• THE long list of Westminster Conservatives’ waste of public money has just got longer.

This week it was announced that the Sir Simon Milton University Technical College (UTC) in Sutherland Street, Pimlico, is to close in August 2022.

Costing nearly £16million of public money to build, the UTC opened in September 2017 for 14- to 19-year-olds.

Against considerable local opposition, Westminster Conservatives forced through the planning application, claiming the new college would transform local education.

Far from being a success, the college failed to attract enough students to make it viable or offer a good education. With a capacity for 550 students, there are under 150 students currently on roll.

The problem was not a lack of money. The UTC received regular financial grants from the government.

For the year ending July 2019 the college had £319,000 in capital grants, on top of £395,000 in 2018 and just over £1million in 2017.

The sad fact of the matter is that millions of pounds have been wasted on a project whose main objective was to create another legacy for the former Conservative leader of the city council.

Time and time again, the Westminster Conservatives show they cannot be trusted to spend public money with proper care. The £6million Marble Arch Mound fiasco is not a “one-off”.

The waste of £16million on building the failed Sir Simon Milton UTC is yet another example of Westminster Conservatives’ financial incompetence.

CLLR PAUL DIMOLDENBERG
Labour City Management Spokesperson
City Hall, Victoria Street, SW1