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£2m academy sponsor charge set to be waived
Minister says keys to controversial school will come for free
PRIVATE schools on a shortlist of sponsors bidding to take control of Pimlico School when it becomes an academy in September will be given the keys for free.
Education chiefs will announce their preferred sponsor for the community school on October 15.
Westminster School and Haberdashers’ Aske’s Hatcham College are believed to be the front-runners.
Fee-paying parents at Westminster School had reportedly voiced strong opposition to their money being spent outside the school their children attend.
But Lord Adonis this week outlined his plans to scrap the required
£2 million contribution to make it easier for private schools to sponsor academies.
The schools minister said: “It is their educational DNA we are seeking, not their fee income or their existing charitable endowments.”
Westminster Council will make the announcement following a decision in June to transform the school into an academy.
NUT secretary Padraic Finn said this amounted to “literal privatisation”.
He said: “The only possible reason for an academy was the £2 million donation. That is no longer a requirement.
“The council says it wants to keep Pimlico ‘comprehensive’.
“But the school, with a £35 million new building, paid for by taxpayers, could be handed over to a private school. Go figure!”
The decision, taken by Councillor Sarah Richardson, snubbed one of the largest-ever responses to a public consultation showing 96 per cent of parents opposed the academy plan.
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