Ian Comfort became the Group Secretary and General Counsel of Academies Enterprise Trust, which at that time was the largest Multi-Academy Trust in England. He took over as CEO in Sept 2013.

In June 2015 Ian Comfort was reported as earning £220,000 per annum,[2] which was the second highest pay of CEOs in England leading Multi-Academy Trusts[2] In 2017, Schools Week reported that his salary had risen to £236,000.[3] However, that report also noted that he was responsible for the largest trust in England with over 36,000 pupils, that he was responsible for considerably more good or better schools than any other academy trust (45) and was receiving the lowest pay per good or better school of any academy CEO[4] By comparison the CEO of the Harris Federation was reported as earning £420,000 for a smaller trust with 29 good or better schools.

In 2015 Ian Comfort also directly contradicted the Government (DfE's) claim that Academy status creates extra freedoms for headteachers, by claiming that headteachers of Academies had significantly less freedom than headteachers of non-academies.[5] His claims were later supported William Stewart, News Editor of the TES, [6] and Warwick Mansell, writing for the Cambridge Primary Review Trust[7]

In announcing his intention to step down as CEO in 2017, Schools Week reported that during his tenure as group chief executive, the percentage of good or outstanding academies in the trust has increased from less than 26 per cent to 68 per cent, In primary schools, the number of good or outstanding academies has increased from 22 per cent to 84 per cent, with over 8,000 more children now receiving a good education.[8]

Research published by the Education Policy Institute in July 2016 , confirmed that the trust was in the top 10 per cent of academy trusts nationally for primary education and performing significantly above average in all areas.[9]

In 2017, Ian Comfort was appointed as chair of Sutton Education Services, a company set up by the London Borough of Sutton to manage its education service. The company changed its name to Cognus later in 2017.[10] In 2017, Ian Comfort was appointed to the board of the Middlesex Learning Partnership, a multi- academy trust, and took up the role of chair in 2018.[11] In November 2018, Ian Comfort was appointed to the board of the Rodillian Academy Trust.[12] In February 2019, Ian Comfort was appointed to chair the Corporation of Ealing, Hammersmith and West London College.[13]

Ian Comfort was appointed as a justice of the peace in 1984 and is a presiding justice in West London. He qualified as Barrister in 2005 and is called to the bar of the Inner Temple.[14] He chairs a number of tribunals for professional regulation including the Investigating Committee of the Nursing and Midwifery Council, the Health and Care Professions Tribunal, the Medical Practitioners Tribunal and the Taxation Disciplinary Board. In 2019, he was appointed by Her Majesty the Queen as a Commissioner[15] for the Criminal Cases Review Commission.

Charity, Arts and Community

Ian Comfort has been a trustee and chair of the award winning Ebony Steelband Trust since 2004.[16] In 2005, Ebony Steelband was awarded the Queens Award for Voluntary Service.[17] Ebony Steelband holds the record of being 22 times winner of the UK National Steelband Panorama competition[18] at Notting Hill Carnival. In 2017, Ebony Steelband played at the Grenfell memorial service at St Paul's Cathederal.[19]

Ian Comfort has been a trustee and chair of the Carnival Village Trust since 2008. The Trust is a National Portfolio Organisation[20] for Arts Council England and London’s development agency for Carnival Arts. Alongside its regional and national remit to develop Carnival Arts, its is responsible for two venues: the Tabernacle in North Kensington and the Yaa Centre in North Westminster.

In 2018, Carnival Village Trust set up a subsidiary company, Notting Hill Carnival Ltd (NHCL) , to take over responsibility for managing the world renowned Notting Hill Carnival, and appointed Ian Comfort as chair. In 2019, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner praised the new Carnival organisers for providing a safe and successful event.[21] The Carnival is the largest street festival in Europe and attracts over 2 million people.[22] In May 2020, in response to the COVID 19 pandemic and in order to protect the public, NHCL took the decision to take Carnival off the streets.[23] With the support of a range of sponsors including Letsgodo,[24] Samsung[25] and Spotify,[26] venues including the Royal Albert Hall and Abbey Road Studios and funding from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, the City of Westminster and the Mayor of London all aspects of the Carnival were streamed over the August bank holiday Carnival weekend generating over 7 million views.


