Probe launched into finances of failed St Margaret's school

Published on Monday 5 July 2010 09:40

A TEACHING union is investigating whether pension contributions, student loan repayments and registration fees deducted from the salaries of staff at the axed St Margaret's school actually went where they were meant to go.

It has emerged that former teaching staff at St Margaret's, which closed its doors last week after the school went into administration, are "suspicious" that the money deducted from their salaries has not reached its destination.

The EIS teaching union has been called in to investigate whether the pension provider, the Student Loans Company and the General Teaching Council Scotland (GTCS) received the payments deducted from staff salaries between September last year until the school went into administration last month.

It is understood staff became suspicious after receiving a letter from administrators KPMG which advised teachers who had opted to pay their annual registration fee to the GTCS from their salary that the deductions were "not forwarded to GTCS".

Staff also became worried about their pension when the letter stated KPMG is "liaising with the pension provider to establish if there are any pension contribution arrears up to the date of insolvency".

Dave McGinty, area officer for the EIS union, said: "The school is in liquidation and the EIS is trying to examine all the financial transactions that have taken place over the past year.

"We are investigating pensions, contributions to the GTCS and contributions to the Student Loans Company.

"Teachers who have contacted us do not know whether deductions that were made went to where they were meant to go.

"We do have issues with both KPMG and the school as to where the sums are that were deducted from their salaries from September last year through to when the liquidators were appointed.

"This is a very serious situation for our members."

The Evening News revealed in May that St Margaret's was having financial difficulties after it imposed a teachers' pay freeze.

The school admitted that it had done so due to "difficulties in the economy".

However, parents were only informed of the seriousness of the school's financial troubles last month when they were sent an e-mail saying it had gone into administration.

A group of parents set up a fundraising campaign in a bid to take ownership of the school. However, they ran out of time to raise the 2.5 million needed to pay off its existing creditors.

They were forced to admit defeat, and the school closed its doors on Tuesday.

No-one at KPMG could be contacted for comment.