Rotherham college pleads for £5 council loan

Rotherham College of Arts and Technology wants a loan from the authority to help pay for an £8.15 million building scheme .

The scheme replaces a £70 million plan, which had to be scrapped when funding from the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) was withdrawn by the previous Government last year as a result of the recession.

The college will provide £3.15 million from its own reserves to fund the the balance of the cost.

A formal proposal detailing the application to Rotherham Borough Council for the £5 million loan, to be repaid over 25 years, will be put before a meeting of authority’s Cabinet next Wednesday.

The plea for funding comes at a time when borough councillors are desperately trying to find ways of making £11 million cuts to their budget and admitting that they could have to cut up to 100 jobs.

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Demolition of some of RCAT’s existing buildings appeared to begin in earnest at the start of last month but a spokesman for the college this week insisted that the work was part of an “on-going development plan” and was not pre-empting the request for the loan.

A report to councillors on the application states: “Reference has been to RCAT’s business plan and accounts to establish the level of risk and it is felt that RCAT’s financial position is such that the risk of not receiving repayment is low.”

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