£1billion of title deeds for schools transferred to private companies

[BeingAMumIsFun]

Before the election councils in England held the title deeds to schools and land valued at over £2.5 billion

But most people don't know the very fine print of the academies bill means

1. The title deeds of the school and the land are transferred to a private company when the school becomes an academy

1. Michael Gove borrows £25,000 to pay the legal fees for the private companies to ensure the title deeds are transferred from the council (us taxpayers who paid to build the schools - to these private companies)

So far £1billion of title deeds for schools have been transferred from taxpayers - with Michael gove increasing the deficit by £481,750,000 - just for legal fees to transfer ownership of the schools from councils to private companies

So who has the title deeds now

Tory party member Philip Harris has his hands on £millions worth of title deeds. (Philip Harrismade donations to David Cameron as leader of the Conservative Party. He is considered to be one of his personal friends

Stanley Fink, another friend of Cameron has donated £2.62m to the Conservative party and David Cameron made Fink a Lord as soon as he came to power, and David Cameron has since made him Tory Party Treasurer and also handed his company £millions title deeds for schools

And today David Cameron has told us, as well as changing the law to transfer state assets to Tory party members (and I thought only China did that) - now he is changing the laws to allow them to start selling the Land

Just so you know - Stanley Fink - his company states in their accounts - any extra money - his company has a policy to transfer the funds to the Cayman Islands - via a stockbrokers that Stanley fink just happens to be on the board of

Now if I remember correctly the directors of southern cross did the same thing with care homes - selling them off - the money disappears offshore the company goes bust and pensioners left high and dry (with taxpayers expected to step in)

Well Cameron has just announced Tory party members who have their hands on the title deeds for our schools and the school land can start doing the same thing

And just to be clear - Stanley Fink's company accounts for the schools also state - if Stanley fink's company controlling the schools, the school budgets and the title deeds goes bust - Stanley Fink (Tory party treasurer on the Times rich list) only has to pay £10

Academies are not about education - they are about asset stripping and English parents and children, will find themselves, just like the pensioners and their families who were left without facilities due to the very rich directors of Southern Cross selling off the assets and disappearing in to the sunset

Do MIchael Gove and David Cameron shout from the rooftops that they are spending £25,000 per school to cover legal fees to transfer the title deeds to Tory Party members - no

I wonder why not - could it be they don't want England's parents to know the real intentions of the academies bill - it's not about education - it is about asset stripping by Tory Party members - thanks to David Cameron, Michael Gove, every Tory MP and every LIberal MP

These are your schools - they do not belong to the Tory Party (well they do now)

Ask Michael Gove if your council gets the money when they sell off school land

Ask Stanley Fink (ARK SCHOOLS) - will this Tory Party treasurer be selling playing fields and as his accounts state, the money be transferred to the Cayman Islands (with his stockbrokers taking a cut along the way)

Serious questions - £1billion worth of assets stripped -- £half a billion in legal fees to pay for it (which we the taxpayers must pay back as Gove had to borrow the money)

Have you not read this thread? The allegations made by the OP are completely untrue. The land used by academies remains in public ownership. The amount transferred into private ownership is nil. If, as the OP suggests, you ask Michael Gove if your council gets the money when they sell off school land he can honestly answer yes, they do. Every penny. (assuming we are talking about an academy that was previously an LA-controlled school - the position is different for academies that have converted from VA, VC or foundation status as the land used for those schools was never in public ownership)

So - sorry, really thick....

Who made the decision to sell the land? The school or the council? And why would that decision be made?

From your explanation, the only organisation to gain from this is the council (Q2).

Where is the school getting money for redevelopment from, if, as you say, 'the money does not get fed directly into the school'?

The decision was made by the council, after public consultation (which led to revised plans).

prh47bridge has already provided a link to the consultation documents.

Sorry.... missed that link.
I (kind of) understand now.

This may be a stupid further question:
Would it be more difficult for the council and school to sell the land once they become an academy? I s that why it is being rushed through before September?

Just for clarity...

The school is not getting the money for redevelopment. The council is redeveloping the school. If you live in a rented accommodation and the landlord decides to change the windows, say, he doesn't usually give you the money to upgrade the windows. He pays for the work himself. That is exactly the same as is happening here. The council, as landlord, has decided to refurbish the school buildings and will pay for that work itself.

Off the top of my head I can't think of any reason why it would be more difficult for the council to sell the land once the school becomes an academy. The lease would need to be adjusted but that is relatively minor compared to the other hoops they need to jump through. It doesn't seem to me like it is being rushed through - that allegation tends to be made to objectors to pretty much any scheme regardless of the timescales involved. I may be wrong but given the current state of play I suspect the land will not be sold before September.

