THE trustees of a former primary school in Rathmell and the diocese of Leeds settled their dispute out of court on Monday, hours before a scheduled High Court hearing (News, 5 April).
It now clears the way in which for the diocese to approach the Secretary of State for Education for a ruling under the Education Act 1996 for an Educational Endowment Order.
The contested legal ownership of the previous school, which had change into voluntary-aided within the Fifties, has been conceded by the trustees as not subject to a reverter clause and eligible to be returned to descendants of the unique donor.
A key point of the dispute was whether or not the 1841 School Sites Act applied, under which any land grant of as much as an acre to trustees to be used as a faculty could immediately revert to the unique donor’s descendants should it stop to operate. Matthew Smith KC, acting for the diocese, said that experts who had examined the documentary evidence didn’t consider the unique 1869 scheme, whereby trustees and their supporters say that the varsity was endowed by a neighborhood landowner, Christopher John Geldard — to have made provision for reverter rights, or the Act.
A parliamentary return made in 1906 by the varsity’s trustees had a splash (—) within the section about whether the 1841 Act applied, and, through the years, no mention of the land’s value or its status as a present was made.
“This is a positive attestation that there was no separate deed, only a scheme, and so there is no such thing as a place for reliance on the 1841 Act,” Mr Smith said. “This is probably the most persuasive evidence, and the trustees’ claim was, at best, an optimistic interpretation of ‘gaps’ slightly than based on documentary record.”
A legal declaration on the matter, issued by the Recorder Janet Bignell KC, stated that “a relevant deed under the 1841 Act” was “highly unlikely”. “I’m entirely satisfied that the declaration must be made. My own reading of the documents reflects the claimaints’ interpretation. For all others who’ve sought to say an interest within the land, matters can move on. The issue of the reverter could be swept away.”
An agreed statement between all parties is anticipated in the end, and an open meeting will probably be held within the village of Rathmell this weekend, to elucidate the situation and consider options for the longer term. Since the varsity closed in 2017, the constructing has been used as a community facility.
A spokesperson for the diocese of Leeds said: “It is now a matter for the Secretary of State for Education as as to whether or to not make an order under section 554 of the Education Act 1996. It can be inappropriate for any party to comment any further at this stage.”
