Tories' new Lords spokesperson was major beneficiary of controversial government education reforms

Nash, a Conservative Party donor, founded the private equity fund Sovereign Capital and advised the government on public sector reform. In December it was revealed that private colleges received over £100m of public money, despite the fact that they are not subject to the same regulation as public universities.

A big beneficiary of the taxpayers' cash was the Greenwich School of Management, owned by Sovereign Capital. Last year, it received £22.6m through student loans - almost a quarter of the total money handed out to private providers.

This is despite the fact that Greenwich School of Management was removed from the 'clearing house' for London Metropolitan University students after a poor inspection from the Quality Assurance Agency, which stated 'the quality of the student learning opportunities' at the institution 'requires improvement to meet UK expectations'.

In 2007/8, loans paid to private providers totalled £15,156,700. By 2010/11 it had risen to £33,006,000. Government figures released last week showed that the figure had almost trebled in size to £100,069,600 in 2011/12.

UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: 'Greenwich School of Management, owned by Nash's Sovereign Capital walked away with a cool £22m of public money. His appointment as the Tories' education spokesperson in the Lords speaks volumes about their efforts to crowbar more private companies into higher education.

'The government has allowed an uncapped, unregulated shadow higher education sector to profit from public money without having to undergo even the most basic quality checks.'

Notes

• John Nash Sovereign Capital founder advising government on public sector reform - FT.com
  
• Greenwich School of Management banned from recruiting London Metropolitan University students - THE
  
• QAA report into Greenwich School of Management (.pdf)
  
• The full government figures on money given to private providers through student loans