This in from the council. OnTheWight was on the story of CtK’s apparent £1m+ debt in 2015 and Christ the King College sought to assure readers there was nothing to worry about. Update: 13:36 CtK refutes the council’s claims. Ed
The Isle of Wight Council announced today (Tuesday) it will not advance further money to Christ the King College at Newport after it ran up a £2.7 million debt in an “ill judged” agreement to lease buildings.
Leader of the Isle of Wight council, Cllr Dave Stewart, said Island taxpayers must not continue to foot the bill for the school’s governing body’s decision to enter into a 15-year deal for its sixth form block that costs over £650,000 a year to service, or £10 million in total.
No credible recovery plan
The council 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.
Councillor Stewart 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.
“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.”*
Governing Body made “ill-judged decision”
Councillor Stewart said the school asked the council, the dioceses and other funding bodies for the capital to fund the sixth form buildings when it was proposed four years ago and all refused. The governors did not require the approval of the council to enter into the lease with Built Offsite Limited.
This was the advice given, the school did not need the council’s permission before it voluntarily entered the leasing arrangements.
Councillor Stewart explained,
“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.”
School must take responsibility for the problem
Cllr Paul Brading, Cabinet member for children’s services added:
“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.”
Governors manage expenditure
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.
*Education budget clarification: Council budget related to education (£7 million), dedicated ringfenced schools grant from government (£77 million).
Update 13:30 – Added detail to intro.
Image: © Christ the King College
