Council bosses move to sever shamed Tory peer's links to Newcastle academy » Education » 24dash.com

A Newcastle city academy faces a £2 million black hole in its finances after council education bosses moved to sever its links with disgraced Conservative millionaire Lord Laidlaw.

Newcastle's first city academy, due to open in September, was to benefit from money from the Scottish peer.

But Newcastle City Council has called on the Government to end the relationship between the school and Lord Laidlaw following the 65-year-old tax exile's admission to an "incurable" addiction to sex.

Council leader John Shipley said the Tory peer, who is reported to have paid for groups of prostitutes to fly to his Monte Carlo home for all-night sex, is not a good role model for pupils.

No education authority can remove a sponsor but Newcastle City Council hopes to force the Department for Children, Schools and Families to break "any last links" between the Excelsior City Academy and the millionaire.

Amid huge opposition to the Government's academies from teaching unions, Lord Laidlaw agreed in 2005 to sponsor the Newcastle school, which will replace West Gate Community College, managed by the LEA.

A Newcastle City Council spokesman said: "In light of his admissions and the inevitable and understandable concerns among parents, school staff and the wider community, we're urging the Government to explore finding an alternative sponsor so that any last links between Lord Laidlaw and the academy can be broken.

"We're offering to work closely with the Department of Children, Schools and Family in this search."

NUT spokesman Ian Grayson said: "We were opposed to the city academies in the first place.

"Schools should be democratically controlled, run by local education authorities which are locally accountable to the electorate and can be held accountable locally."

Lord Laidlaw had contributed £2 million in sponsorship out of a total cost of £38 million towards setting up the new academy, which will cater for 1,800 pupils aged 11 to 18 in the city's west end.