Hadlow students reassured amid financial investigations

Hadlow College was brought back from the brink of closure in 2002

The interim principal of two Kent colleges has reassured students that alleged financial irregularities will not affect their studies.

Graham Morley has been brought in to try to safeguard the future of the Hadlow Group, which runs Hadlow College and West Kent and Ashford College.

It comes after the resignations of the principal and deputy principal.

The group is being investigated by the Further Education Commissioner and the Education and Skills Funding Agency.

Speaking to BBC South East seven weeks after his appointment, Mr Morley said there was no question that the education and training provided by the two colleges would be affected.

"The colleges were experiencing some financial difficulty for quite some time.

"The financial issues are quite serious, but none are impacting on the students and staff.

"They are at a strategic level rather than at an operational level," he said.

Graham Morley has been brought in to try to safeguard the future of the Hadlow Group

In 2002, Hadlow College - which teaches land-based subjects to more than 2,700 students - had annual losses of £500,000, but it was brought back from the brink, becoming highly successful.

The Hadlow Group was formed five years ago after K College split its Kent campuses amid debts of £16m.

Earlier this year, amid claims of financial irregularities, the deputy chief executive of the Hadlow Group, Mark Lumsdon-Taylor, resigned.

The group's chief executive and principal, Paul Hannan, resigned last month.

Mr Lumsdon-Taylor told the BBC he would give "a full position statement later in June". Mr Hannan has not responded to requests for a comment.

The Further Education Commissioner's report into college operations is due to be published in June, but the investigation by the Education and Skills Funding Agency is expected to take longer.

A Department for Education spokesperson said: "We do not routinely comment on investigations ongoing or otherwise."