Theodore Agnew, Baron Agnew of Oulton explained

Honorific-Prefix:The Right Honourable
The Lord Agnew of Oulton
Party:Conservative
Office:Minister of State for Efficiency and Transformation
Primeminister:Boris Johnson
Term Start:14 February 2020
Term End:24 January 2022
Predecessor:Phil Woolas
Successor:Jacob Rees-Mogg
Office3:Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for School System
Predecessor3:The Lord Nash
Successor3:The Baroness Berridge
Primeminister3:Theresa May
Boris Johnson
Term Start3:28 September 2017
Term End3:14 February 2020
Office4:Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Term Start4:23 October 2017
Life Peerage
Birth Date:17 January 1961
Birth Place:Norfolk, England
Education:Beeston Hall School
Rugby School

Theodore Thomas More Agnew, Baron Agnew of Oulton, (born 17 January 1961) is a British businessman, Conservative life peer, and former Minister of State at the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury. He is the founder and current chairman of the board of Inspiration Trust, an academy trust in Norfolk and Suffolk.

Early life

He was born in Norfolk, the 6th of 7 children, brought up in Oulton near Aylsham and educated at Beeston Hall School and Rugby School. After school, he worked in Canada and Australia between 1978 and 1988, initially in farming but later buying and selling a variety of businesses.[1]

Business career

After working in Australia, he returned to the UK and founded Town & Country Assistance in 1989, later becoming WNS Assistance.[2] He grew the business to annual gross revenues of £40 million. Selling it to Warburg Pincus in 2002, he became a co-founder of WNS Global Services. This company was floated on the New York Stock Exchange in 2006.[3]

In 2004, he became Chief Executive of Jubilee Managing Agency Ltd, a Lloyd's insurance business managing £130 million of premiums. He resigned in 2011 after it was sold to Ryan Specialty.[4] [5]

Education and Community

In 2006, he founded the Public Interest Foundation, a grant-giving charity primarily focused on education and communities.[6]

He was chairman of the Norfolk Community Foundation between 2007 and 2013.[7]

In 2006 he became a trustee of Policy Exchange, a Westminster-based think tank, and remained on the board until 2014.[8]

Agnew is the founder and chairman of the Inspiration Trust, a multi-academy trust that runs seventeen schools in East Anglia. The Trust was founded as the East Norfolk Academy Trust on 14 August 2012, changing its name to the Inspiration Trust on 27 January 2013.[9] [10] He returned as chairman in 2022 after serving in the Government[11]

Agnew was a board member of the Education Policy Institute, a Westminster-based research institute, between 2015 and 2017.[12]

He was appointed a director of National Institute of Teaching in 2022. The aim of NIOT is to boost the quality of teaching and school leadership by carrying out research applying these insights to its professional development programmes, and sharing findings with the sector.[13] [14] [15]

Party career

Theodore Agnew joined James Goldsmith's Referendum Party sometime before the 1997 General Election and attempted to get elected as their Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for the Ipswich constituency.

Agnew donated a total of £134,000 to the Conservative Party between 2007 and 2009.[16]

He endorsed Kemi Badenoch in the July 2022 Conservative Party leadership election.[17]

Government

Agnew was a non-executive board member of the Department for Education from 2010 to 2015. He was chairman of its Academies Board from 2013 to 2015.[18] [19]

He was appointed lead non-executive board member of the Ministry of Justice in July 2015 until September 2017.

Education minister

Agnew was appointed as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the School System, in the Department for Education, on 28 September 2017.[20] [21] He had an interest in improving the cost base of schools.[22] He was created Baron Agnew of Oulton, of Oulton in the county of Norfolk, on 19 October 2017, sitting with the Conservative Party group in the House of Lords.[23]

He had an interest in improving the cost base of schools and was responsible for the academies and free schools programs.[24]

Treasury/Cabinet Office Minister

Agnew became Minister of State for Efficiency and Transformation jointly at the Cabinet Office and HM Treasury on 14 February 2020.

