Grant/Loan of Public Money to King William's College

Summary

The requester sought details regarding a £2.2 million loan to King William's College, but the authority responded with an unrelated letter demanding unpaid ground rent arrears for a Freeport property.

Key Facts

• The FOI request concerned a c£2.2 million loan to King William's College.
• The response provided was a letter regarding unpaid rent for Building D at the Freeport.
• The response letter is dated 31st March 2026, which is after the outcome date of 2025-06-26.
• The authority stated no ground rent payments had been received for the past six years.
• The case outcome was recorded as 'Not upheld'.

Data Disclosed

• c£2.2 million
• 2025-04-14
• 2025-06-26
• 31st March 2026
• 21/04/23
• 11th February
• £46,685.00
• 24th December, 2019
• 23rd December 2026
• £280,110.00
• £336,132.00
• 28 days

Original Request

Further to the announcement that KWC will receive a loan of c£2.2 million of taxpayer's money I seek the following information in respect of this namely: Details of the eligibility criteria for the grant under the Scheme by which it was made and such information which shows KWC met those criteria; and Date of grant request from KWC, the subsequent date the grant was approved and the date monies were advanced; and A copy of the grant application documentation submitted by the College; and Copies of all other information held relating to this grant (e.g. correspondence emails/apposite extracts from minutes of meetings/political briefings, Keys questions briefings, risk analysis, terms and conditions of the grant award, repayment schedule etc). This includes communication between the College and the Department, internal communication within the Department relating to any aspect the grant and communication between the Department and other areas of Government and other external bodies.

Data Tables (1)

Data Tables (reformatted)

Full Response Text

Mrs Arianne Denise Henson

Manager of Corporate Services 1st Floor, St Georges Court Upper Church Street, Douglas Isle of Man IM1 1EX

Telephone: (01624 686404) Website: https://www.iomdfenterprise.im/

31st March 2026

Dear ###,

RE: Unpaid Rent - Lease dated 21/04/23 – Building D and Land

I write in relation to the ground rent payable under the terms of your long lease of the
property and land situated on the Freeport, known as building D. Please see enclosed copy for reference.

Despite previous correspondence sent to you via email on the 11th February I have yet to hear back from you. This matter has now reached the stage where I am no longer able to offer any form of negotiated settlement and must now ask that you fulfil your legal obligations and pay the ground rent that is due.

Accordingly, our records show that no ground rent payments have been received for the past six years. Although formal demands were not previously issued, the rent remains properly due under the lease and is now payable. Please see Statement of Account also enclosed.

The arrears outstanding are as follows:

• Ground Rent Payable, per annum: £46,685.00 + VAT • Period of Arrears: 24th December, 2019 to 23rd December 2026 • Total Arrears Due: £280,110.00 + VAT

Please arrange payment of the outstanding sum of £336,132.00 inclusive of VAT within 28 days of the date of this letter.

If you believe that any part of this demand is incorrect or would face difficulties in paying the amount due, please contact me as soon as possible so that we may discuss your concerns.

If payment is not received, or I do not hear from you within the specified timeframe, I may need to consider further steps to recover the arrears as permitted under the lease and applicable law. However, I hope this will not be necessary and that the matter can be resolved promptly.

2 | P a g e
Thank you for your attention to this matter and I look forward to hearing from you in due course.

Manager of Corporate Services

Mrs Arianne Denise Henson

Manager of Corporate Services 1st Floor, St Georges Court Upper Church Street, Douglas Isle of Man IM1 1EX

Telephone: (01624 686404) Website: https://www.iomdfenterprise.im/

31st March 2026

Dear ###,

RE: Unpaid Rent - Lease dated 21/04/23 – Building D and Land

I write in relation to the ground rent payable under the terms of your long lease of the
property and land situated on the Freeport, known as building D. Please see enclosed copy for reference.

Despite previous correspondence sent to you via email on the 11th February I have yet to hear back from you. This matter has now reached the stage where I am no longer able to offer any form of negotiated settlement and must now ask that you fulfil your legal obligations and pay the ground rent that is due.

Accordingly, our records show that no ground rent payments have been received for the past six years. Although formal demands were not previously issued, the rent remains properly due under the lease and is now payable. Please see Statement of Account also enclosed.

The arrears outstanding are as follows:

• Ground Rent Payable, per annum: £46,685.00 + VAT • Period of Arrears: 24th December, 2019 to 23rd December 2026 • Total Arrears Due: £280,110.00 + VAT

Please arrange payment of the outstanding sum of £336,132.00 inclusive of VAT within 28 days of the date of this letter.

If you believe that any part of this demand is incorrect or would face difficulties in paying the amount due, please contact me as soon as possible so that we may discuss your concerns.

If payment is not received, or I do not hear from you within the specified timeframe, I may need to consider further steps to recover the arrears as permitted under the lease and applicable law. However, I hope this will not be necessary and that the matter can be resolved promptly.

2 | P a g e
Thank you for your attention to this matter and I look forward to hearing from you in due course.

Manager of Corporate Services