Axed school may leave £160k bill

Taxpayers may have to pay £160,000 for printers and photocopiers ordered by an axed school closing after Christmas.

Danesmore Park School, Wednesfield, ordered 12 machines in February, when plans to close due to dwindling roll numbers had been put forward.

A five-year lease was signed to spread out the payments.But, despite the school shutting for good on December 31, it is believed the contract cannot now be cancelled, leaving taxpayers to foot the bill.

Wednesfield councillor Phil Bateman said the school currently has around £50,000 in reserves, but the cash will be passed back to the local authority when it closes and merges with Oak Meadow Primary School.

He said a transitional grant for the same amount of money would then be passed to Oak Meadow, but the new school will not be expected to stump up the outstanding cash for the printers.

In a letter to Councillor Bateman, Wolverhampton education officer Dave Rawlinson said: "The then headteacher signed an agreement on February 28 2007, at a time when the school was subject to a public notice proposing closure on August 31 2007, for the supply of 12 printers/photocopiers.

"This agreement commits the school to 20 quarterly payments of just over £8,000, more than £160,000 over five years.

"Legal and Procurement are working with us to minimise the cost of premature termination of the agreement, but this is likely to be substantial and will almost certainly wipe out the closing reserve."