The sum of money you are referring to is actually closer to £344k, and I am pleased to report that the Council received a cheque from Eton College for the full amount at the end of March. That money has now been credited to the education budget and is being held specifically for the Western House School as was intended. Originally, this money was set aside as a financial contribution from the developer of the so-called Cippenham sector housing estate paying towards the conversion of the Western House Junior School into an all-through primary school. Building work on this conversion is already under way and there will be no delay as a result, but if the money had not been recovered it would have been necessary to deduct an equivalent amount from elsewhere in the education budget to offset its loss.

The sum of money involved is a very substantial amount, equivalent to raising Council Tax by 1%, and it was lost when the last Administration forgot to invoice for it before the expiry of the deadline they had previously set, which was in February 2004. I am at a loss to understand how that happened, not only because my predecessor as Commissioner, Cllr Swindlehurst, says he monitored progress on completion of this Section 106 agreement on a monthly basis, but also because Eton College wrote to the Council twice to warn of the expiry date approaching.

Shortly after learning of this costly negligence, I visited Eton College in early November, expressing my desire to start a friendlier more open chapter in relations. I met the Provost and was told this was the first time an SBC Councillor had called upon them. The College freely accepted a "moral obligation" to pay the £344k but pointed out their difficulty arising from the fact that the money would have to be paid from their charitable trust and the Trustees could be held to be in breach of their legal obligations if they paid over money to settle a debt that could be argued to have been nullified because it had time expired. Some parameters were set within which the College were free to think about how to resolve the problem.

At a second meeting I attended at the College in early March a solution emerged that would satisfy all parties, and payment was made rapidly thereafter. This not only resolves a financial dispute but now puts SBC and Eton College in a better position to work together in partnership in the future. I am grateful for Eton College's constructive approach on this matter. They are the third largest landowner in Slough and already make a very positive contribution to Slough's sporting and educational provision through their share in the Thames Valley Athletics Centre and their erstwhile support for Slough and Eton School. I am sure there will be many opportunities to build on this co-operation.