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Wednesday May 29 | 2019
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Brexit Party storm to Euro victory as Greens grab more votes than Tories
HIGH PRAISE: Tonbridge Grammar School’s Motet perform on BBC1’s Songs of Praise Y0ung Choir of the Year. See page 2
Officials ‘shocked’ by Hadlow College – ‘It had completely run out of money’ By Andy Tong andy@timesoftonbridge.co.uk THE Further Education Commissioner [FEC] said he was ‘genuinely shocked’ by what he found when he went into Hadlow College earlier this year. The agricultural college, which has 2,089 students, was the first college to go into educational administration last week amid concerns about its finances. It has emerged that the college had to be bailed out by the Department for Education to the tune of £2.8million because ‘it would not be able to make the payroll in February’. The principal Paul Hannan and viceprincipal Mark Lumsdon-Taylor have both resigned amid allegations of ‘financial irregularities’. They were also respectively the chief executive and deputy CEO of the
Hadlow Group, which runs the college along with West Kent and Ashford and the Hadlow Rural Community School. Hadlow College had ‘completely run out of money’ and required ‘exceptional financial support’ in order to pay staff including teachers.
‘It became really obvious very quickly that the governors had been failing in their duty’ FEC Richard Atkins revealed that he was about to visit its sister college, West Kent on Brook Street, when he received a tip-off that Hadlow College was in ‘extremely serious’ trouble. He told FE Week: “When we walked through the door the vice-principal, Mark Lumsdon-Taylor, had already
THE results of the elections for members of the European Parliament [MEPs] in Tonbridge & Malling reflected the national surge for the Brexit Party. Nigel Farage’s party came first in the borough with 15,713 votes or 42.2 per cent –though its delegates will only hold their seats until October 31, when Britain leaves the European Union. The Liberal Democrats and Greens – both running on a ticket to hold a second referendum on EU membership – polled 8,264 and 4,810 respectively, or 22.2 per cent and 12.9 per cent. The Greens received 354 more votes than the Conservatives, who traditionally dominate the political landscape across the South-east. This reflected their share of less than 10 per cent nationally.
Delighted
resigned and was on gardening leave. He still lived on the premises. “The principal, Paul Hannan, was not well and he left the college at midday to see a doctor. “He did not return, and I do not think he ever came back from that moment. “I was also told the vice-principal was suffering from ill-health. So when I arrived, I was confronted with both the vice-principal and principal saying they were suffering from ill health. “But I was able to meet with key governors and other senior leaders, and it became really obvious to us very quickly the governors had been failing in their fiduciary duty.” Mr Atkins said senior administrators were opaque in their dealings with him, claiming: “There was a real determination not to receive difficult feedback.”
The Brexit Party took four out of 10 seats across the South-east, while the Lib Dems have three, and the Tories, Labour and Greens one each. Mr Farage claimed a ‘big win’ but his share in the region was 36.07 per cent while the two ‘Remain’ parties had a combined 39.25 per cent. Frani Hoskins, newly returned as a town councillor for the Lib Dems, said: “I am absolutely delighted that we got three seats in the South-east region and 16 nationally. “These were stunning results for the Lib Dems after being written off by the press and so many. “Coming after a wonderful set of local election results, I am glad we stuck with it and plugged away as only Lib Dems can.”
Continued on page 2
Continued on page 2