The Relationship Between Stantonbury Campus (SC)

The relationship between Stantonbury Campus (SC)

and Stantonbury Arts & Leisure Trust (SALT)

Background and rationale

The Theatre, Gallery and Leisure Centre were originally owned and operated by Buckinghamshire County Council, then by Milton Keynes Council before being transferred to Stantonbury Campus in 1998. They have always been a community facility as well as being used to support the school curriculum, student performances, assemblies, meetings and so on.

Financial support from the local authority was progressively reduced over time and was completely withdrawn a few years ago. However, both facilities remain a key part of the local plans for community sports and arts.

In 2014, the Campus transferred operational and financial responsibility to Stantonbury Arts and Leisure Trust (SALT), a charitable incorporated organisation set up for the purpose. The single member of the Trust is the governing body of Stantonbury Campus, which appoints the trustees.

The main drivers for the establishment of the Trust were to empower the Trust’s management to operate more commercially, to enable the Trust to seek external funding and to reduce the demands upon the staff and governors of the Campus by delivering a number of support services to the Campus. It is expected that SALT will in due course make sufficient operating surplus to allow it to contribute financially to the school.

Lease to SALT

The arts and leisure facilities (leisure centre, theatre, gallery, ashurst sports hall, sports fields, tennis/netball courts, athletics stadium and clubhouse, all-weather pitch) are leased by Stantonbury Campus to SALT for a period of 25 years. A rent of £1,000 is payable annually. SC remains responsible for the fabric of the buildings, plant etc while SALT is responsible for day to day maintenance, utilities and so on. The lease includes a licence arrangement where SC have access to the majority of the facilities for school use during the school day.

Management Agreement, Shared Premises Agreement and Service Level Agreements

SALT and SC have a management agreement in place which governs the day to day operation of the facilities, use of the facilities by the school and a range of services provided by SALT to SC in return for fees. The Management Agreement is reviewed annually.

Annex C of the Management Agreement – Maintenance and development of the premises sets out what each party is responsible for concerning the property, plant, contents and so on.

There are also some services which SC currently provides to SALT (eg HR, financial management and ICT support) which are covered by SLAs.