A £2.1m deficit was found at one of Birmingham's largest academy chains, the BBC has discovered.

Perry Beeches The Academy Trust said it appointed Paul Wheeler as chief financial officer in December and he carried out a financial health check.
The trust runs five schools. Chief executive Liam Nolan resigned in May.
A BBC investigation found 113 academy trusts which run schools in England have run up an overall deficit of almost £25m.
The Perry Beeches trust said an action plan had been agreed with the Education Funding Agency, which would "ensure that trust finances return to good health".
The trust said this deficit "resulted from poor budgetary control and lack of financial scrutiny by the Board of Directors".
It added the board resigned at the end of April and following Mr Nolan's departure, Mr Wheeler was appointed as acting chief executive officer and a new executive team was formed.
The trust said: "This new Executive Team have a focus on rebuilding trust with our communities and parents who have shown fantastic support to schools throughout this difficult time.
"Our GCSE results at Perry Beeches The Academy and best-ever A-Level results at Perry Beeches II The Free School are testament to the resilience of our students and the hard work of our talented staff."
It said a new board of trustees had also been appointed.


"Serious concerns" have been raised over the education and supervision of midwives in north Wales following a review.

The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) carried out an "extraordinary review" of the system in July.
It followed moves by Bangor University to withdraw midwifery students from Glan Clwyd Hospital, and concerns flagged by Health Inspectorate Wales.
Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board said it had developed an action plan.
Prof Angela Hopkins, executive director of nursing and midwifery at the health board, said: "Most of the recommendations made in the NMC reports have already been addressed."
The review by the NMC examined how closely rules on supervising midwives across north Wales were being followed.
But the investigators found on two measures the midwife services were falling short:
Jackie Smith, NMC chief executive and registrar, said: "The reports from our extraordinary review show that there are serious concerns around the nursing and midwifery education programmes.
"We need to be assured that our standards for education and for the supervision of midwives are being met, and that the public's safety is protected.
"It is essential that all the relevant organisations collaborate to address the issues raised by the review. We will work closely with Bangor University, Health Inspectorate Wales and other stakeholders to improve the situation and strengthen public protection."
Prof Hopkins said: "We would like to reassure our patients regarding the quality and standard of education for student nurses and midwives in north Wales, and to advise that issues raised regarding the supervision of midwives have been fully addressed."
The investigation was prompted by escalating concerns at the health board about how maternity services might be reorganised.
Officials wanted to remove consultant-led care from Glan Clwyd Hospital at Bodelwyddan in Denbighshire - but that faced being overturned by a judicial review.
It led Health Inspectorate Wales to flag the issue to the NMC in June, just weeks before the entire health board was put into special measures by the Welsh government.
At the same time, according to the report published on Monday, Bangor University withdrew midwifery students from Glan Clwyd due to "an unsuitable practice learning environment due to the unprofessional behaviours and attitudes of some clinicians".
The university said it had been working with the health board to address issues raised by the extraordinary review and stated that the situation "had improved since the report was written in July".
"We are now focussing on the remaining areas that need attention, but in the meantime students can be assured that the high standard of their education will be safeguarded," said Prof Jo Rycroft-Malone, who heads Bangor's School of Healthcare Sciences.
The NMC  review also contained some criticism of the work of Healthcare Inspectorate Wales (HIW) as the body responsible in Wales for safeguarding standards of supervision and training.
But on Monday, HIW said all standards set by the NMC and recommendations made in report have now been met.


Children as young as 13 bought knives in London when teenage volunteers were used to test if shops were complying with the law.

Out of 724 test purchases carried out by London Trading Standards, 96 retailers sold knives and blades to the volunteers.
It is illegal to sell knives to anyone under the age of 18.
As a result, 19 traders have been prosecuted while others received warnings and compliance advice.
London Trading Standards spokesman Steve Playle said: "Whilst it is commendable that 87% of shops refused to sell, it is concerning that children as young as 13 were actually sold knives."
The tests were carried out as part of the Metropolitan Police's Operation Sceptre initiative, aimed at reducing knife crime.
Ch Insp of the Met's Trident Central Gangs Command, Gary Anderson, said although the force had "reduced the volume of gang-related knife crime" through education programmes and "targeted work on boroughs", more needed to be done.
"We remain committed to working in partnership with Trading Standards to prevent knives from reaching dangerous hands and to reduce the number of families devastated by knife crime in London," he said.
The government said more work needed to be done and that it would continue to work with other agencies to keep children and communities safe.
Minister for Vulnerability, Safeguarding and Countering Extremism Sarah Newton said: "Selling knives to children is illegal and I am delighted that London Trading Standards are taking action to enforce this and have found that the vast majority of retailers are complying with the law.
"Knife crime can have devastating consequences and this government is acting against it, including banning the sale of so-called 'zombie-knives', supporting Operation Sceptre and expanding our work with retailers to stop the underage sale of knives."


The banks and financial regulators should do more to tackle the vicious cycle of debt and overcharging, says a Lords committee.

The Financial Exclusion Committee says banks are failing the customers who need them the most, leaving the poorest to rely on expensive products.
It adds that controls on "rent to own" products and other high cost credit deals must be introduced urgently.
Banks should be required to have a duty of care towards their customers.
The report highlights how regulation has been successful in battling abusive practices by payday loan companies.
The government asked regulators the Financial Conduct Authority to limit the interest rates they are able to charge.
It calls for similar restrictions to be applied to other forms of high cost credit, charges for unarranged overdrafts and "rent to own" products.
These are products that allow customers to buy items, such as televisions or mobile phones, through rental deals which can cost as much as four or five times the normal price tag.
Debt charities say that as high cost loan companies have been pushed out, demand for credit by people in poverty has moved into other areas.
The government is urged to appoint a minister for financial inclusion who has to report annually to Parliament on progress made towards addressing financial exclusion.
Committee chair Baroness Tyler of Enfield said: "Too many people still have no bank account or cannot get access to basic or fairly priced financial services.
"The 'poverty premium' - where the poor pay more for a range of services from heating their home to accessing credit - contributes to a vicious circle driving people ever deeper into debt and distress."
She added that the victims of financial exclusion were "often the most vulnerable in society - the elderly, the poor or those living with physical disabilities or mental health issues".
"Action must be taken to ensure the financial system in this country works for all.
All too often, disabled customers are being failed by banks who are not adjusting their communications and procedures to serve them properly, she said.
The committee had been told of banks contacting deaf people by phone and sending written PIN numbers to blind people instead of using Braille, she added.
The British Bankers Association said it was already working closely with the government, the regulator and consumer advocates on a number of the areas highlighted in the report.
"We will consider the report's recommendations in detail and reflect on how they might be adopted by the industry going forward," it added.
Polly Mackenzie, director of the Money and Mental Health Policy Institute, said: "For too long it's been assumed that when people with mental health problems get behind on bills, or struggle to stick to their budget, it's because they're lazy or incompetent.
"That's simply not true, and we are delighted to see the Lords committee recognise this and the need for banks to step up and offer support.
"It's time for banks to adapt their services to help support people when they're unwell."


Britain's Johanna Konta reached the US Open third round - despite collapsing on court with blurred vision, breathing issues and an increased heart rate.

The 13th seed led Bulgaria's Tsvetana Pironkova 6-2 5-6 at Flushing Meadows when she crouched down to her knees and began hyperventilating.
Medical help arrived after several minutes and Konta, 25, took a lengthy break before winning 6-2 5-7 6-2.
"My heart rate spiked and I couldn't really control my breathing," she said.
"It was basically very embarrassing. I started hyperventilating. I started shaking. That's why I went down on the ground, because I was quite violently shaking."
Konta followed compatriot Kyle Edmund on to court 13 after the Yorkshireman had reached round three by beating American wildcard Ernesto Escobedo.
Konta is seeded at a career-high 13th and looked every inch the world-class player until the contest took a dramatic twist late in the second set.
After an hour and a half in hot and humid conditions - and with Pironkova an increasing threat - Konta was facing set point when she bent over at the back of the court and then rolled on to her back.
After lying on a towel and using ice bags brought over by the umpire, Konta waited for the doctor before making it back to her chair and telling the physio: "It felt like my whole body was going into shock."
She took a medical timeout before returning for long enough to send a second serve long and drop the set, prompting a lengthy visit to the locker room.
It appeared questionable whether she would return at all, but Konta returned and took control with an early break and took the final set in 50 minutes.
"We push our bodies to the limits that they can go," added Konta. "I definitely hit one of my limits. That was the way my body reacted.
"I was feeling a little bit the conditions and also my own energy levels. I was just managing the best that I could with what I had today."
She will play Swiss 24th seed Belinda Bencic in the third round on Friday.
Pironkova, 28, was sympathetic towards Konta but felt her rhythm was unduly disrupted when the Briton took a second timeout to go to the bathroom.
"I wish I could say all players use bathroom breaks accordingly to go to the toilet," said the Bulgarian, ranked 71st.
"Some players use them to refocus. I don't think they should be used that way."
She added: "With that toilet break, I think the match was stopped for just too long. I had my momentum going, I was getting back in the match."
Russell Fuller, BBC tennis correspondent: "Konta was in some distress as - with no warning - she fell to the court, struggling for breath.
"When the match resumed, Pironkova completely lost her rhythm. The Bulgarian deserves sympathy for the length of time she had to wait, but there is no denying Konta played a magnificently canny final set. She used less pace, but great placement. Her shot selection was remarkable."
Miles Maclagan, British tennis coach: "We can't really over-exaggerate the scenes we saw, on her hands and knees, heart racing and struggling for breath. An amazing effort from Jo Konta.
"Maybe we shouldn't be surprised. She's got herself to the edge of the top 10 and you don't do that without a little bit of steel in your spine."


