A second financial notice to improve (FNTI) letter has been sent to E-ACT, a large multi-academy trust that has previously been criticised for the way its finances are managed.

The new FNTI requires E-ACT to pay back an undisclosed advance of funding that the trust received from the government in May this year. It also requires E-ACT to complete “satisfactory resolution of all outstanding redundancy claims”, and a number of previously set conditions.

The trust was first put on financial notice to improve by the Education Funding Agency (EFA) in March 2013 after “significant weaknesses” in financial management were identified.

Earlier this year the trust was also stripped of responsibility for 10 of its schools after Ofsted inspectors raised concerns about the performance of a number of the chain’s academies.

A spokesperson for the trust said: “E-ACT continues to work closely with the Education Funding Agency to address the points raised in the EFA’s initial report.

“The significant changes we have made to our governance, operations and financial management have positioned E-ACT to fulfil our goal of transforming the lives of each of the 14,500 young people in our care. We look forward to receiving a clean bill of health from the EFA.”