Two councils are gearing up for a court showdown over claims that one owes the other more than £4 million in unpaid fees for a financially troubled special school.
Wandsworth council has launched legal action against Kent council for allegedly failing to pay fees totalling £4.5 million for pupils it sent to Bradstow School in Kent.
Despite being 100 miles from Wandsworth, the London borough inherited the school in 1990 after the Inner London Education authority was abolished.
The residential school supported 12 children with autism and complex needs from multiple boroughs, with only one pupil from Wandsworth.
Wandsworth decided to close the school in December after racking up a £1 million deficit and alleged £5.3 million in debts owed by various councils.
Wandsworth said the majority of this was owed by Kent County Council, which had two placements ahead of closure.
But Kent council has said there were errors in 15 of Wandsworth’s invoices, and that other invoices were charging for provision that had not been outlined in Kent pupils’ education, health and care plans.
School closed in December
In 2021 the two authorities began negotiations for Kent to take over the school, but the county council decided not to go ahead with the transfer in October 2024.
Wandsworth then launched a consultation on closing the school in early 2025, which was briefly paused to pursue an application to convert the school to an academy.
The council named Cygnus Academy Trust as its preferred provider, but it was informed in July 2025 that the application had been refused by the Department for Education. It finally decided to close the school in December last year.
Council documents said this was “purely driven by the unwillingness of some councils to pay fees at a level needed to ensure the school remains viable”.
Legal documents sent by Wandsworth Council to the London Circuit Commercial Court claimed that Kent council owed them a total of £4,576,578.43, with unpaid invoices dating back to late 2023.
Documents say Kent had “not put forward any substantial ground for disputing payment of the sum referred to”.
‘Never specified’
But Kent council has said in defence documents that the invoices were for “additional or enhanced special educational provision that was never specified nor required by the relevant education health and care plan” which was “neither discussed nor agreed with the defendant”.
Lawyers representing Kent have said the 15 invoices with errors sent by Wandsworth totalled £284,270.79.
They also wrote that Wandsworth was applying uplifts beyond original rates agreed between the parties and denied that it owed the sumsclaimed.
School standards minister Georgia Gould met with Kent council over the closure of Bradstow School on October 31, just nine days before the closure was announced by Wandsworth.
Schools Week asked the DfE what was discussed at the meeting. It did not respond.
Wandsworth council and Kent council were both approached for comment but declined due to the legal proceedings.
A court date has not yet been set.
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