Plans for a new 10,000-capacity Castleford Tigers stadium have been unveiled as part of a £135m scheme that developers say could create 2,000 jobs.

Lateral Property Group has announced plans to develop land near Junction 32 of the M62, at Glasshoughton, West Yorkshire.
The plans also include a retail centre and 50-acre country park.
Tigers chairman Jack Fulton said it was an "exciting opportunity" to get a home "fit for the 21st Century".
Lateral Property Group (LPG) said it was in talks with Wakefield Council about the proposal and, subject to planning approval, construction work could begin in 2015 with the new stadium ready for the 2017 season.
LPG managing director Philip Lunn said: "We estimate that around 2,000 jobs will be created at the site, along with another 680 during construction.
"Overall, the development will see around £135 million being invested into the local community."
He said details of a public consultation would be announced "shortly".
In 2010 Castleford Tigers secured land for a new stadium but in 2012 the supermarket firm which was set to buy its ground put the move on hold.
Mr Fulton said: "A new stadium will provide the foundations of a bright new future for the club and much needed facilities for the wider Castleford community."


Gleneagles occupies a sizeable chunk of Perthshire, and uneven terrain between private opulence and national institution.

Others vie with it to be the best hotel in Scotland. None of them can touch it for being the best known.
Without a coastal links golf course, it's not on the circuit for the Open. But hosting the Ryder Cup last year was the kerrching factor that seems to have persuaded its owner to sell.
Diageo, with its predecessor companies, has owned Gleneagles for 31 years. It is currently investing heavily in its Scotch whisky assets, and fighting to boost its drink brands around the world.
That's a task which has become significantly tougher in the past couple of years. When it says that running a hotel is not its core business, it's not kidding. It tried to sell before, but failed to get the price it wanted. But post-Ryder, with the valuation seemingly running high, Diageo is checking out.
In 1977, Gleneagles was host to a Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting, lending its name to a sporting boycott of apartheid South Africa.
Ten years ago, it was the venue for the G8 summit, which again focussed on Africa - this time on tackling poverty.
It's hard to believe now, but until 1984, this was an arm of the railway industry. Having opened in 1924 under the ownership of the Caledonian Railway Company, it was taken over at the nationalisation of private railway companies in 1948. It has its own railway station, refurbished last year for the golf extravaganza.
It was, therefore, publicly-owned for 36 years, as were other railway hotels in many of the most valuable locations.
In Scotland, these included hotels in Glasgow Central, Edinburgh's Caledonian and what is now the Balmoral, station hotels in Perth, Dornoch, Kyle of Lochalsh, Strathpeffer and Dumfries, and the Turnberry golf hotel in Ayrshire.
Gleneagles survived the famously bruising boardroom battles over Guinness and the distilling interests it bought to create Diageo.
And under Peter Lederer's management, it operated on a long leash from the distilling giant's headquarters in London.
The company retains its own private lodge on Speyside, but there's nothing much boutique about Gleneagles. Its grounds sprawl over 800 acres, and around its unpretty exterior, it offers guests four golf courses, large stables, a shooting range, gun dog training, falconry and a substantial spa.
With turnover of more than Â£40m in the year to last June, and 900 staff, that's a significant amount of income into the local economy in and around Auchterarder. And with a commitment to training, it spins out high-end tourism skills throughout the industry.
So, for around Â£150m, Ennismore, the private investment group in the hospitality industry, has bought itself a national institution.
Founded ten years ago, what the new owner currently does is take rather ugly buildings in central and east London and give them a cool boutique vibe as hotels and restaurants.
It has the Hoxton hotel, which it plans to scale up to a branded chain, already including an Amsterdam property.
The cross-over clientele will probably be limited. But what Ennismore offers is a bit more imagination. It professes to be about design, and "taking the path less travelled".
That could be just what Gleneagles needs next. But it also needs a company that understands how to apply the most modern marketing to a doggedly traditional tourism product, clad in sober tartans and flavoured with single malts.
What Ennismore has yet to prove is its ability to market a hotel as a resort. Gleneagles' prestige is established, which is why it paid quite a prestige price. Diageo's ownership has shown that it doesn't need to be part of a chain, but it does need an owner with the means and the willingness to invest and keep its five-star status.
It is important to the wider economy that the new owner succeeds with one of the Crown Jewels of Scottish tourism.
It may also be a relief that the Perthshire hotel and resort hasn't fallen into the hands of Donald Trump, who is investing a lot of money, ego and his bling-laden brand into Turnberry, another Scots luxury golfing jewel - while his brand is currently taking a battering in his American homeland.


Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink has urged fans of his former club Cardiff City to give new boss Paul Trollope time to "impose his philosophy" on the Welsh side.

Trollope's Cardiff are without a win this season - without scoring a goal - and the Bluebirds face bottom club Blackburn Rovers on Wednesday.
Hasselbaink is now manager at QPR and had a similar transition after his arrival at the Championship leaders.
"It's understanding what the new coach is trying to do," said Hasselbaink.
Cardiff's head coach was on the receiving end of boos from a small section of fans at the Cardiff City Stadium following their 2-0 defeat to QPR on Sunday - where his team had just one shot on target - as the hosts continued their poor run of just one win in 10 games.
Trollope has bemoaned his opening "three frustrating games" as Cardiff boss and acknowledged the boos, admitting: "People are entitled to their opinion."
But the former Wales coach has found an ally in Hasselbaink, who as a player helped the Welsh club to the 2008 FA Cup final.
"He wants to impose his philosophy on the club," said the former Netherlands striker, who scored seven goals in 36 Cardiff games.
"If you are supporting the club, you need to give them the support and get behind your team through good and bad times, it will only help the players."
Trollope has now urged his players to "bounce back" against a Blackburn team that are bottom of the table after conceding seven goals in their opening two Championship matches.
"Everyone can appreciate what we are trying to do and where we are trying to go," said Trollope.
"On Wednesday, it is up to us to make sure there is a positive mentality about the team and get on the front foot."


Europe's migration crisis affects EU member states in different ways - so it is proving difficult to agree on common rules.

The influx of migrants into southern Europe has escalated, driven by the wars in Syria and Iraq, as well as conflict in many parts of Africa. More than 150,000 have arrived this year - far more than in the first half of last year.
The EU is struggling with shifting migration patterns, creating particular problems for individual countries. How are they coping?
For months Italy has been on the frontline of the crisis, as boatloads of desperate migrants risk their lives trying to reach Lampedusa or Sicily.
Last year Italy controversially reduced its naval patrols off war-torn Libya, telling its EU partners that they must contribute to efforts to stop the migrant boats coming.
After hundreds of migrants drowned off Lampedusa this year, the EU agreed to launch a joint naval operation to rescue migrants in distress. But aid agencies say patrols ought to cover a wide area on the high seas - not just the EU's territorial waters.
Italy says its EU partners must also share the burden of housing migrants and processing asylum claims.
Prime Minister Matteo Renzi voiced anger at East European leaders who rejected an EU plan for mandatory quotas to distribute migrants across the 28-nation bloc.
Recently France blocked hundreds of migrants at Ventimiglia, on the Italian border.
Many migrants staying at makeshift camps in Italy are desperate to move on to northern Europe.
The boatloads of migrants heading for Greek islands have increased sharply this year.
Lesvos is a particular pressure point. Many of the migrants are Syrians, and many of them will be entitled to refugee status, having fled the civil war.
But Greece's reception centres are overcrowded and some are in a deplorable state.
Heavily indebted Greece, already unable to pay its bills, cannot cope with the influx. It has a massive backlog of asylum claims to process.
There is much hostility in Greece towards non-EU migrants, and many of them quickly try to move north via the Balkans to reach other EU countries.
In the current economic crisis many Greeks fear competition from foreigners for scarce jobs.
In recent years France has sent many poor Roma (Gypsies) back to Romania and Bulgaria, after they entered France illegally.
But now the French focus is on the growing numbers of migrants entering Europe from the Mediterranean. They include many sub-Saharan Africans, some of whom have camped out on the streets of Paris.
The latest pressure point is Calais, where about 3,000 irregular migrants are sleeping rough, getting little local help. They want to get to the UK - and pictures of them jumping on to UK-bound lorries triggered fresh British criticism of lax security at the French port.
France says the UK must provide more help to solve the Calais crisis.
153,000
migrants crossed into Europe so far this year
149% increase from 2014
63,000  migrants reached Greece by sea
62,000 migrants reached Italy by sea
10,000   on Hungary/Serbia border in May
The UK's emphasis is on breaking up the people-smuggling networks - trying to tackle the problem before the migrants turn up in Europe.
UK politicians point out that the UK spends more than many other EU countries on development aid, which can help stem the flow of economic migrants from poor countries.
The UK and some other EU countries also want stronger EU efforts to send failed asylum seekers back. Last year the rate for sending migrants back was just 39%.
But the British debate has tended to focus on the Conservatives' ambition to reduce immigration from EU countries. The government wants to tighten the rules on migrants' social benefits, as a disincentive for would-be immigrants from the EU.
The UK is involved in the Mediterranean naval operation, but has opted out of the EU plan to relocate 40,000 asylum seekers from overcrowded migrant centres in Italy and Greece.
Germany has more asylum seekers than any other EU country. Its strong economy is a magnet for migrants desperate to start a new life.
But like other EU countries, Germany wants much better screening of migrants, to determine who has the skills that the German economy needs.
The birth rate in Germany, as in Italy, is low - so both countries will need immigrants to fill labour market gaps in future.
Germany has a tradition of welcoming migrants - after all, Turks, Yugoslavs and some other nationalities contributed greatly to Germany's post-war economic boom.
Germany and Austria support the EU plan for resettling asylum seekers. That contrasts with the reluctance of most East European countries to take in more migrants.
Germany has been the preferred destination of many Chechens, who fled Russia's bloody crackdown against separatist fighters.
Partly the East Europeans are worried that they could see an influx from Ukraine, where fighting continues between government troops and pro-Russian rebels.
But apart from Hungary and Bulgaria, the other eastern countries have relatively low rates of immigration.
Tensions have risen between Hungary and neighbouring Austria recently, since Hungary announced that it would not take back migrants who had moved elsewhere in the EU.
Hungary now says it is a temporary measure, because of a sudden influx - not a violation of the EU's Dublin Regulation. That rule says the country where a migrant first arrives is responsible for handling the migrant's asylum claim.
This year Hungary has experienced a surge of migrants trying to enter from Serbia. It has announced plans to fence off the Serbian border.
Many of Hungary's recent immigrants are escaping dire poverty in Kosovo, and many of their asylum claims are likely to be rejected.
Hungary and Bulgaria are exempt from the new EU plan to relocate asylum-seekers across the EU.
Bulgaria, like Hungary, says it cannot cope with any more, as its reception centres are overcrowded.


