Statement by Sir Nicholas Soames MP

“I am appalled and deeply saddened to hear the news of the closure of the Central Sussex College in Haywards Heath. I have admired very much the work done by Sarah Wright, the Principal, and her colleagues, who have clearly done all they could to keep the College on an even keel, but it is clear that the massive debts that she inherited at the Haywards Heath campus are completely unsustainable.

Because of some catastrophically bad decisions by the previous Board and Principal, the College has mortgages of £25m, obligations made prior to 2013.  Clearly, this cannot continue.

As a result, the College has to earn £2.1m a year before they start to meet their other costs.

Of course this makes for great difficulty for Haywards Heath students even though the College will continue to operate from the Crawley and the Horsham Training Centres. 

I know that these decisions have been taken with great reluctance and deep regret for the impact on their students and staff, and the priority must be the protection of the current students so as not to damage their achievements and future prospects.

I gather that the College is in discussion with the Department for Education and West Sussex County Council relating to the future of the Haywards Heath site, which I understand and hope will become a school.

I have today written to the Secretary of State for Education to ask her to examine what has happened and to see whether or not the Government can assist in dealing with this self-inflicted wound by an earlier and very reckless management.

I was so alarmed with the financial situation of the College, in 2013, that I raised via Parliamentary Questions to the Minister, on the 14^th May, 2013 and the 15^th October, 2013 the issue of the finances.

These two Questions are at the end of the statement.

Please note that the Minister ordered a review to identify and resolve ‘the reasons for the poor financial situation which included; poor budget setting, inaccurate financial reporting, weak operation of some key financial controls, poor management of the cost base of the college, shortfalls in income generation, poor leadership and weak governance. These were set against a context of very high borrowings due to new capital build at Haywards Heath.’

Once again I am devastated to hear this news on behalf of the local community and I will be fully involved in working with the Government and local colleagues to see what can be done for the future.”

Central Sussex College

14 May 2013

Nicholas Soames MP: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will arrange an urgent review of the financial situation of the Central Sussex College. [155110]

Matthew Hancock MP; Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Skills: Steps have already been taken to review urgently the financial situation of the College. The Chief Executive Skills Funding Agency has met the Principal and further investigations and discussions are taking place, involving the College's Audit and management teams and officials in the Agency

Business, Innovation and Skills

Central Sussex College

15 October 2013

Nicholas Soames MP: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 14 May 2013, Official Report, column 128W, on Central Sussex College, what conclusions were drawn from the urgent review of the financial situation of Central Sussex College; and what further steps have since been taken. [170482]

Matthew Hancock MP; Minister of State for Skills and Enterprise [holding answer 14 October 2013]: The Skills Funding Agency has concluded that there is good progress being made to bring the college back to sound financial health. The agency has worked proactively with the college on identifying and resolving the reasons for the poor financial situation which included; poor budget setting, inaccurate financial reporting, weak operation of some key financial controls, poor management of the cost base of the college, shortfalls in income generation, poor leadership and weak governance. These were set against a context of very high borrowings due to new capital build at Haywards Heath.

Alongside new appointments of both the Chair of Governors and the Chair of Audit Committee, the college has undergone a major restructure which has delivered significant savings and has also appointed new internal and external auditors.

The college was inspected in April and was graded as requiring some improvement overall but with some curriculum areas being graded as good or outstanding. Significant improvements have been made to the college's management information system resulting in accurate financial and data management reporting.

A draft Recovery Plan was received in May and reviewed by the Skills Funding Agency and externally by EFA and HEFCE colleagues. The agency accepted the final Recovery Plan in August which should fully take the college to satisfactory financial health as soon as reasonably possible. In order to ensure progress, the agency holds monthly case conferences to review the Recovery Plan and has a presence on Audit Committees and at Governors meetings.