Calls for inquiry into council's loans to school

Greenfield School in Old Woking has loans of £13,257,756, from Woking Borough Council

Calls are being made for an independent inquiry after a private school was loaned millions of pounds at favourable rates by a council before it went bankrupt.

Greenfield School in Old Woking has loans of £13,257,756 from Woking Borough Council, according to full accounts published in September on Companies House.

The interest is just one percentage point above the Public Works Loans Board rate.

The council said an auditor's report was being published shortly, while the school refused to comment.

The council’s finances have collapsed under the weight of its unprecedented multi-billion debt from all the money it can not afford to repay and its investment decisions have come under close scrutiny, said the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The local authority was asked directly if it would set up an independent inquiry into the extraordinary use of taxpayers’ money into the 2019 loan to Greenfield preparatory school, reportedly topping £11m.

Councillor Ann-Marie Barker, who took over as leader of Woking Borough Council after the loans had been agreed, said an independent report by an external auditor, Grant Thornton "is reviewing how past decisions were made and the financial impact of these decisions on the council’s financial sustainability".

The school is a registered charity in Old Woking and has the benefit of extensive playing fields.

It hosts community events including annual maths and English challenges, anti-bullying training, and football tournaments.

Pupil numbers are growing at a rapid rate and income from charitable activities increased by £582,037 to £5.3m, of which £5.2m was through school fees.

Overall the school made a loss of £502,562 last year according to its accounts and it has loans totalling £13,316,871, of which £13,257,756 is listed as "other loans".

A Woking Borough Council spokesperson said: “We anticipate that issues associated with loaning money to Greenfield School will be referenced in the independent Grant Thornton review into past decisions and actions of the council, which we expect to be published shortly.

"Therefore, it would be inappropriate to comment further."

The school said they have no comment to make at this stage.