Worthing council agrees to £5million loan to Brighton college

A £5m loan to the Greater Brighton Metropolitan College will earn Worthing Borough Council around £100,000 per year, councillors have been told.
Plans for GB Met's Pelham Street campusPlans for GB Met's Pelham Street campus
Plans for GB Met's Pelham Street campus

The loan, which will help GB Met create a £21m centre for creative and digital industries at its Pelham Street campus  in central Brighton, was given the thumbs-up by all at a meeting of the council on Tuesday evening (July 23).

Leader Daniel Humphreys said the loan was an ‘exciting proposal’ and added: “It’s a fantastic way for us to support the further education sector in our area, which does need support.

“It’s great that we’re able to help out.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

GB Met was created by the merger of City College Brighton and Northbrook College in 2017.

The development of the new centre will also allow the college to develop a higher education centre at its West Durrington campus, in partnership with the University of Arts London.

Labour leader Rebecca Cooper called it a ‘good initiative’ but asked for assurances about the number of students from Adur and Worthing who would be taken on by GB Met.

A report to the meeting said that, over the last three years, 499 Adur students and 643 from Worthing had studied at the Pelham campus.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The new centre would deliver 100 new advanced-level and higher-level apprentices, 140 higher or technical level graduates and 260 additional level 3 students by 2020/21.

Mrs Cooper also asked about help with transport costs for the students.

She said: “Obviously given that there’s two campuses, I presume the two campuses are going to offer different courses.

“So I think there should be some consideration about subsidised transport options for Adur and Worthing pupils wanting to take courses that are available at the Brighton campus and not the Worthing one.”