Former superhead wrongly appointed to DfE post due to ‘administrative error’

Resigned: former Hackney principal and former DfE advisor Greg Wallace

A former ‘superhead’ of five Hackney schools, who was forced to quit a Department for Education (DfE) position on Saturday, had been wrongly appointed due to a government “administrative error”, the Hackney Citizen can reveal.

Greg Wallace resigned on Saturday from an advisory role to education secretary Nicky Morgan, after the Guardian alerted officials to the fact that the former headteacher was facing a disciplinary hearing over alleged financial irregularities whilst he was the principal of a chain of five primary schools in Hackney.

In 2013 Mr Wallace was suspended and subsequently resigned following claims that Best Start Federation awarded lucrative IT contracts to a technology company owned by his partner, Tony Zangoura.

Following his resignation from Best Start Federation, Greg Wallace took on a role with the government’s maths working group, which seeks to develop the maths curriculum and improve teaching.

However a Department for Education spokesperson told the Hackney Citizen that the appointment of Mr Wallace to the maths working group was a mistake, citing “an administrative error”.

The government source was unable to confirm the cause or nature of the “administrative error”.

The former head teacher – once described by former education secretary Michael Gove as one of the “magnificent seven” academy superheads – is due to appear before the National College for Teaching and Leadership for a disciplinary hearing.

Mr Wallace is also an advisor to the Harris Federation, an academy group founded by Conservative party donor Lord Harris.

A Department for Education spokesperson confirmed to the Hackney Citizen Mr Wallace is no longer a ‎member of the maths working group run by the DfE and the National Centre for Excellence in the Teaching of Mathematics.