The new European Parliament is now in session, with many more Eurosceptic MEPs than before - though not enough to systematically block EU legislation.

Voter discontent over immigration and huge job losses translated into big gains for Eurosceptics of various political hues, more than doubling their representation. About one-third of the 751 MEPs are Eurosceptic.
Some anti-establishment parties have got into parliament for the first time, including Beppe Grillo's Five Star Movement (Italian) and Germany's Alternative fuer Deutschland (AfD).
But the May elections resulted in the centre-right European People's Party (EPP) coming top, albeit with 53 fewer seats. As in the 2009 elections, the centre-left Socialist group (S&D) came second.
These two dominant centrist blocs share the ambition to create a more integrated EU, with the European Parliament at the heart of decision-making. Opponents call them "federalists" and a "European elite" who are undermining national sovereignty.
The centrists have already got their candidates into two top jobs - European Commission president (Jean-Claude Juncker of the EPP) and Parliament president (Martin Schulz of the S&D). Mr Juncker still needs approval by the parliament, but it is clear that a majority backs him.
The 2009 Lisbon Treaty gave the European Parliament an equal role with the Council - ministers from EU governments - in enacting EU legislation. This "co-decision" covers nearly all policy areas, including the EU budget.
MEPs also play a key role in overseeing the EU's foreign policy arm - the European External Action Service - and other EU agencies.
In September MEPs will vet candidates for the Commission, the 28-member executive arm which initiates EU laws. Parliamentary approval is required for the new Commission to take office.
Full sessions of the parliament are held in Strasbourg, France, but MEPs spend most of their time at the parliament building in Brussels.
That expensive monthly commute to Strasbourg is a sore point - last year a majority of MEPs voted to end it. But an EU treaty change is required for that to happen - and France and Luxembourg are against it. Since World War Two Strasbourg has thrived on its image as a bridge between France and Germany.
Eurosceptics point to this as an example of the EU wasting taxpayers' money - but for now Strasbourg is keeping its special place in the EU.


Wales manager Chris Coleman is confident his side can recover from the "blip" of their World Cup qualifying draw at home to Georgia.

Georgia, ranked 137 in the world, came from behind to draw 1-1 at Cardiff City Stadium on Sunday.
"We've had a little slap around the back of the head to say, 'Hold on, it's not all plain sailing'," Coleman said.
"It's not the end of the world. There's a lot to play for; it's only three games in."
Wales, though unbeaten after three matches, are third in Group D, two points behind leaders Serbia and the Republic of Ireland.
They face both in their next two games - Serbia at home on 12 November and the Republic away on 24 March 2017.
Coleman said: "These next two games are great games. They expect to be there or thereabouts, like us. So this is a nice little test for us actually."
Wales looked set for a comfortable victory when Gareth Bale headed them into the lead after only 10 minutes.
However, they became lethargic and Tornike Okriashvili equalised with a 57th-minute header.
Georgia squandered several good chances to claim victory over a side who reached the European Championship semi-finals and are ranked 10th in the world.
"We looked fatigued, we looked disjointed," said Coleman.
"I'm not used to being disappointed at the end of 90 minutes with this lot.
"I'd have been amazed if we'd gone through the campaign without a blip and without somebody giving you a little tap on the shoulder to just remind you how difficult it is at this level - we got one today for sure."
This was only the second time Georgia had avoided defeat in a competitive away match since 2012.
But Coleman said of his players: "I've got more confidence in this team than any other I've managed. If anybody can do it, it's this team.
"We've grown accustomed to me being sat here super proud. I'm still proud but I know they can do a bit better.
"I won't be too critical of them because a whole nation is proud of them, but we've got to keep pushing them because they want that anyway."


A man, a woman and a small child have been taken to hospital and treated for smoke inhalation after a fire broke out at a house in Coleraine in County Londonderry.

The fire spread from an oil tank to a house on the Ballycastle Road at about 04:00 GMT on Sunday.
The occupants and neighbours were moved from their homes while fire crews tackled the blaze.
Substantial damage was caused to the house.
It is not yet known what caused the fire.
District Commander for the fire service in Coleraine, John Bacon, said the house is now "uninhabitable and the family are incredibly fortunate".
Another six homes were affected by smoke.
John Bacon said a neighbouring family has had to be re-homed due to smoke damage in their home.
The Ballycastle Road was closed while emergency services dealt with the incident, but it has since re-opened.


Supermarket group Sainsbury's has said it made a bid approach for Argos and Homebase owner Home Retail Group in November, but the offer was rejected.

It said a deal would be "an attractive proposition" for customers and shareholders of both firms.
Home Retail Group confirmed its rejection of the bid, which it said "undervalued Home Retail Group and its long-term prospects".
Sainsbury's said it was "considering its position".
But it cautioned there was no certainty this would result in a formal offer.
Under UK takeover rules, Sainsbury's has until 2 February to decide whether to make a formal offer.
Over the past year, Sainsbury's has been trialling Argos concessions in some of its stores, and the supermarket group said the two firms had "complementary products".
In its statement, Sainsbury's outlined its case for buying Home Retail Group, saying it would boost sales growth, improve its delivery networks, and meant they could sell their products to each other's customers.
Home Retail Group's shares closed up 41%, while Sainsbury's fell 5%.
Desperation or daring? It's definitely a bold, audacious move by Sainsbury's and one which has taken investors and retail experts by surprise.
Joining forces with Argos could make sense. Sainsbury's is already trialling Argos stores in a number of its supermarkets as it grapples with what to do with excess space.
It could also allow Sainsbury's to expand its "click and collect" operations at suitable Argos stores.
The rationale for owning Homebase is much less clear. If a deal was done, Sainsbury's could end up selling it.
There's certainly been takeover speculation involving private equity in recent months. Another question is how would they fund such a big deal?
Sainsbury's, like all the other big grocers, is under pressure from the discounters, although it's been doing better than its main rivals in recent months.
There's little sign that 2016 will get any easier for the industry with little growth to write home about. Today's news is a fascinating twist in the fast changing supermarket landscape.
Sainsbury's is now the second-largest British supermarket in the UK, with a 16.7% share of the grocery market, according to Kantar Worldpanel.
The research firm's latest figures showed the supermarket was the only one of the big four to post a growth in sales for the 12 weeks to 6 December.
Sainsbury's, which was founded in 1869, now has about 1,200 supermarkets and convenience stores and employs about 161,000 people.
Home Retail Group, which is valued at around Â£1bn at its current share price, has been mooted as a possible takeover target since it issued a profit warning in October, which it blamed on the impact of Black Friday shopping deals and investment in its online ordering system.
Home Retail Group has 1,051 stores across the UK and employs 47,000 staff.
Sainsbury's originally co-founded the Homebase chain, but sold it in 2000 in a deal worth Â£969m in total.
Conlumino food and grocery analyst George Scott said this meant Sainsbury's already had a good understanding of the sector.
He said if the deal went ahead it would help Sainsbury's to better establish its presence in the non-food market.
"It would give it scope for shops within its existing stores where it has excess space. I think it's a well thought out proposition," he added.
Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Keith Bowman said the fall in Sainsbury's shares indicated investors were cautious about the deal.
"Home Retail remains a company in transformation, with sales at Argos still yet to convince, whilst the combination of food and non-food, combined with a bank offering, to some degree, potentially reflects the still troubled Marks & Spencer," he added.
Analysts at Jefferies said Sainsbury's approach would be seen by many as a lack of confidence in the prospects for its core supermarket business.
"There is little that Sainsbury can add in terms of expertise in non-food multi-channel offerings, and as a result the potential acquisition of what is largely viewed as a structurally challenged business will raise some eyebrows," it said in a note.


New seasonal by-laws have come into force restricting camping around Loch Lomond and in the Trossachs.

