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7:00am Friday 10th July 2009 in
BOURNEMOUTH and Poole College recorded a £7.5m deficit last year and needs to find almost £1m to stay open until the end of September.
The shocking depths of the financial crisis were revealed by college principal and chief executive Lawrence Vincent in a letter to MPs.
He states that the institution has “no money in the bank”, is “living off a £600k overdraft” and needs “to raise £900k just to keep the college running until the end of September.”
The situation came about after the government failed to deliver the promised funding for a £130m redevelopment project.
But the college, which had approval in principle for the plan, had already spent £11m in preparation – wiping out its £5m reserves and chalking up the multi-million-pound deficit.
Mr Vincent said he had met with the Learning and Skills Council to ask for the money back, but did not know how much they would get, or when.
His letter adds: “My fear is that they will ‘stabilise’ us but refuse to pay back all the money that we have spent. I want at least £8 million back.”
But when Mr Vincent spoke to the Echo he said: “We are and will remain solvent, but I want the cash back.”
He said the college had a “slight liquidity problem, not an instability issue” which would be resolved when students enrolled in September and funding came through.
He added: “What really matters is the quality of what we do here. That will remain regardless of this development.”
The college “remained committed to redevelopment” at both campuses but it was “too early to say” what alternatives would be considered.
Poole MP Robert Syms, who has scheduled an adjournment debate on the issue, said simply: “If they don’t get compensation the future of the college could be in doubt.”
COUNTDOWN TO CASH CRISIS
March 2008: Bournemouth and Poole College announced plans for £130 transformation of both its campuses – included demolishing and rebuilding the North Road site in Poole and renovating Bournemouth’s Lansdowne campus.
October to November 2008: Planning permission is granted, and the college expects final approval in March from the Learning and Skills Council, which is due to fund 80 per cent of the project.
December 2008: Beset with delays, the LSC puts a freeze on new bids while it carries out a review.
March 2009: The LSC freezes its Building Colleges for the Future Programme after it emerged it had encouraged bids from colleges worth £5.7 billion more than its budget. A total of 144 colleges expecting approval have their projects put on hold. LSC chief executive Mark Haysom quit his role, admitting failures in the programme’s management.
April 2009: An independent review of the debacle by Sir Andrew Foster’s concludes that the crisis was “predictable and probably avoidable” and “could have been mitigated if action had been taken earlier.”
June 2009: Government announces that only 13 of the 144 colleges will get funding – the rest, including Bournemouth and Poole told they will have to wait, with no guarantees of funding, until the next review in 2011.
Comments(32)
cantique
says...
9:15am Fri 10 Jul 09
thesyrup1
says...
9:50am Fri 10 Jul 09
Don't get me started
says...
10:02am Fri 10 Jul 09
seniorman
says...
12:07pm Fri 10 Jul 09
All Seeing Eye
says...
12:12pm Fri 10 Jul 09
nigel24
says...
12:21pm Fri 10 Jul 09
In Absentia
says...
12:25pm Fri 10 Jul 09
Chris...
says...
12:40pm Fri 10 Jul 09
In Absentia wrote:Why do you say that, if as you have read, there is no money coming forward to help, or they have been let down by government.
Typical tabloid journalism. There's no way that the college will close.
Perry_Winkle
says...
1:10pm Fri 10 Jul 09
beachhut
says...
1:51pm Fri 10 Jul 09
whatsnew
says...
3:10pm Fri 10 Jul 09
djd
says...
3:56pm Fri 10 Jul 09
TheXmasCrow
says...
4:12pm Fri 10 Jul 09
Localsfirst
says...
5:03pm Fri 10 Jul 09
explodingthemyth
says...
5:27pm Fri 10 Jul 09
Trifecta
says...
5:37pm Fri 10 Jul 09
WIGGINSv
says...
5:45pm Fri 10 Jul 09
whatsnew wrote:More COMMON PURPOSE....google
Why the hell, is DCC prepared to go ahead to change Purbeck from 3 tier to 2 tier, they say it will cost between 35 - 100 million. Where will these funds come from. If this funding is not available, then the children will be educated within building sites for years and years. What can they be thinking of. Stop this now, before its too late.
TheXmasCrow
says...
5:48pm Fri 10 Jul 09
bex1984
says...
6:31pm Fri 10 Jul 09
dribble
says...
7:57pm Fri 10 Jul 09
Trifecta wrote:This is the question that really needs to be answered. Just what WAS the £11 million spent on?
"But the college, which had approval in principle for the plan, had already spent £11m in preparation"
On what have they spent this money ?
Deke60
says...
8:14pm Fri 10 Jul 09
dribble wrote:Exactly!!! Also, who authorised this? The Principal? The Governors? Will the Governors be liable for the debt?
Trifecta wrote: "But the college, which had approval in principle for the plan, had already spent £11m in preparation" On what have they spent this money ?This is the question that really needs to be answered. Just what WAS the £11 million spent on?
BobbyPoole
says...
9:51pm Fri 10 Jul 09
All Seeing Eye wrote:I bet the staff that have been made redundant were not part of the lodge !!
Get rid of the vastly overpaid lazy lecturers who are only there through the fraternal brotherhood - Bournemouth and Poole Colledge and landsdown are rife with them - now is the chance to get rid of them!!!!!!
The-Bleeding-Obvious
says...
10:27pm Fri 10 Jul 09
ferret38
says...
7:49am Sat 11 Jul 09
fedupwithjobsworths
says...
8:59am Sat 11 Jul 09
bex1984
says...
2:16pm Sat 11 Jul 09
solitaire
says...
3:40pm Sat 11 Jul 09
weevie
says...
12:56pm Mon 13 Jul 09
weevie
says...
5:23pm Mon 13 Jul 09
The Seasider
says...
7:44pm Mon 13 Jul 09
JemJay
says...
2:54pm Wed 29 Jul 09
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BobbyPoole says...
7:16am Fri 10 Jul 09
Banks get bailed out after their own incompetence and then get paid vast "bonuses" for thier mistakes.
MP's can have their moats cleaned and their ducks housed
but a college is facing closure