Hopefully, the end of the bad times

12.00.00am GMT Tue 9th Sep 2003

Cllr Chris Maines says it is time for the School and Education Authority to look ahead. "The real losers out of this sorry situation were the pupils of St John Rigby during the years of Grant Maintained status when Ms McCabe was Principal. It is their opportunities that were stolen and nobody will be able to replace those chances denied to them through a lack of resources."

Chris Maines, Co-Leader of Bromley Council when the fraud was revealed, said "The school was let down by it's private auditors and we should thank the Council's team for discovering the goings on. The Council then acted speedily to deal with the situation."

The conviction of Colleen McCabe finally draws a line under Bromley's sad history of Grant Maintained Schools. Sixteen of Bromley Council's 17 secondary schools went Grant Maintained. Ms McCabe was not the only Head that abused a system, which did not have the checks and balances required when large sums of public money are involved.

"Hopefully, we have returned to a system that ensures no individual can channel much needed funds away from the classroom for personal benefit and we have rejected the ethos that surrounded the Grant Maintained system. " says Cllr Maines.