It's also worth pointing out that any assets an academy has are held on its charitable trusts. If it sells them it must get full market value and apply the proceeds of sale in furtherance of education for the benefit of the pupils. There are special rules that apply to disposals of land by a charity, which include a requirement for an assessment by a surveyor.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19291911

I have been thinking about why even the most socialist-led councils and boroughs are allowing this? Of course, OFSTED and HMI have them thoroughly demoralised. It has been made more and more difficult, more and more disheartening, to have responsibility for local schools and education, so that councils are breathing big sighs of relief when their schools are taken off their hands.

Thank goodness for prh on the thread because otherwise a very false picture would have been painted.

prh47bridge
you seem to explain things well - what is this for: The Academies (Land Transfer Schemes) Regulations 2012 - www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2012/1829/made

The fact is that our schools and the land they stand on belong to the local community. No business or profit-making enterprise should have anything at all to do with them.
Not in any way shape or form.

username1 - In brief, these regulations allow an academy to be given either a leasehold or freehold interest in land held by the LA (either leasehold or freehold) which either was a school previously but is no longer used, or which has been identified by the LA as a possible site for a new school. Under the Academies Act 2010, if the academy closes any land that has been transferred reverts to the LA. As I have said previously, schools converting to Academy status hold any publicly owned land on a 125-year lease.

readingwoman - It is a good job academies are not businesses nor are they profit-making enterprises then! However, I would be interested to hear your views on those who maintain the buildings (local businesses), those who supply the equipment used (businesses), the operators of the canteen (often contractors) and so on. Even in an LA-controlled school, there are a lot of businesses and profit-making enterprises involved in the operation of the school one way and another.

prh47bridge - thanks, seems there is less to worry about than some would have us believe, hopefully

Your all missing the point here, "they" are selling our school playing fields!! Where are our kids supposed to play sports. Where will they do P.E. Maybe the schools can work out a circuit through the housing estates (that will no doubt be built on the land) for the field events & cross country race's.

Hilarious that some people are so ready to believe an anonymous post simply because it chimes with their own world view, no questions asked.

This is one of the best threads ever and should be published ideally in the Guardian and Telegraph as it shows how you always need to delve into the facts before jumping to conclusions and always read the underlying law and regulations.

It also shows how much people will seek to misrepresent things to con people into taking a particular view.

The report is more correct than you would want to know, it is hidden in clever legal speak.

If that is not bad enough then what is going on in the schools is far worse. They have set forth a tried and tested programming system, last seen in Europe, in Germany, which gave birth to the minds to fill the Third Reich. It worked then and today they have technology to enhance the systems while keeping teacher and parent out of the knowing loop. The class of 2010 Heads however, know what they are doing.

The corporations are dictating curriculum, they are also dictating how the teachers mark the topics. Our children are not being educated they are being programmed. (see below videos)

Here are a few links to help you better understand why we need to get very concerned, enough to action, about what is really going on in the schools :
Programming the Third Reich :

www.lifeinthemix.info/2012/03/profile-froebel-education-method-reich/

Parents evening :

Part II :

Part III :

(I would advise you listen to the parents evening recording first, before watching images and information also contained in the videos)

Oh dear. All we need now is the lizard people and I think we've got the set.

If you are looking for high end benefactors to the Academy agenda, specifically linked to the corporate curriculum, then Robert Stephen Rubin is a good start :

www.lifeinthemix.info/2012/09/profile-robert-stephen-rubin-obe-frsa/

The clever bit is to have you believe the councils are still your councils. To be frank nothing could be further from the truth, British councils today are corporations as I found out when investigating the 'Big Society' and my own council :

"I worked on numerous academy conversions..."

Then why are you hiding behind an anonymous pseudo, Leftwingharpie? You wouldn't be a bullsh*tter would you?

"If it sells them it must get full market value and apply the proceeds of sale in furtherance of education for the benefit of the pupils."

No it doesn't, not all of it, especially when you don't have to account for and justify 10% of your spending in detail.

"Oh dear. All we need now is the lizard people and I think we've got the set.

Insulting people, that's a mature way to go about debate then, prh47bridge.

Generally a sure sign of someone who's been making things up, has run out of ideas so resorts to insults to cover their tracks and divert attention.

The Cayman Islands are a tax haven. The only reason for putting your money there is to avoid UK taxes. Looks like we taxpayers are being forced to transfer assets to a tax-dodging company - at a peppercorn lease ie for the grand sum of a tenner a year or thereabouts.

"Under the Academies Act 2010, if the academy closes any land that has been transferred reverts to the LA."

Where precisely do you read in the Schedule 1 Land Transfer section of the 2010 Act that land is automatically and always transferred back? The Act includes several possible options for the land, all down to the whim of the SoS and none of them binding.