Camping in four management zones in popular areas between March and September will require a permit or booking a campsite pitch.
Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park said the move was to protect the area from antisocial behaviour, including littering and fireraising.
Ramblers Scotland say there will not be enough pitches to cope with demand.
The park authority said it had provided more than 300 camping and motorhome places in the new zones.
It said the by-laws cover less than 4% of Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park.
The new by-laws, which were approved by the Scottish government last year, follow similar legislation introduced to east Lomondside in 2011.
Those flouting the by-laws face being reported to the procurator fiscal and a potential fine of up to Â£500.
Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park chief executive Gordon Watson said: "Enforcement is very much a last resort if people are unwilling to comply or they are causing unacceptable damage or disturbance in the area.
"If someone puts up a tent, they don't get a criminal record.
"If they're putting up a tent in somewhere that isn't designated for camping, a ranger may approach them and say unfortunately this isn't a place you can camp, but here are all the places you can camp.
"The presence of the by-law means that people know that there is a recourse if they refuse to comply.
"Camping by-laws have been in force since 2011 in east Loch Lomond, I think in only one or two cases has there been a formal report in all that time."
The camping places will be a mix of informal campsites and permit areas. Campers will also be required to bring their own firewood.
Mr Watson said: "Some of the loch shores that are very accessible from public roads are very popular for camping.
"Sometimes that brings quite a lot of problems in terms of repeated camping week after week taking its toll on the environment, but also antisocial and irresponsible behaviour from camping in terms of people littering, chopping down trees for firewood - sometimes having a bit of a party and causing disturbances as well.
"That's something we've seen for many years at Loch Lomond that we feel as a park authority we need to manage."
Ramblers Scotland said it believed the authority could have addressed those issues by investing in low-cost campsites and enforcing existing laws.
Its director, Brendan Paddy, said he was "disappointed" that the park was going ahead with the plan.
He said: "It undermines Scottish access rights by providing too few tent pitches to cope with demand and by charging to camp in previously free areas.
"Campers often won't get any toilets, drinking water or bins in return and we fear the hassle, cost and insufficient number of permits may put people off visiting this wonderful area."
Mr Paddy said that national parks should aim to attract large numbers of visitors.
He said: "This can cause pressure on individual areas, so we support the park's plan to provide more camping infrastructure, including toilets, bins, etc.
"However, their planned provision of about 300 camping spaces doesn't meet levels of demand from before the by-laws, when up to 800 tents were recorded on busy weekends."


The UK's most popular dog breed can suffer from weight gain in middle age just like people, a canine health survey has found.

Labrador Retrievers gain an average of 0.9kg (2lb) each year between the ages of one and four, putting them at risk of being overweight by middle age.
The project was led by scientists at Edinburgh University.
The team assessed the activity levels and size of more than 4,000 Kennel Club registered Labrador Retrievers.
The study found that, on average, dogs were exercised for more than two hours each day.
Dogs that spent more time fetching, chasing and retrieving tended to weigh less, the team said.
Chocolate-coloured Labradors were found to weigh, on average, 1.4kg (3lb) more than yellow and black Labradors.
While exercise is important, other factors such as genetics appear to play a role in why some dogs gain more weight than others in early life, the team said.
Previous research suggests that, in the UK, Labrador Retrievers are the breed most likely to be overweight.
The dogs are fully grown after 18 months and are regarded as being near middle aged by the time they reach four.
Researchers said putting on nearly 1kg (2lb) every year after reaching maturity puts many at risk of obesity.
The findings are part of the Dogslife project, which seeks to gain a greater insight into links between the Labradors' lifestyles and their health and wellbeing.
Initial findings will help researchers carry out further studies into the links between dogs' body size, lifestyle and overall health.
The study, published in the journal Preventive Veterinary Medicine, was funded by the Kennel Club Charitable Trust, The Roslin Foundation and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council.
Dr Dylan Clements, of the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies and The Roslin Institute, who led the study, said: "Dogslife is a ground-breaking study of canine health, which is made possible thanks to the incredible dedication of dog owners."


A theatre group has put in a bid to buy its pub-based venue following concerns it would be evicted.

The Lion Theatre has been operating in the Red Lion Hotel, in Horncastle, for about 30 years.
The pub was boarded up in June after it closed to the public, prompting fears that performances would end there.
Horncastle Theatre Company's chair Shirley Moffat said it had made an offer of £80,000 but needed to raise more money for alterations and repairs.
Ms Moffat had been told by owners RBNB the group faced eviction at the end of February but have since managed to hang on for longer.
"We want to keep continuity and keep productions rolling, to keep people's morale up," she said.
"It's so difficult to have to come to meetings and tell the membership we still can't say for certain we'll have a future here.
"It's got everything we want, it's got the seats, it's got the stage. It's the right place to be."
The group has put in a bid of £80,000 and has asked for a response by the end of the week.
However, about £120,000 will be needed in total to conduct repairs and make alterations to its heating and electricity.
Ms Moffat said the theatre company had lots of support in Horncastle but would have to do some "serious fundraising" and "grant hunting" to be able to keep the theatre open.


Chris Evans has dedicated his BBC Radio 2 breakfast show to his former Top Gear colleagues.

After paying tribute to "all the Top Gear gang", he said: "Today's show is entitled Breathe In, Breathe Out, Move On."
The presenter announced he was stepping down from the BBC Two motoring show on Monday.
Explaining his decision on Twitter, he said he had given it his best shot, "but sometimes that's not enough".
Evans briefly referenced his departure again on Tuesday's radio show while reading out the day's newspaper headlines, many of which referenced Top Gear.
He said: "It's all true, but of course there was another high-profile, much more important resignation yesterday that doesn't make some of the front pages, and that's Nigel Farage stepping down from a very influential political party that had a lot to do with the EU referendum last week or the week before."
Newspaper TV critics have been dissecting Evans' decision to leave the programme, with most agreeing it was an inevitable conclusion.
The Daily Mirror's Nicola Methven said: "[Evans] was an out-of-control diva more volatile than [Jeremy] Clarkson. He was too shouty. The audience were being forced to laugh. The real problem, of course, was that the BBC Two audience didn't take to it."
The Sun claimed the presenter's role "was a car crash from the very start".
"The main attraction is meant to be presenters and the sense of humour and attitude. Chris Evans will go down as the Davie Moyes of Top Gear," Ally Ross said, referencing the football manager who had to take over Manchester United after the departure of Sir Alex Ferguson.
Meanwhile, The Independent offered an opinion on a replacement for Evans: "We would like to suggest another candidate: Steve Coogan, who has the combination of charisma, wit and insight that Top Gear really needs to get itself back into pole position. In that, but nothing else, he reminds us of another previous star of the show."
Evans joined Top Gear last June after the departure of Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May.
Speaking to BBC News, racing driving Perry McCarthy said he thought Evans "hadn't quite gelled with the show" and the revamped series had problems from the first episode.
"The first show was terrible - it was really bad and I was incredibly surprised they didn't produce a better return show," he said.
"I don't know what they were thinking, many of their features were way too long, the edit was bad, the gags were very weak...  there was no real substance there and you can't keep putting style over content.
"But since [then] they really got their act together and it's turning out to be a good TV show again. Maybe Chris should have given it a little bit longer."
Follow us on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, on Instagram at bbcnewsents, or email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.


Up to three-quarters of fish sampled from the River Thames have been found to have plastic fibres in their gut.

The Royal Holloway study was small and looked at just two species - but it highlights, say scientists, the pressing issue of plastic waste in London's great waterway.
The Port of London Authority (PLA) has launched a campaign to raise awareness of the curse of litter.
It wants public support to stop plastic from getting into the Thames.
The PLA has teamed with other groups, including the charity Thames21, to ask people to "Do The Right Thing" and make sure any rubbish they have goes securely into a bin.
"This is not just a problem along the river; it's affected by litter from across London," explained the authority's environment manager, Tanya Ferry.
"So you might discard plastic near Buckingham Palace or Selfridges but if it gets into the drains, those drains could potentially discharge into the Thames and carry those plastic pieces with them."
The PLA has 16 barges positioned on the river to catch floating debris. Called "passive driftwood collectors", these devices are increasingly catching plastic, not fallen tree branches.
Some 400 tonnes of rubbish are being caught annually, and while that mass has stayed fairly stable over time, its volume has shot up, indicating that discarded plastic is on the rise.
Thames21's army of volunteers have been clearing the foreshores regularly for 10 years.  They have noticed the change that is occurring.
"In the early days, it was a huge mixture of stuff - metalwork, old fridges and supermarket trolleys," said the charity's CEO Debbie Leach.
"We've dealt largely with these bigger items, and now what we find is that it is the plastic that keeps coming back - water bottles, carrier bags and, amazingly, cotton wool buds. We find millions of the plastic sticks all over the foreshore."
On the day of the launch of the campaign, Bank of America employees had volunteered to clean up exposed muds at Greenwich.
They were having to dig deep to get to the shopping bags, which had been buried in many centimetres of sediment.
Of course, much of the plastic debris is not being caught or deposited on foreshores, and is simply sweeping out to sea to add to the well-documented problems of waste in our oceans.
The litter that does stick around will eventually be broken down into small fragments and fibres by waves and UV light. Some of this will hang in the water column; some will get into the bed of the river. And it is this micro debris that can be ingested by fish.
The Royal Holloway study examined common flounder and smelt from Erith and the Isle of Shepey.
The flounder, which are bottom-feeders, had the most fibre in their gut. Up to 75% of these flatfish had plastic in them. The smelt, which swim in the water column, were contaminated in a fifth of cases.
"And we also know from some of the other work we've done on Chinese mitten crabs at Chelsea Bridge that they have knots of plastic fibres in their stomachs," said Royal Holloway's Dr Dave Morritt.
"So that's crabs and two species of fish. And those plastics seem to be a range of things, and include nylon, acrylic, polythene and cellophane."
As well as the PLA and Thames21, the campaign is backed by Totally Thames, the Environment Agency, Thames Tideway Tunnel, the London Wildlife Trust and the RSPB.
It will be running a series of YouTube videos over the next 12 months to explain the issues to Londoners and the capital's millions of visitors.
These videos will be presented by the explorer Paul Rose, a recognisable figure from the many documentaries he has made for the BBC about the marine environment.
Paul wants everyone to "take ownership" of their waste, and not - as he says he sees often - to try to stuff rubbish into over-full bins.
"Put it in your pocket and take it home," he said.
"I spend my life diving and supporting ocean science in the world's last wild places. And everywhere I go, whether it's diving in the Northwest Passage, as I was two months ago, or the Selvagem Islands, as I was last week - we take water samples, and they've always got plastic in them. We never take a sample that hasn't got plastic in it.
"It's so hard to get the message across, but we have a great opportunity here to get people to understand this global problem."
The PLA says it is talking to the riverside London Boroughs about getting them to join the campaign.
"The point about bins being emptied frequently enough so that people are not sticking stuff in so that it immediately blows out - that's really important to get the boroughs on-side with," said authority chief executive Robin Mortimer.
Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos


A suspected paedophile was allowed to carry on working in football for several years after being reported to police and the SFA, a BBC Scotland investigation has revealed.

