Brooklands College has finally published accounts for the first time in four years.
The Surrey-based college was stung by an apprenticeship subcontracting scandal that came to light in 2019 following investigations by FE Week.
Left with a £25 million debt demanded by the government’s Education and Skills Funding Agency, the small college, which brings in just £11 million in income annually, has spent years negotiating a repayment deal that would prevent it from going bust.
In recent months the college has unveiled plans for a £45 million re-development, which includes selling an historic building and land for homes, to pay back the debt.
Even though the college is waiting on the local council to agree to planning permission, the plan, approved by the ESFA, has moved the college’s financial health up from ‘inadequate’ to ‘good’ and enabled the accounts for the past four years to be approved and published.
The accounts reveal the £25 million debt has been “discounted” to £23.1 million and can be repaid in the next three years.
“The amount due to the ESFA shown as a long-term creditor of £23m is supported by a repayment agreement and will not be called in for three years unless the development of the state enables this to be repaid sooner,” its latest accounts state.
They also show the principal that led the college at the time of the subcontracting scandal, which took place between 2014 and 2018, Gail Walker, received “compensation” of £14,175 when she after she resigned. The accounts state this was for “statutory redundancy only”.
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