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Administrators take over at West Kent to protect students By Andy Tong andy@timesoftonbridge.co.uk WEST KENT COLLEGE has been placed in educational administration in order to protect the students from the financial problems that have engulfed the company that runs it. The Hadlow Group is being investigated by the Further Education Commissioner [FEC] over allegations of financial irregularities. The probe was launched following the resignation of principal Paul Hannan and his deputy Mark Lumsdon-Taylor earlier this year. Hadlow College, which is also run by the group, had already entered educational administration in May. It was the first college in the country to do so after the FEC, Richard Atkins, visited it and found it had ‘completely run out of money’. The process is primarily designed to ensure that the provision of courses continues, with the interests of creditors coming second. Now West Kent has applied to do the same and has been accepted, along with its sister site Ashford College. There are 343 staff and 2,626 students at the Brook Street location. It is seen as a positive move while the future of the various strands of the Hadlow Group are resolved. Mr Atkins has recommended that the group should be split up and the different colleges be run by other educational providers in the county. He said that West Kent and Hadlow College should be taken over by North Kent College. That would keep the two neighbours together, while he also calls for
Ashford College to be handed over to East Kent College instead. The Education and Skills Funding Agency [ESFA] has said that applying for educational administration is the most effective way of achieving this complex transaction. Tom Tugendhat, the MP for Tonbridge & Malling who has worked closely with the FEC and the Department for Education, welcomed the news. He said: “I am assured by the college and administrators that this is a necessary step in order to safeguard the long-term interests of students and staff at West Kent College.
‘This is part of the solution rather than the emergence of another problem’ “This is very much part of the solution, rather than the emergence of another problem. “I am delighted that the Further Education Commissioner agrees that its partnership with Hadlow College is essential for the education of students in Tonbridge – something that I made very clear to him and the Department for Education during his assessment.” He added: “I spoke at length to the Commissioner and also the then Minister at the Department for Education, Anne Milton, about what is best for us locally. “I was quite clear that it is essential that the link between Hadlow College and West Kent College remain. “Both colleges offer completely different courses and ensure that as
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Sabrina Goacher
Body discovered as police hunt for missing college supervisor POLICE are awaiting the results of a post-mortem today after finding a body near the centre of Tunbridge Wells. It is understood that the deceased is Sabrina Goacher, a 30-year-old who went missing on Sunday [August 18]. The body was found in a wooded area near the Common on Monday night [August 19]. Kent Police said Ms Goacher, who lived in Tunbridge Wells, had last been seen on Sunday at around 6am. Officers were called to a location off Church Road at 8.47pm on Monday. Detectives are now working to
establish the cause of her death, which is being treated as ‘unexplained’. Ms Goacher’s family have been informed. Ms Goacher worked as front-of-house supervisor at West Kent College since October last year. She was also an events co-ordinator at the college, which is run by the Hadlow Group and forms part of West Kent and Ashford College [WKAC]. She had held the post for three years, working with the marketing team to develop a venue hire portfolio.
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