One of the country’s biggest trusts is refusing to pay more than £500,000 in “alleged debt” to its local council after asbestos removal work left one of its buildings “structurally unsafe”, court papers reveal.
Reading council issued High Court proceedings in September to recover a £400,000 debt, plus £141,866 in interest, from Highdown School and Sixth Form Centre.
The council said the academy owes it for contributions towards a school assembly hall, which the academy disputes.
It said Highdown took on an “existing liability” to pay £50,000 annually for 14 years when it converted into an academy in 2010, court papers state.
The academy made the first five payments, from 2011 to 2015, but was in breach of contract after failing to make the subsequent payments, the council’s lawyer claims.
‘Poor’ repairs left school in ‘disrepair’
Highdown’s solicitor, Ryan McGillick, said before it became an academy, the council removed asbestos from a manor house owned and used by the school.
However after carrying out work on the building’s roof later in 2016, the academy “discovered that the asbestos removal work that had been undertaken by the claimant prior to the transfer was performed to a very poor standard, which left the defendant’s manor house in a state of disrepair”.
“The building was found to be structurally unsafe,” McGillick said.
Woodworm and water had rotted the building’s main beam and evacuation steps on the outside had not been built to an “adequate standard”.
The case highlights the importance, and difficulties, of due diligence conducted when schools convert to academies. It also shows how asbestos is another major school building issue.
School considers its own legal case
McGillick claimed the school raised concerns with the council over the state of the building. Further investigation found the cost of repairs would exceed its “alleged debt”, then £450,000
The school claims it considered suing the council for the damage caused to the manor house to fund repairs and pay its remaining liability under the contract.
“However, as an alternative to resorting to litigation, the claimant and defendant agreed to write off the defendant’s liability under the contract,” he said.
The school claims it then “repeatedly received assurances” from the council’s directors of education that the alleged debt would not be payable.
The school said it ignored an invoice sent by the council in 2017 as it believed the debt had been written off. It did not receive another invoice until October 2022.
The legal fight comes as Reading predicts a £5.7 million shortfall in its finances.
The council said the unpaid debts were not “time barred” and the school acknowledged the debts in its annual accounts each year, up to August 2022.
A Reading spokesperson said it was not “appropriate to comment any further on a matter which is subject to legal proceedings”.
Council threatened conversion injunction
Ofsted rated Highdown as ‘good’ overall in its last graded inspection in 2015. It converted as a standalone trust, but joined GLF Schools in October – the month after the council kick-started proceedings.
Reading council said if Highdown failed to provide a copy of its proposed transfer agreement with GLF Schools, confirming it would take on the alleged debt, then it would “make an application for an interim injunction to restrain the sale of the school” until this was provided.
But Highdown’s lawyers declined to enter into a “standstill agreement”, saying its “repeated threats” were “unreasonable”.
It said the council’s letter before claim was sent after the school closed for the summer last year, with the claim issued on September 4 – the day after the school reopened.
This “deprived” the school of a “reasonable opportunity to respond”, McGillick said.
The school did not want to provide additional comment while the case was ongoing. GLF Schools was approached for comment.
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