Agnew had a senior role in the UK's vaccination effort during the COVID-19 pandemic. He referred two companies to the PPE fast or VIP lane: Worldlink Resources, advised by former MP Brooks Newmark, which gained contracts for £258 million, and Uniserve, which gained an additional contract for £304 million.[25] [26] In April 2021 he was accused of a conflict of interest over his shares in Public Group, a firm helping companies bid for government contracts.[27]

On 24 January 2022, Agnew resigned as Minister of State for Efficiency and Transformation after strongly criticising the government's failure to tackle billions of pounds worth of fraud in the Coronavirus Bounce Back Loan Scheme.[28] Agnew said "a combination of arrogance, indolence and ignorance" was "freezing the government machine". Agnew accused the government of making "schoolboy errors" through giving loans to more than 1,000 companies which were not trading when the pandemic happened.[29]

Honours

Agnew was appointed a deputy lieutenant (DL) of Norfolk in 2013.[30] He was made a Knight Bachelor in the 2015 New Year Honours "for services to education".[31]

References

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Notes and References

  1. Web site: Theodore Agnew from 11 plus misery and brothel cleaning to business success and a top job at the department for education . Eastern Daily Press . 9 August 2013 . 9 August 2013 . George . Martin.
  2. Web site: T&C now WNS . FleetNews. 24 June 2004 . 1 January 2024 .
  3. Web site: Warburg to bank 10x money on WNS float . Privateequityinternational.com. 29 August 2006 . 1 January 2024 .
  4. Web site: Governance and leadership of the Department for Education. Third Report of Session 2012–13 . House of Commons Education Committee. 5 November 2012 . 1 January 2024 .
  5. Web site: Ryan Specialty Group, LLC Enters into Definitive Agreement to Acquire Specialist Lloyd’s Insurer Jubilee Group Holdings Limited . House of Commons Education Committee. 18 May 2011 . 1 January 2024 .
  6. Web site: THE PUBLIC INTEREST FOUNDATION - Charity 1114949 . 2023-10-16 . register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk . en-GB.
  7. Web site: NORFOLK COMMUNITY FOUNDATION - Charity 05234236 . 4 March 2024 . register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk . en-GB.
  8. Web site: POLICY EXCHANGE LIMITED - Company 04297905 . 4 March 2024. Gov.uk . en-GB.
  9. Web site: About us – our trustees – Inspiration Trust. inspirationtrust.org. 18 July 2016.
  10. Web site: INSPIRATION TRUST – Overview (free company information from Companies House). beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. 18 July 2016.
  11. Web site: Lord Agnew makes Inspiration Trust comeback as he returns to trustee role . 2021-02-24 . 4 March 2024 . Schools week . en-GB.
  12. Web site: EDUCATION POLICY INSTITUTE - Company 04579498 . 4 March 2024 . Gov.uk . en-GB.
  13. Web site: Our Board of Trustees . 2024-01-09 . National Institute of Teaching . en.
  14. Web site: Our Board of Directors . 2023-10-16 . niot.org.uk.
  15. Web site: SCHOOL-LED DEVELOPMENT TRUST - Company 13429740 . 4 March 2024 . Gov.uk . en-GB.
  16. Web site: Kleinman. Mark. Gove Sparks Row Over Tory Donor Appointment. Sky News. 14 June 2015. 13 June 2015.
  17. News: McFadden . Brendan . 10 July 2022 . Michael Gove backs Kemi Badenoch to be the next Prime Minister . i . 12 July 2022.
  18. Web site: Lord Agnew – GOV.UK. gov.uk. 4 March 2024.
  19. Web site: Who is Theodore Agnew? 7 facts about the new academies minister . 2017-09-28 . 4 March 2024 . Schools week . en-GB.
  20. Web site: Lord Theodore Agnew. gov.uk. HM Government. 10 December 2017.
  21. Web site: New ministerial appointments September 2017: DfE and DIT. 28 September 2017.
  22. Web site: Introducing... Lord Agnew. FE Week. Staufenberg. Jess. 8 October 2019.
  23. Web site: Lord Agnew of Oulton. Parliament of the United Kingdom. House of Lords. 10 December 2017.
  24. Web site: 2017-09-28 . 7 facts about new academies minister Theodore Agnew . 2023-10-16 . schoolsweek.co.uk . en-GB.
  25. News: LEAKED: The Conservative politicians who referred companies to the PPE 'VIP lane'. Good Law Project. 16 November 2021.
  26. News: Coronavirus: UK's nimble vaccine task force has left rivals trailing in its wake. The Times. O'Neill. Sean. Waterfield. Bruno. 29 January 2021.
  27. News: Minister Lord Agnew accused in conflict of interest row. The Times. Hurley. James. Wright. Oliver. 2 April 2021. 4 April 2021.
  28. Web site: UK anti-fraud minister suits over 'lamentable' covid loan oversight. Financial Times. Payne. Sebastian. Thomas. Daniel. 24 January 2022. 24 January 2022.
  29. News: Conservative minister resigns in anger over Covid fraud. BBC News. 24 January 2022. 26 January 2022.
  30. Web site: Lieutenancy of Norfolk. The Gazette. 18 July 2016.
  31. Web site: 2015 New Year Honours List . gov.uk. 18 July 2016.