UPDATED: The Isle of Wight Council has this morning (Tuesday) announced that it will not advance any further money to Christ the King College in Newport following an “ill judged” agreement to lease buildings, which could soon be taken away from the school if they don’t pay an overdue £800,000 bill.
Island Echo exclusively revealed last night (Monday) that Christ the King College owes a staggering £808,797 to School Facility Management Ltd. The payment was due on 5th September but it has still not been paid – and is gathering interest at over £100 a day.
Councillor Dave Stewart, Leader of the Council has said Island taxpayers must not continue to foot the bill for the school’s governing body’s decision to enter into the 15-year deal for its sixth form block that costs over £650,000 a year to service, or £10 million in total.
The Isle of Wight Council say that Christ the King is in £2.7million of debt overall and has repeatedly asked the school’s governing body to present a recovery plan to deal with the current debt, but no credible plan has been received.
Cllr Stewart has today said:
“We have tried to work with Christ the King since June to help with the debt related to these buildings but there remains no plan to deal with it.
“This can simply not continue so we have been forced to advise the school that we cannot allow it to plunge further into the red and we will not extend further lending.
“As leader of the council, I have a responsibility to use Island council taxpayers’ money wisely and it cannot be fair that other services or the education of pupils at other schools across the Island might have to suffer, if we do not act on this serious issue.
Article continues below this advertisement “This is an enormous debt for one school to accrue. To put it into context, if we did not step in and the debt rose to £10 million that is £3 million more than the entire annual education budget the council holds for delivering its responsibilities to all schools on the Island.”
The school asked the council, the dioceses and other funding bodies for the capital to fund the sixth form buildings when it was proposed 4 years ago and all refused. The governors did not require the approval of the council to enter into the lease with Built Offsite Limited.
Councillor Stewart adds:
“The school governing body made the ill-judged decision to lease the buildings and the £650,000 annual bill falls against the school’s yearly revenue budget even though auditors have concluded that they did that without a clear and affordable business case.
“What is so very disappointing is the school is high attaining and its day-to-day management is perfectly sound. It’s just this one very bad decision to lease buildings four years ago, which has led to this sorry state of affairs for everyone.
“We do stand ready to help the school in whatever way we can but we will not condone this poor financial management and we are not prepared to saddle this council and this Island with debts of this level for years to come.”
Councillor Paul Brading, Cabinet member for children’s services has said:
“The situation came to a head on 22 November following a meeting between the director of children’s services and the headteacher and chair of governors.
“It was again made clear that the council was not prepared to advance any further funding. The school, despite clearly defined criteria and expectations, had still not provided a credible recovery plan and it must take responsibility for the problem and take the difficult decisions needed to address the financial position.
“The council is absolutely committed to ensuring stability of education at the school and meeting the future educational needs of pupils and is standing prepared to work with the school should they ask for our help.”
Christ the King receives funding, like all other Island schools, according to a local school funding formula. It is a matter for the governors, operating independently of the council, as to how the money is spent.
UPDATE @ 13:12 – The Governing Body of Christ the King College have this afternoon issued a statement regarding the sixth form accommodation. It reads:
“The Governing Body of Christ the King College are disappointed to read the statement given on behalf of the Isle of Wight Council regarding the funding of the sixth form block. We totally refute the Isle of Wight Council’s view that the decision to lease the building was ill-judged and was undertaken without the approval of the Council. The Governing Body was only able to enter this agreement with the express permission of the Isle of Wight Council who, along with both Dioceses, supported the establishing of an 11-18 school to contribute to the raising of standards across the Island and to provide families with choice and diversity.
“The extract below confirms the Local Authority had full knowledge, provided support for the lease agreement and needs to share responsibility for this situation.
The Council approves the entry into the Hire Contract by the Governing Body and agrees that the same will not cause the Governing Body to be in breach of any restrictions or obligations stated in the Scheme for Financing Schools or exceed any limitations on the powers of the Governing Body stated in the Schools and Standards Framework Act 1998.
Extract from a letter from Steve Beynon, Chief Executive of the Isle of Wight Council, addressed to the Principal of Christ the King College, 14th February 2013.
“Christ the King College has suffered historically from a significant lack of financial support during our growth, and we have repeatedly and consistently requested capital support and financial help that we know has been given to other schools. We note that Councillor Stewart refers to responsible use of tax payers’ money and, as a Governing Body, it is important to state that all our revenue funds are spent on our students and their education and not, as the Council wishes us to do, spend on a building we believe should have been provided for our community.
“We also completely refute the Council’s view that we are not taking responsibility to find a solution. The Governing Body has been, and continues, to work relentlessly to resolve this issue.
“We are pleased that the Isle of Wight Council recognises that the school is high-attaining and that the day-to-day management is perfectly sound. We would add to this that the Isle of Wight Council has facilitated more than one meticulous audit of our finances, all carried out by Price Waterhouse Cooper, and there is absolutely no evidence of any financial mismanagement.
“On the contrary, the current deficit is solely attributable to the annual capital cost of the sixth form building and the lease which was entered knowingly and in good faith by all involved in the setting up of the school.
“We hope that the Island community will share our view that our young people deserve to have their educational facilities provided for them and should not have to bear the cost themselves from the revenue which should be spent on resources and teachers. In the meantime, we will continue to support the leadership of the College in providing the very best education that they can for our students, and we wish to reassure parents, staff and students that their education with us continues to be secure”.