References

  1. ^ "Ian Comfort: Group CEO". Academies Enterprise Trust. Academies Enterprise Trust. Retrieved 17 Dec 2015.
  2. ^ a b McGauran, Ann (5 Jun 2015). "Academy CEO Pay: How much do the biggest trusts pay?". Schools Week. Retrieved 17 Dec 2015.
  3. ^ "Academy CEO pay: Salaries soar, but who comes out on top?". Schools Week. 2017-03-17. Retrieved 2018-03-01.
  4. ^ "Academy CEO pay: Salaries soar, but who comes out on top?". Schools Week. 2017-03-17. Retrieved 2018-03-01.
  5. ^ "Academies boss: Maintained-school headteachers have more freedom than those in academy chains". Tes. 2015-07-13. Retrieved 2018-03-01.
  6. ^ "The appeal of autonomy is all academic, now". Tes. 2016-02-04. Retrieved 2018-03-01.
  7. ^ Mansell, Warwick (May 2016). "ACADEMIES: AUTONOMY, ACCOUNTABILITY, QUALITY AND EVIDENCE" (PDF). Cambridge Primary Review Trust. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  8. ^ Camden, Billy (4 November 2016). "Boss of country's largest academy trust steps down". Schools Week.
  9. ^ Andrews, John (July 2016). "School performance in multi-academy trusts and local authorities" (PDF). Education Policy Institute.
  10. ^ Burley, Tracey (20 September 2017). "London Borough of Sutton Shareholders Board" (PDF). London Borough of Sutton. Retrieved 28 February 2018.
  11. ^ "Middlesex Learning Partnership".
  12. ^ "THE RODILLIAN MULTI ACADEMY TRUST - GOV.UK". get-information-schools.service.gov.uk. Retrieved 2020-05-03.
  13. ^ "Corporation - Ealing Hammersmith and West London College". www.wlc.ac.uk. Retrieved 2020-05-03.
  14. ^ "Legal Expert Directory (incl. Official Bar Directory)". Juriosity. Retrieved 2020-09-12.
  15. ^ "Six new Commissioners appointed to Criminal Cases Review Commission | Criminal Cases Review Commission". Retrieved 2020-09-12.
  16. ^ "EBONY STEELBAND TRUST - Officers (free information from Companies House)". beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. Retrieved 2020-09-12.
  17. ^ "Queen's Award for Voluntary Service 2005: 6 Jun 2005: Hansard Written Answers". TheyWorkForYou. Retrieved 2020-09-12.
  18. ^ "UK NATIONAL STEELBAND PANORAMA 2019 ROUNDUP - EBONY STEELBAND TRUST". Panpodium. Retrieved 2020-09-12.
  19. ^ "Ebony Steel Band play at Grenfell Memorial". BBC News. Retrieved 2020-09-12.
  20. ^ "National Portfolio Organisations | Arts Council England". www.artscouncil.org.uk. Retrieved 2020-09-12.
  21. ^ "Met chief's praise for police and organisers as Carnival crime falls". Evening Standard. 2019-08-28. Retrieved 2020-09-12.
  22. ^ "Notting Hill Carnival: What is it? - CBBC Newsround". Retrieved 2020-09-12.
  23. ^ "Notting Hill Carnival 2020 cancelled | Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea". www.rbkc.gov.uk. Retrieved 2020-09-12.
  24. ^ "How to watch this year's virtual Notting Hill Carnival". Evening Standard. 2020-08-28. Retrieved 2020-09-12.
  25. ^ "Carnival Arrives at Piccadilly Circus – Live Countdown on the Big Screen". news.samsung.com. Retrieved 2020-09-12.
  26. ^ "Spotify's Virtual Notting Hill Carnival Microsite Amplifies Black Creators Like Never Before". Spotify. 2020-08-19. Retrieved 2020-09-12.
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