The Downs School will not have to pay council half a million pounds following climbdown

A Berkshire school that was told it would have to give the council almost half a million pounds it has raised to make improvements, has been told it can now keep the money.

The Downs School, near Newbury in West Berkshire, was told in July the money would be taken by West Berkshire council as it was unallocated.

At the time headteacher, Chris Prosser, told ITV Meridian he was 'quite upset' and 'angry' about the decision.

The Downs School were being asked for £490,000, money specifically raised to fund projects like the expansion of the sixth form centre.

At a full council meeting last night, leader Jeff Brooks, said he had visited five of the schools that would have seen funds clawed back for further talks.

“The clawback of funds from schools that appear to have an excess of uncommitted reserves has been an area of great anxiety and concern to eight schools who are affected, five of which faced handing over a great deal of money to our High Needs Block which is £9m in deficit and that deficit is growing fast,” he said.

“In funding that amount of money, the council loses an estimated £360,000 annually that it might receive in interest; money we could use to deliver services.

“I would like to thank all those schools for receiving us with consideration and courtesy when they would probably like to have given us a piece of their mind!

“The passion they showed for their schools shone through in everything they said – their enthusiasm is immense and their ambition boundless – they are a credit to their children and their communities.”

He confirmed no money will be clawed back from The Downs School, adding he hoped “that we can build a strong relationship between the head and governors”.

He also apologised for offending heads with an earlier statement that he would “expect all headteachers in maintained schools across our district to want all schools across West Berkshire to do well and want to support each other”.

He said: “I know a lot of headteachers were upset by that sentence; but I went on to say: ‘No school is an island, and I remember how well headteachers supported each other when I was a governor – I feel sure that same sense of teamwork exists today.”.

“I had hoped that would have put my words into context, but I have seen too many politicians hide behind that phrase ‘I was taken out of context’ and they seem unable to apologise as if apologising denotes weakness in their position.

“So, I do apologise if the heads were offended by those words. I did not mean to cause offence.

“None of us should be too important to say when they have got something wrong – every one of us is a mortal and not a saint.

ITV Meridian has contacted The Downs School for comment on the decision by the council.

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know...