Sleazy deals at academy schools have seen unaccountable managers siphon off thousands in public cash to buy “services” provided by themselves, top MPs warned yesterday.

The system’s murky underbelly was laid bare in a report to the education select committee which found “questionable practices” with “very large sums of public money” being paid to trust board members and their companies.

Tory committee chair Graham Stuart said it had exposed “a number of loopholes” that cast doubt on whether privately managed academies had breached rules dictating that services can only be provided “at cost” and not for profit.