Police are investigating after a council sold a college building worth £4.6m for just £1, it has emerged.
Peterborough City Council officers are "concerned" its disposal of the John Mansfield Centre (JMC) – occupied by City College Peterborough – to a charity in 2020 and "associated financial transactions were unlawful".
After the sale, the council – which owns the college – paid rent of nearly £800,000 to the charity City College Peterborough Foundation (CCPF), but a cabinet report says there is "no evidence of any written lease or agreement for lease".
Cambridgeshire Police said three people had been arrested on suspicion of misconduct in a public office. CCPF has been contacted by the BBC.
The cabinet report says the decision to transfer the JMC to the foundation was approved in September 2019 and laid out in a "delegated authority form" which was "fundamentally flawed".
Councils can dispose of land "for less than the best consideration that can reasonably be obtained" without needing consent from the secretary of state if the value is £2m or below.
The book value of the JMC was £4.6m but there is no evidence consent was sought.
The report also states the "decision was taken by an officer not explicitly authorised" and the form incorrectly states the foundation – which started in 2013 – had been "set up specifically for the transfer and ongoing management of the JMC".
The college provides adult education, and after the transfer in February 2020 the council began paying rent of £17,010 a month to the foundation, rising to £29,010 by February 2021.
The cabinet report states: "The lack of written lease also creates a significant degree of uncertainty as to the terms of the council's occupation and as to any liability which may have accrued."
Other payments of nearly £300,000 linked to maintenance were made, which the council considers "unlawful".
The council cannot foresee being able to buy back the JMC, and now needs to negotiate with the foundation as there is uncertainty over the college's current occupation from a legal standpoint.
Mohammed Jamil said the council had been on an "improvement journey"
Mohammed Jamil, the council's Labour cabinet member for finance, said the report's publication was "proof that where unlawful acts are identified as having taken place, the council's statutory officers will not shy away from their duty to report that wrongdoing, and we fully support that approach".
He said. "As part of our improvement journey since 2022, we committed to rapid and far-reaching improvements in relation to governance and financial management.
"Many of the steps we have taken in recent years have led to more robust processes and policies in relation to decision making. However, the recommendations which will go before cabinet next week seek to bolster this further."
The report recommends the council's "monitoring officer continues to explore all feasible avenues of legal redress in relation to the unlawful disposal of the JMC".
Tasha Dalton, principal at City College Peterborough, said: "We are aware of the publication of the report which relates to a historical matter.
"Our priority is to ensure the college learners, supported people and staff are as least affected as possible."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cjdrryge7ego
Posted by OneNormalBloke
22 comments
People need to go to jail for stuff like this and the government need to make sure the council is put right. Corruption like this cannot be allowed in this country
“The council cannot foresee being able to buy back the JMC” – why are we so soft? Just take back the building and give the corrupt foundation their £1.
Incompetence or corruption either way this stuff is unacceptable as it’s our money.
Be prepared for a half dozen inquiries at the end of which no action will be taken as the people responsible will have been allowed to retire two weeks previously.
Its common knowledge in Peterborough who these 3 individuals are. Can’t they be named?
Iirc This is what happened to a school in London. They sold the land of the original school for £1 or something along those lines, then a Jewish school was built on the land and the state school was left with barely any land or access. All the councillors at the time had ties to the people involved in the new religious school
Isn’t this fraud?
Council should buy it back for £1
https://www.cambsnews.co.uk/news/principal-and-two-colleagues-told-to-stay-home-as-inquiry-launched/12543/
Just make it illegal to sell public land for less than its market value. There is never a situation where it is acceptable and it just invites corruption in a population that’s already very susceptible to it.
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private eye has been exposing this type of corruption for years
so much of it going on sadly.
This is why we need local journalism to improve … we need proper dedicated reporters in our cities combing through and asking difficult questions about this kind of activity … too much corruption in our cities and councils.
Misconduct in a Public Office should carry heavy prison time.
And because MIAPO can cover all sorts of things from nepotism to sexual offences, I’d also create a new offence of Defrauding the Public Purse, with a minimum 10 year term, and any honours (CBEs, knighthoods, etc) automatically rescinded. Conviction of either means you are barred from any employment principally funded by taxpayers for life.
Beneficiaries of any misconduct to be personally liable; LLP and LTD status doesn’t cover criminality anyway. So if you are, or were at the time, a director or board member of a business that benefitted, your personal assets are in play.
The council doesn’t own anything, the public who pay the council tax should be the owners. Council buildings should not be sold off without a full explanation to the public the reasons why and only with majority public backing should they be allowed to dispose of properties at market value, and they should not be renting/ or leasing any buildings sold. Its mind numbing how the council believes the figures add up and that we’re getting a good deal. Bet my last pound the buyers are related to someone at the council .
See Redcar
Well at least they’re now on an “Improvement Journey”
Thats so rotten!!
Same City council that borrowed £15m from central government to then lend it to a private developer who were supposed to build a Hilton Hotel. Developer went bust half way into the build and the city have taken the unfinished building back. So far, with interest payments, the council are in it for about £17m, and expect to be able to sell the unfinished building to a new developer for circa £14m.
Peterborough City Council are giving Donald J Trump a run for his money when it comes to failed business projects!
Sounds like the type of thing that happens in hyper-corrupt 3rd world countries.
So did someone basically steal an entire building?
This is Peterborough through and through.
Wait until I tell you about our solar panels, half built hotel, title winning speedway team, sinkhole and every election ever held locally.
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