Youth coach and referee Hugh Stevenson, who is now dead, has been accused of a series of child sex offences.
Pete Haynes told BBC Scotland he had been sexually abused by Mr Stevenson.
It has now emerged Mr Stevenson continued coaching despite authorities knowing of the allegations.
The Scottish Youth Football Association (SYFA) has suspended former coach and official Mitch Agnew pending an investigation into the handling of any complaint from the Haynes family about Mr Stevenson.
Mr Haynes, 50, told the BBC that he had been groomed by Mr Stevenson with the promise of big time football and a trip to a cup final, then repeatedly abused between 1979 and 1982.
The Scottish Football Association (SFA) has apologised to Mr Haynes.
Police Scotland has confirmed the old Strathclyde Police force investigated Mr Stevenson in 1993 and again in 1996.
The BBC has learned the complaint in 1996 was by a different boy, and that a third boy may have made a similar complaint to police prior to Mr Haynes.
So far, neither the Crown Office nor Police Scotland has been able to confirm this, or explain why none of the cases appear to have proceeded to trial.
Now, it has emerged that Mr Stevenson, who died in 2004, continued to coach youth football for several years after the alarm was raised, including with Paisley amateur side Ferguslie United and Cowdenbeath.
Kevin Hutchison, 39, played with Ferguslie United from 1993-95, and confirmed that Hugh Stevenson was one of the coaches.
Mr Hutchison said he had not been the victim of any abuse from Mr Stevenson.
He said: "I played for Ferguslie United from 1993-1995 and Hugh was the manager. I was never a victim of abuse from [him].
"He also had an unofficial capacity with Cowdenbeath youth team, where he would scout players. He had full access to the changing rooms, again in 1993- 95 possibly 1996. To anyone observing you would have thought he was part of the coaching staff."
Mr Hutchison said Mr Stevenson had an official Cowdenbeath jacket.
He added: "He would regularly transport boys around the country.
"I find it abhorrent that Hugh Stevenson was allowed to coach and manage youth football in the very same years that Pete Haynes came forward to both the SFA and the police."
Gordon McDougall, who was chairman of Cowdenbeath from 1991-2007, said it "disgraceful" that Mr Stevenson continued to work in youth football after allegations were made to the SFA.
He added: "It is something that would not have happened if we had been aware in any way at all and you just cannot believe that it would be allowed to happen.
"Surely efforts should have been made to make people aware throughout football that this person was at large, as it were."
On Monday, as a result of allegations submitted by the BBC, Mitch Agnew, who was part of the Ferguslie Utd coaching set-up in the 1990s, and is a long serving senior figure in the SYFA, was suspended pending an investigation.
The BBC understands the SYFA, which is an affiliate of the SFA and based at Hampden Park, suspended him from his position whilst it investigates whether any allegations about Hugh Stevenson's abuse were properly handled.
Mr Agnew initially told the BBC he thought Mr Stevenson left the team in the late 1980s - but later confirmed both their coaching roles with Ferguslie continued well into the 90s.
In a statement, he denied ever being made aware of any allegations about Mr Stevenson.
He said: "There has been no attempt by me to mislead anyone. When asked about something that is alleged to have happened over 20 years ago timescale is difficult.  Hugh Stevenson was not a member of the age group I was involved in.
"He ran age groups younger than mine but he had left Ferguslie United before I did in 1996.
"I was not informed of any investigation by police and had I been informed would have assisted them with their inquiries and would have asked him to leave the club."
Hugh Stevenson was on the official list of SFA referees between 1964 and 1983.
He was assistant referee in at least four international matches, including the England v Wales home international at Wembley in 1977.
He was associated with Eastercraigs Boys Club in Glasgow between the late 1960s and mid 1980s before being asked to leave for attempting inappropriate contact with a boy at another club.
This week, another man came forward to speak of an alleged sexual assault by Mr Stevenson, dating back to 1968 whilst he was at Eastercraigs.
The man, now in his 60s, said he fought Stevenson off, and said the coach had made him promise not to tell any of the others.
He said: "I now regret that. Perhaps if I spoke up he might have been stopped sooner."
In a statement, Stewart Regan, chief executive of the SFA, said: "Since the Scottish FA launched its confidential hotline in partnership with NSPCC and PFA Scotland, we have worked to ensure all disclosures are handled appropriately and delivered to Police Scotland."
"We can also confirm that we have been informed by the Scottish Youth FA that it has suspended a member of its staff."
Det Ch Supt Lesley Boal, head of public protection at Police Scotland, said:  "Searching records held by legacy forces, many of which are not held electronically, can be a lengthy and challenging process and it is not always possible to quickly confirm details of previous policing activity which may in some instances date back decades.
"Police Scotland is continuing to receive information and reports about non recent child sexual abuse in football through a number of routes, including the NSPCC helpline.
"The exposure of the scale and scope of child sexual abuse only strengthens Police Scotland's absolute commitment to child protection and to look into/ investigate reports we are receiving now."
Additional reporting by Liam McDougall and Selena Jackson


Voters are to go to the polls in the Scottish Parliament election on 5 May - with the SNP apparently on course to win a second successive majority.

But the battle for second place seems to be hotting up, with opinion polls suggesting that Scottish Labour and the Scottish Conservatives are currently neck and neck.
Here, John Curtice, professor of politics at Strathclyde University and the chief commentator at whatscotlandthinks.org.uk, looks at what the polls have been saying, and what we should be reading into them.
One of the first rules in the reporting of opinion polls is that those that purport to show a change in who is ahead and who is behind secure much more publicity than do those that suggest that little, if anything has changed. The exceptional is more interesting than the mundane.
However, the exceptional may be just that - unrepresentative of the real picture, a "rogue" poll that misleads rather than informs.
So what should we make of the poll from YouGov in Thursday's edition of the Times that has been widely reported as showing that the Conservatives have, for the first time since the creation of the Scottish Parliament in 1999, overtaken Labour in voting intentions for this coming May's Holyrood election?
Such an outcome would constitute an earthquake in Scottish politics. Not since 1959 have the Tories managed to outpoll Labour in a national election north of the border.
Well, first of all, the YouGov poll does not constitute clear evidence that the Tories have overtaken Labour.
True, with 20% of the vote to Labour's 19%, the party is put slightly ahead in the battle for constituency votes.
But given the random variation to which all polls are subject, this statistically is simply a dead heat. We just cannot be sure which of the two parties is ahead.
Meanwhile on the second of the two votes that voters will be invited to cast in May, that is, for a regional list, the poll did actually put the two parties neck and neck in 20% each.
At the same time, no other poll has suggested the two parties are even equal with each other. Perhaps then it is but no more than a "rogue".
That said, YouGov is not alone in one respect. In recent weeks every single poll has identified a modest but noticeable increase in Conservative support.
Since the beginning of the year four companies have conducted polls of vote intentions for May's election. On average they have put the Conservatives on 17.5% (on both ballots).
But when those same four companies polled back at the beginning of September they credited the Conservatives on average with just over 14%.
While the result of one poll might be dismissed as an aberration, when four polls all point in the same direction we can be pretty sure that something really has happened.
Meanwhile, Labour's support, already much diminished, has ebbed away yet further over the same period.
Back in September Labour was averaging between 21% and 22%. Now the party stands between 19% and 20%. The party has apparently slipped by another couple of points.
Between them the three point increase in Conservative support and a two point drop in Labour is enough to ensure that all the polls agree that the Conservatives are now breathing down Labour's neck, even if they may not necessarily as yet caught them up.
But there are of course still three months to go to polling day. Perhaps the slow Tory advance will continue, in which case maybe they will be able to edge past Labour.
But equally, of course, Labour might recover - and avert the threat that Ruth Davidson's party currently apparently poses.
Read more analysis from John Curtice at What Scotland Thinks.


A concealed shipment of more than 10m cigarettes has been seized by customs officers at Dublin Port in the Republic of Ireland.

The cigarettes, with a retail value of more than 4.7m euros (Â£3.42m), were described as "paper handkerchiefs" on the manifest.
RTÃ‰ reports that they were hidden in a 40ft container that had arrived into the port from Belgium.
They were found during routine profiling by officers.


It may have started out as a dispute between a track cyclist and her former coach.

