From the Leicester Mercury: The DfE replied to the newspaper's questions about an alleged spat between Lord Nash, Education Minister and Sir Peter Soulsby, Leicester City Mayor.
The DfE comment refers to Rushey Mead School which applied to become an academy in June 2013. It said the process should 'normally take around 6 months, however Leicester City Council has repeatedly frustrated that process.'
The statement said: 'We are providing the school with advance funding, which will be paid back, to terminate an existing contract (a facilities management contract which runs to 2037) so they can deliver services in the most cost-effective way.
'Any suggestion we are providing a ‘blank cheque’ is simply incorrect.'
'The council has told us they would stop paying their share of the BSF contract should Rushey Mead become an academy so we have agreed to provide the school with advance funding which will be paid back.'
Last year a Leicester City councillor said the costs would be around £500k adding: 'There is no precedent for the DofE to make such a long-term financial commitment'.
No comments:
Post a Comment