Brighton And Hove Friends Centre Goes Into Administration

The future of adult learning in Brighton and Hove suffered a big setback - as the Friends Centre went into administration on Friday.

In April, Brighton and Hove City Council had agreed to bring adult and community learning “in house” and to take over the Friends Centre’s lease.

But the council had not been able to reach an agreement on the lease for the Isetta Square premises owned by housebuilder Crest Nicholson.

At the council’s Special Policy and Resouces Committee meeting yesterday, councillors raised their concerns that adult education was not being brough in house as previously agreed.

In April members had agreed to spend £61,030 on the transition process to bring the service in house, money that will now not be used.

Green councillor Hannah Clare, who chairs the Children, Young People and Skills Committee, called for an investigation by the Audit and Standards Committee into why councillors’ decision to bring the service in house and take on the lease was not followed through.

She said:

“I am sure that no party nor the former Labour administration wished for the current situation to unfold.

“But in my view, it is important that lessons are learned from this so that we can prevent it from happening in the future.”

Councillor Clare, who also became deputy leader of the council last week when the Greens took over from Labour, said that it was disappointing that there was little that could be done at this stage to stop the Friends Centre going into administration.

Forty-six people are losing their jobs with one member of staff moving over to the council.

In her new role, Councillor Clare said that she wanted to focus on providing a service for vulnerable learners in the city.

She said:

“That is why we now want to instruct council officers to liaise closely with other adult education providers in the city about options for future alternative provision, which I know is a request officers are already working hard on.

“We have a number of partners already who I hope can step in and fill this gap.”

Conservative councillor Joe Miller backed the call for the investigation as his group had planned to vote against the report until Councillor Clare put the case for an audit.

He said:

“There was obviously wasted time keeping the in-house service alive and we could have moved and embraced some time looking to third sector partners to deliver that service.

“We have got concerns raised to us by members of the community that somewhat officers have slowed the process down, which has led to this.”

Councillor Miller said a backup plan should have been in place to make the voluntary and community sectors aware the council might be relying on them to shore up adult education.

Labour group deputy leader, councillor John Allcock, former chair of the Children, Young Peope and Skills Committee, asked what happened when officers looked at the centre’s books and heard the council’s principal accountant say that there had been “significant financial difficulties” for several years.

Councillor Allcock said:

“We need to ensure those that are suffering disadvantage in the labour market are supported effectively to make the most of what’s going to be quite challenging economic opportunities in the country and in the city.

“Particularly at this time when we’re looking at a very difficult economic situation moving forward.

“The adult education service is targeted those who were most disadvantaged, those who had missed out early on in terms of educational opportunities.

“We need to think about where they are and focus on them moving forward.”

One member of staff who has lost their job said that closures and cancellations due to covid-19 had added to the charity’s financial problems.

Redundant staff will have to recover their redundancy payments through the administration process.

The staff member said:

“Friends Centre has been delivering adult education courses in Brighton for 75 years.

“The staff, team, volunteers and learners are all devastated by this news which comes just three days before the expected transfer date of (Saturday) 1 August.”

Councillors voted unanimously for the audit and for an urgent exploration into what adult learning can be in place by September.

The family learning element of the adult education service will be delivered online or through distance-based learning where possible.

The council will also look to sub-contracting arrangements for other elements of adult education for the coming year.