But 10 months after Jess Varnish first made allegations of sexism, discrimination and bullying against Shane Sutton - and British Cycling - it is not just the reputation of the country's most successful and best-funded Olympic sport that is on the line.
The claims were denied by Sutton, and he was cleared of all but one of nine specific allegations of using discriminatory and inappropriate language by an internal investigation.
But Varnish's portrayal of a "culture of fear" at British Cycling has been backed up by female riders such as Nicole Cooke and Victoria Pendleton, along with para-cyclists and former staff members - triggering an independent review of the culture at its world-class performance programme.
The panel is headed by Annamarie Phelps, chair of British Rowing and is due to publish its findings later this month.
If well-placed sources are to be believed, the much-anticipated report - now delivered to British Cycling's board - could make for grim reading for the governing body.
But it could also raise serious questions for Britain's sporting establishment, the entire approach of funding agency UK Sport, and whether, through its 'no-compromise' approach to the pursuit of medals, standards of behaviour towards elite Olympic and Paralympic athletes are in desperate need of review.
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Imagine if the report finds evidence that there has indeed been an institutionalised culture of bullying at what was held up as a model governing body. That would seriously raise the stakes for some of British sport's best-respected and most powerful individuals and organisations...
There is a growing sense that the time may have come for British sport to give as much thought to welfare as it does to winning.
This whole saga has also shone a light on the contracts and rights of elite-level athletes who are part of performance programmes funded by UK Sport. Varnish believes her contract was not renewed because she had publicly criticised her coaches after her team failed to qualify for the Rio Olympics. Sutton denies this, insisting it was simply down to her performances not being good enough. But regardless of this, and whoever is in the right, some observers are increasingly concerned that the current system is too heavily weighted in favour of the governing bodies. Under the terms of their UK Sport contracts, athletes are not employees, and therefore they lack certain rights afforded to other workers.
Varnish, for instance, amid the devastation of being told she was being axed, claims she was initially given just 48 hours to serve notice whether she wanted to appeal. Often, athletes face that deadline to actually present their case too. And even then, they can only appeal against the process rather than the decision. Athletes who want to challenge selection decisions that determine their livelihoods tend to find their appeals are heard by internal panels made up of officials from the governing body, rather than external, independent arbitrators.
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Defenders of the system will argue that in the tough and demanding world of international sport, it has to be this way. Public funding is at stake after all, and coaches like Sutton sometimes have to make tough selection decisions, but do so in order to get results. Staying the right side of the line when it comes to delivering bad news, and the language used, is not always easy. Disappointment is inevitable, and many argue that as long as athletes perform well they are safe - the system is meritocratic. British Cycling also says it extended the appeals process deadline for Varnish.
But it is still easy to see why athletes could feel they are in a vulnerable position. Concerns were heightened last year for instance, after the leak of an email sent by Andy Harrison, British Cycling's technical director, warning riders they could jeopardise their futures by speaking out to the media about the various scandals afflicting the governing body. Harrison later apologised for his "poorly constructed" wording, and British Cycling then said that riders were free to talk to the media without fear, but the damage had been done.
Have governing bodies become too powerful? Does there need to be a greater duty of care towards athletes? More thought given to their lives after their contracts come to an end? Is their an imbalance in the relationship between competitor and coach? Are there cultures of fear at some governing bodies? These are the questions Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson has been wrestling with over the past year. Her government-commissioned review into safety and wellbeing in sport is due to report in the next few weeks.
You may not have heard about it, but in the aftermath of what looks like being an explosive report by Phelps, and the shocking child sex abuse scandal in football, the publication of Grey-Thompson's recommendations could prove highly significant.
No one can deny that the demanding, uncompromising approach adopted by bodies like British Cycling has contributed to medals, and plenty of them. It partly explains how Team GB rose to second place in the Rio medal table. But at what cost?
British Rowing's coaching culture was described on Wednesday as "hard and unrelenting" but cleared of bullying by an internal inquiry. But it also urged more care to be taken of athletes' well-being.
There is a growing sense that the time may have come for British sport to give as much thought to welfare as it does to winning. And in doing so, usher in a new era in the country's sporting evolution.


Goals from Simon Murray and Scott Fraser secured victory over Dunfermline and Dundee United's place in the last 16 of the League Cup.

The Pars appealed for a penalty when Joe Cardle went down in the box under a Lewis Toshney challenge, but the referee waved the claim away.
United took the lead just after the break when Murray headed in Tope Obadeyi's flick on from close range.
Fraser fired home a superb free-kick to seal the win seven minutes from time.
Dunfermline knew they needed a win to keep alive their own hopes of making it through to the next round, and may feel aggrieved at the failure of referee John McKendrick to award them a first half penalty.
Cardle was being held back by Toshney as he drove into the box, and the United defender certainly made contact with the attacker's ankle as he went to ground. The referee was unimpressed, with Cardle's delayed fall perhaps influencing his decision.
Ray McKinnon's new look United took control from the start, with veteran midfielder Willo Flood pulling the strings.
Murray and Fraser both went close early, but for all their control, the home side failed to create many meaningful chances in the opening period.
The breakthrough came just after the break, with 18-year-old left-back Jamie Robson's cross flicked on by Tope Obadeyi, leaving Murray to nod home from seven yards.
Lee Ashcroft met Kallum Higginbotham's free-kick as the Pars searched for a leveller, but the defender's downward header was scooped off the line superbly by United goalkeeper Cammy Bell. The goal would not have stood in any case as the flag was up for offside.
Dunfermline could have been reduced to 10 men late on, Kallum Higginbotham fortunate to escape punishment for a wild swing on Toshney having been booked earlier in the match.
United continued to push forward and sealed the win on 83 minutes.
Fraser curled a superb free-kick past Pars goalkeeper David Hutton from 20 yards into the roof of the net.
McKinnon's men now look forward to a last 16 tie with Partick Thistle.


A council has denied claims that rotting stock from a food store is causing an environmental "nuisance".

It follows the sudden closure of Galston Co-op in East Ayrshire on 5 February over concerns about the building's structural integrity.
Since then, the store's shelves have remained untouched because the building was deemed too unsafe to enter.
East Ayrshire Council said concerns over the smell had been investigated and no action was necessary.
The store on Cross Street, which also served as a Post Office, has remained out of bounds after pieces of masonry reportedly fell from the building.
However, locals have taken to social media to complain about the smell from the store and the waste of food, with some suggesting it should have been donated to local food banks.
Sally Cogley, who was elected as a councillor for the Rubbish Party in May, was one of those who inspected the store last week.
She told the BBC Scotland news website: "It was extremely hot because the heating had been on since February. There was no actual evidence of bluebottles or rats. It just smelt like a store that was too hot and in a bad state of repair.
"The smell was extremely bad. I could smell it outside and I can understand why the residents were concerned. The shop had been abandoned since February and it was full of frozen foods, chilled foods and groceries."
She said she believed there had been a breakdown in communication and the store should have been cleared sooner, but said a plan was now in place to deal with it.
East Ayrshire Council denied there was an issue with smell and said that work had been agreed to clear and demolish the site over the next three weeks.
A spokeswoman said the site had remained untouched as a matter of necessity.
She said: "Community complaints regarding environmental health concerns have been investigated by the environmental health team and confirmed that no statutory nuisance was present, and as such, no enforcement action was necessary, or indeed possible.
"Access was provided by the Co-op to the store on 20 July to allow us and our demolition contractors to assess the building.
"The conditions within the store were reviewed and a safe system of work was subsequently agreed by the specialist contractors to allow the store to be cleared."
The spokeswoman added: "The demolition will be a complex piece of work, with the primary concern being public and contractor safety at all times."
A Co-op spokeswoman confirmed that the building had only just been declared safe to enter.
She said: "Previously, we were not allowed entry due to safety concerns but work has now begun to clear the site safely and securely.
"This will be completed as quickly as possible, in line with plans agreed with the council."


A Tibetan women's football team has claimed that they have been denied United States visas to take part in a tournament in Texas.

They say they were told they had "no good reason" to visit the US.
Most of the players are Tibetan refugees living in India, and had applied at the US embassy in Delhi.
US President Donald Trump has imposed a travel ban (now frozen) on nationals from seven countries, but neither India or China is on the list.
Tibet, a remote and mainly-Buddhist territory known as the "roof of the world", is governed as an autonomous region of China.
Cassie Childers, the executive director of Tibet Women's Soccer and a US citizen, told the BBC that she had accompanied the group of 16 players for interviews at the embassy on 24 February.
Tibet's exiles battling to progress
Tibet profile
India Muslim athlete denied US visa
"I am disappointed because we had planned the trip for months. It was a big moment in every player's life when they were told about the trip. It was their opportunity to tell the world that Tibetan women are capable of achieving anything," she said.
Ms Childers added that she was "ashamed" that her country refused to grant visas to a women's football team.
However, she said she did not think the denial had anything to do with the Trump administration.
"I had feared an outcome like this because Tibetans usually struggle to get US visas as officials fear that they might request asylum," she said.
She added that her team "was in good spirits despite this setback".
"The players are very positive. I was very dejected but they motivated me. I hope some other place will invite us where Tibetans are welcomed. Otherwise, we will just get together in an Indian city and practice anyway."
Most of the women in the team carry Indian Identity Certificates, which are documents issued by the Indian government to Tibetan refugees and function as passports.
Two members of the group held Indian passports.
Another four players who live in Nepal, and are Nepalese citizens, have also applied for visas in Kathmandu, but haven't heard from US officials.
A US official told the AP news agency that they did not comment on individual cases, but that the US position on Tibet had not changed, which is that Tibet is still recognised as part of China.
The team was planning to take part in the Dallas Cup, an annual tournament for youth teams from around the world.


Newsnight political editor Nick Watt revealed on Monday that groups of Labour MPs, both opposing and supporting Jeremy Corbyn's leadership, had been discussing with parliamentary officials whether the rules would allow a breakaway group of a majority of Labour MPs to ask the Speaker to recognise one of them as the leader of the opposition.

The claim: MPs who do not support Jeremy Corbyn's leadership could go to the Speaker and ask him to recognise one of them as the leader of the opposition.
Reality Check verdict: The rules are ambiguous enough for the decision to be left to the Speaker. He could rule that the wishes of the majority of Labour MPs outweighed the rules of their own party, but he could also rule the other way and decide that if they wanted to be the official opposition they had to break away and form a new party.
If Mr Corbyn wins the current leadership election, Nick Watt thought it unlikely that there would be a full split in the party, as happened with Ramsey Macdonald in 1931 and the SDP in 1981.
But would parliamentary rules allow for someone other than the elected Labour leader to be considered as the leader of the opposition if he or she had the support of enough MPs?
The Ministerial and Other Salaries Act 1975 defines the leader of the opposition as: "being the Leader in that House of the party in opposition to Her Majesty's Government having the greatest numerical strength in the House of Commons".
It also adds that if there is any doubt about this then "the question shall be decided for the purposes of this Act by the Speaker of the House of Commons".
Gavin Freeguard, from the Institute for Government, told the BBC he thought a large enough group from the Parliamentary Labour Party could indeed break away and name a different leader of the opposition.
But the Labour Party rule book is clear that the leader of the Labour Party and the leader of the Parliamentary Labour Party must be the same person.
Nigel Fletcher, director of the Centre for Opposition Studies, said that the 1975 act suggested: "Labour MPs could elect a new leader who would be entitled to the official position."
"However, the Labour Party constitution is equally clear that its elected leader is automatically leader of the parliamentary party. The law states where there is doubt it is for the Speaker to decide, and there are reports he has indicated MPs would have to form a new party if they wanted to depose Mr Corbyn whilst he remains leader of the party in the country."
Meg Russell, director of the UCL Constitution Unit said: "If a large, breakaway group of Labour MPs wanted to go to the Speaker and claim to be the opposition without breaking away officially from the Labour Party, that could place the Speaker in quite a difficult position. In effect, he'd be making a judgment as whether the Labour Party continued in its current form."


We could predict the outcome of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, but we might as well go the whole hog and say which drivers and teams will be the best and worst come Abu Dhabi.

Then, in November, we can turn around to our friends and say: "I told you so." Or maybe not.
Joining us on this crazy trip of predictions is chief F1 writer Andrew Benson, who explains his reasons for his forecasts. After which, you can probably get them all completely wrong as well.
"Let's make one thing clear before we start - this is a bit of fun, based on not very much evidence at all. So let's not fall out if it's wrong.
"Having said that, pre-season testing did give some indications about how the year might shape up. No-one would be surprised if Mercedes turned up in Melbourne and blitzed everyone again. But it does not look that way right now. So assuming the picture so far is accurate, let's take a deep breath and jump in.
1.Hamilton
2.Vettel
3.Ricciardo
"If the Mercedes and Ferrari are the two fastest cars, my money would be on Hamilton to beat Vettel to the championship.
"He's just that bit faster and better, as long as he can keep weekends such as Baku and Singapore last year to a minimum. It's a tough call between the two Red Bull drivers, but I've gone for Ricciardo to edge it just on the basis of last year.
"There was a sense of a momentum swing towards Verstappen at the end of 2016, though, both in races and in the pattern of qualifying. In which case the Dutchman could easily swing it."
18. Vandoorne
19. Wehrlein
20. Ericsson
"Assuming Sauber will be last, Pascal Wehrlein would be expected to out-do Marcus Ericsson over a season. If he doesn't, his F1 career is almost certainly over. And on the basis of a terrible season for McLaren, Stoffel Vandoorne - promising and extravagantly talented though he is - cannot realistically be expected to beat Fernando Alonso in his first full season, unless the inevitable unreliability is skewed heavily in one direction.
"Had Esteban Gutierrez still been at Haas, he would be on this list instead of the Belgian. But Kevin Magnussen is a much stronger proposition so he and Romain Grosjean should be clear of this little 'battle'."
Which three drivers do you think will be slowest during the 2017 Formula 1 season?
1.Ferrari
2.Mercedes
3.Red Bull
"This is based not so much on the overall speed of the cars, but on the combination of team, car, engine, reliability and driver line-up.
"If testing is to be believed, the Ferrari could be the quickest car. And if it's of similar pace to the Mercedes, there's a decent chance Vettel-Raikkonen as a combination will score more points than Hamilton-Bottas, as it's inevitably going to take Bottas a while to adapt to a new team.
"However quick the Ferrari was in testing, it's hard to contemplate the idea of them beating Mercedes over a season, but let's go for it anyway. Red Bull may be similarly quick, but there is a reliability question mark over the Renault engine."
Which three teams do you think have made the fastest cars for F1 in 2017?
8. Haas
9. McLaren
10. Sauber
"After their dire testing programme, McLaren should be at the bottom of this list. And things are so bad, they might yet be. But simply assuming that when the car does actually run, it will be faster than a Sauber (surely), and that Alonso-Vandoorne is several light years ahead of Ericsson-Wehrlein as a driver line-up, Sauber are last.
"Picking the team to finish bottom of a very tight midfield battle is extremely difficult. Haas looked the slowest but some of their rivals felt they must be hiding something. Still, on the basis of difficult-second-year syndrome, let's go for them."
Which three teams do you think will be bottom of the pile during the 2017 Formula 1 season?


England's Matthew Fitzpatrick carded a first-round 67 to take a share of the lead at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

The 22-year-old, ranked 30th in the world, birdied three of his last nine holes to end the day on five under par.
Argentina's Emiliano Grillo had earlier recovered from two early bogeys to reel off seven birdies in cold conditions to set the clubhouse lead at Bay Hill.
He and Fitzpatrick are one clear of England's Paul Casey, while Rory McIlroy opened with a two-over 74.
The Northern Irishman bogeyed three holes on his back nine, including the 18th, and hit a double bogey on the 11th.
World number two Jason Day made a solid start to the defence of his title with a two-under opening round of 70, as the early players began in near freezing temperatures.
The Arnold Palmer Invitational is being held for the first time since Palmer died last September at the age of 87.
His grandson, PGA Tour player Sam Saunders, finished the opening day on two over par.
World number one Dustin Johnson and fellow major winners Phil Mickelson, Jordan Spieth and Adam Scott are absent, while Masters champion Danny Willett withdrew on Thursday because of illness.


It is five years since peaceful protests against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad started in Damascus.

The uprising quickly escalated into a civil war between the Syrian government and various rebel factions, killing at least 250,000 and displacing many more.
Similar movements in the region, later called the Arab Spring, led to the ousting of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, Muammar Gaddafi in Libya and Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali in Tunisia.
Five years on, people across the region have told the BBC how the uprising and the political divisions and economic turmoil that followed have affected their lives.
"I had to leave my pregnant wife behind. It was too dangerous for me to stay," says Majdy Al-Kassem, who fled Syria in early 2015 and now lives in the UK.
Majdy studied English literature in his hometown Idlib in north-western Syria when peaceful anti-government protests erupted in 2011. He and fellow students joined the demonstrations.
"In the first six months protesters were not armed, but the security forces started to shoot at people and come to their houses to arrest them," he says.
Some of the protests turned into armed insurgency and following violent clashes a brutal and complex civil war broke out across most of the country.
"One of my teachers was killed by a sniper and in the following years a lot of my friends died in prison. I was afraid that somebody who saw me at the demonstration would frame me," he says.
Syria: The story of the conflict
UN says peace talks in Geneva are 'moment of truth'
Islamic State group: The full story
Life inside IS: Diaries from Raqqa
A month after Majdy fled, a coalition of Islamist rebel forces, supported by Turkey and Saudi Arabia, seized Idlib from the Syrian government.
"It's a little bit safer now because there is no fighting in the city itself, but your house can always be hit by Russian or Syrian government air strikes. Many houses in our neighbourhood were destroyed.
"My family is in a very bad situation now. They often don't have the most basic things like water, electricity and petrol."
The rise of the so-called Islamic State and the increasing involvement of foreign powers have further complicated the conflict.
Like many others, Majdy made the dangerous journey across the Aegean Sea from Turkey to Greece in a rubber dinghy. Walking northwards on the so-called Balkan route, he was imprisoned in Croatia for three months, but eventually made it to the UK last summer.
The authorities in the UK are now processing Majdy's asylum application and he says: "I hope they let me stay and bring my family."
The first protests of the Arab Spring started in Tunisia after Mohamed Bouazizi, a street vendor, set himself on fire in the city of Sidi Bouzid in December 2010.
Weeks of demonstrations followed before Tunisia's long-time president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali fled into exile on 14 January 2011.
"When we went to demonstrate in front of the Ministry of the Interior in Tunis on 14 January, we didn't realise that Ben Ali would be running away by the end of the day," says Hisham Ben Khamsa.
"Ben Ali had relied on stifling any kind of expression and dissent. The regime was out of sync with the population. Corruption and unemployment pushed people overboard."
Tunisia has been called the Arab Spring's "success story" by some after a largely peaceful transition to democracy.
In recent years, the country has been hit by a wave of attacks on tourists sites and renewed protests over youth unemployment.
"Economically and in terms of instability, it has been five years of a rollercoaster. But in this chaos and mayhem, there is some stability building up," Hisham told the BBC.
Ines Ghaieb, a preparatory school teacher in Tunis, says her life changed for the better after the uprising.
"I lost my job at the school during Ben Ali's time and couldn't do anything about it. Now I have a permanent contract."
She says that Tunisians can now express their opinions in public and in the media.
"Tunisia was an exception from the beginning. Even if there are problems, I would say the revolution was successful."
Pictures of tens of thousands of protesters on Cairo's central Tahrir Square went around the world in January and February 2011.
"I'll never experience the same again, the spirit of the people was unbelievable, and we were all on the same page," says Mohammed Safi, an Egyptian radio DJ.
"We succeeded in bringing the government down after 18 days, but the biggest mistake was to leave the square because we thought we had won.
Mohamed Morsi, a leading member of the Muslim brotherhood, was elected as president in June 2012, but following mass protests his government was overthrown by the army a year later.
"I think almost the entire nation is suffering from post-traumatic stress," Mohammed says.
"I moved out of Cairo three years ago to protect my sanity. The vibe there has become unbearable.
"Five years down the line, many people are extremely sceptictal and frustrated. Almost everybody is suffering economically and the currency has lost a lot of value."
Human rights activists have reported a rise in the number of people going missing at the hand of the security services.
"The security apparatus is more intense than under Mubarak, but the message to future generations is that you can challenge authority," says Mohammed.
"In the early months of 2011, not a lot of Libyans thought the protests would spread from Tunisia to Libya because the former regime of Muammar Gaddafi had a tight grip on society," says Muhanned Kalash, an up-and-coming Libyan actor.
"When the protests started in Benghazi, we couldn't do much in Tripoli, but of course we followed the events very closely."
Fierce fighting broke out between rebels in the east of the country and government forces. In August 2011, rebel militia toppled Gaddafi and took over Tripoli, helped by international airstrikes.
Muhanned says that five years on, none of the revolution's goals have been achieved.
"It's close to impossible for me to save money, to marry, to travel to different cities or even to go out at night because there is a risk we might get carjacked."
Libya has had two rival governments since 2014.
The political and security vacuum in the country has helped the so-called Islamic State group to establish a foothold.
Muhanned says security is his biggest concern at the moment: "With Daesh [IS], it's like we see a storm approaching, but we're pretending we are not scared.
"It's shocking to see how OK Libyans have become with death."


A man has admitted attacking a woman who had acid thrown in her face.

Carla Whitlock, 37, was attacked in Southampton's Guildhall Square on 18 September.
Geoffrey Midmore, 26, pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm with intent. His brother, Billy Midmore, 22, denied the same charge.
The men, both from London but of no fixed address, were remanded in custody after the hearing at Southampton Crown Court.
Billy Midmore is due to appear before the same court for a plea and case management hearing on 15 January.
Geoffrey Midmore will be sentenced at a date to be decided.
Ms Whitlock suffered serious burns to her face, neck and arms in the attack outside the Turtle Bay restaurant. She also lost her sight in one eye.


Former British Davis Cup captain John Lloyd is tipping Andy Murray to win his second Wimbledon title.

Lloyd will be surprised if the 2013 champion and holder Novak Djokovic do not meet in their third consecutive Grand Slam final.
"The addition of Ivan Lendl is a masterstroke," Lloyd said of Murray being reunited with his former coach.
"I tipped him to win at the start of the event and I'm still sticking with it."
Murray, 29, has not won a Grand Slam since his triumph at SW19 three years ago.
The Scot lost to world number one Djokovic in the Australian Open and French Open finals this year, with the Serbian world number one the first man since Rod Laver in 1969 to hold all four majors at the same time.
Djokovic holds a 5-2 record against Murray in Grand Slam finals and Lloyd anticipates another meeting for the number one and two seeds for this title.
"To me, Murray is going to get to the final, I can't see him not," said the 61-year-old two-time mixed doubles champion at Wimbledon.
"They're a step above everybody else, Novak and Andy, and I expect them to get there again."
Murray dropped just six games in defeating Yen-Hsun Lu on Thursday following a comfortable first-round success against Liam Broady.
Up next is Australian John Millman, who defeated 26th seed Benoit Paire to reach the third round for the first time.
"People think maybe he'd like a tougher match, but I disagree with that," said Lloyd.
"He's got to keep his energy ready for the second week, especially if it comes to the ultimate test against Novak Djokovic when you've got to be at 100%."
Meanwhile, Lloyd is delighted that Tennis Scotland have announced Davis Cup captain Leon Smith as their new performance director.
"Scotland has had an amazing few years with the Murray brothers, Colin Fleming, Jamie Baker, the list goes on," he told BBC Scotland.
"We've had some really good players in Scotland and hopefully we will continue to do so, but it's all about the grassroots.
"And, if someone like Leon Smith comes up there and imparts a lot of the stuff that he's been learning - and with his experience and he's a good big name now - one would hope that he will see things he can put in place and help out."


A self-described shaman says a strange creature reportedly spotted in the hills of North Carolina last week was actually him dressed in animal skins.

The "Bigfoot" sighting happened last Friday in the Appalachian mountains, but the story took an even weirder twist with a mistaken identity claim.
Gawain MacGregor says it was him wandering through the forest on the night in question, 4 August.
But a local group claims the cryptid they saw could not have been him.
Bigfoot 911, a Facebook group of more than 5,700 members that investigates sightings of the mythical Bigfoot in McDowell County, western North Carolina, said photos displayed on Mr MacGregor's website look nothing like the thing they saw.
John Bruner, who runs the group, says the creature he and eight other members encountered last Friday night in Pisgah National Park stood at around 8ft (2.4m) tall, had a different facial appearance, and "moved with speed unmatched by any human".
However, Mr MacGregor said he was participating in a "sacrament" of "wearing of hair-covered animal skins and wandering in the forest".
The 36-year-old, who was on holiday from Minnesota, writes on his blog about his personal belief in Bigfoot, or "the divine nature of sasquatch", as he calls it.
He writes that by dressing in sewn animal skins, and by reciting a "sasquatch prayer", he has had several encounters with the beast.
"It feels like it brings me closer to nature," he told the BBC after returning from holiday.
After seeing the sighting reported on the news, he felt obliged as an "honest citizen" to come forward, he told the BBC.
"If someone caused you to have an experience that meant something to you, but wasn't genuine, wouldn't you want them to tell you?" he said.
Hundreds of sightings of Bigfoot, also known as sasquatch, have been reported in western North Carolina and the Appalachian mountains along the East Coast.
On Tuesday, police in neighbouring South Carolina advised citizens not to shoot at Bigfoot, since "you'll most likely be wounding a fun-loving and well-intentioned person, sweating in a gorilla costume".
It is not the only mythical creature to make headlines this week in the region.
Emergency officials in South Carolina said on Wednesday they do not know whether this month's US solar eclipse will make the so-called Lizardman become more active.
But the state emergency management division advised citizens to be vigilant for any sign of the swamp thing, which was first sighted in 1998.


A man has been charged with the attempted murder of a police officer on a bridge over the A1.

At about 06:30 GMT on Thursday the officer was chasing a man in Newcastle, who tried to push him over the side of the footbridge.
Michael Walker, from Cornhill, appeared before North Tyneside magistrates.
The 28-year-old was charged with the attempted murder of a police officer, assaulting a police officer and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
He was remanded in custody and will appear before Newcastle Crown Court on 27 November.
The police officer was not injured, the force said.


Shakespeare's kitchen, including a hearth and cold storage pit, has been discovered by archaeologists digging up the playwright's home in Stratford-upon-Avon.

New Place, which was bought by Shakespeare in 1597, was the largest single dwelling in the town.
It had a great chamber and gallery, more than 20 rooms and 10 fireplaces.
The dig, led by Staffordshire University's Centre of Archaeology, also found evidence of a brew house.
Fragments of plates, cups and other cookware were also found at New Place, where Shakespeare lived for 19 years of his adult life.
The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust (SBT) charity said the dig helped reveal "the living, breathing man behind the great works - husband, father and son of Stratford".
The findings also enabled the SBT to commission new evidence-based drawings of New Place, which depict an accurate version of how the house would have looked during Shakespeare's ownership.
Dr Paul Edmondson from the SBT, said, "Once we had uncovered the family's oven we were able to understand how the rest of the house fitted around it.
"The discovery of the cooking areas, brew house, pantry and cold storage pit, combined with the scale of the house, all point to New Place as a working home as well as a house of high social status.
"At New Place we can catch glimpses of Shakespeare the playwright and country-town gentleman.  His main task was to write and a house as impressive as New Place would have played an important part in the rhythm of his working life."
The New Place site will be opened to the public by the SBT in the summer of 2016 as part of celebrations to mark 400 years since the dramatist's death, and will feature rare artefacts on display for the first time.
The Â£5.25m project is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, Historic England and through public donations.


About 630 children whose school was destroyed by floods during Storm Desmond have returned to lessons in temporary classrooms on the site of a former primary school.

Carlisle's Newman Catholic School has moved about three miles from Lismore Place to the former home of Pennine Way Primary School in Harraby.
A bus service is in place to transport youngsters from the city centre.
The site was available as Pennine Primary School recently relocated.
Temporary classrooms have been put in place to accommodate the larger number of pupils who attend the secondary school.
John Barrett, assistant director of children's services at Cumbria County Council, said the authority was in talks with the Department for Education over a long-term site but added it was "too early" to discuss specific places.
December was the second time the Newman Catholic School site - which sits near the River Eden - has been flooded in recent years.


Edinburgh have signed Newport Gwent Dragons' stand-off Jason Tovey on loan until the end of May.

Tovey, 26, who can play at full-back and centre, has spent most of his professional career with the Dragons.
Glasgow Warriors, meanwhile, have signed BT Sport Scottish Rugby Academy players Scott Cummings, James Malcolm and Nick Grigg on professional deals.
Second-row Cummings, 19, has signed for three years, hooker Malcolm, 21, for two and centre Grigg, 23, for one.
Cummings, the Scotland Under-20s captain, made his debut for the Warriors against Scarlets in the season opener and has gone on to make nine appearances.
Glasgow-born Malcolm has been part of the Academy for the last two years and has played 11 times for Glasgow this season.
He scored his first try for the club on his first start against Scarlets in the European Rugby Champions Cup win at Scotstoun in December 2015.
Grigg joined the Academy in pre-season having signed from Petone RFC in New Zealand and made his Warriors debut as a substitute in Friday's 12-6 win over Leinster.
He has played in the World Rugby Sevens Series for Scotland 7s in Wellington and Sydney as well as featuring for Stirling County in the BT Premiership. His grandfather is from Ayrshire.
Glasgow Warriors head coach Gregor Townsend said: "With Scott, James and Nick all earning professional contracts, that brings the total number of academy players graduating to full professional contracts up to 11 within the last couple of years.
"I'd like to acknowledge the excellent work of the staff in the Glasgow/West BT Sport Scottish Rugby Academy."