An arts charity has closed with the loss of around 100 jobs after the building it ran was closed down by the local council.
Staff at Croydon arts charity the Fairfield Trust have been told to apply for redundancy through the Government Redundancy Payment Services, because sufficient funds did not exist to pay them.
The council has claimed this is because the charity spent part of £750,000 closure funds given to it by Croydon Council on a cultural programme. But the charity said the funds were not earmarked for closure, and that in fact the council had refused to provide additional funding to shut the organisation down.
Fairfield (Croydon) Ltd, also known as the Fairfield Trust, shut down on 15 July because the building it ran, Fairfield Halls (pictured), had been closed for a two year council refurbishment programme.
Staff and councillors expressed dissatisfaction at the way the closure was handled.
One former employee told the Croydon Advertiser: “All they told us was that they were trying their best to make sure the paid us but couldn’t give us a definite answer. We kept asking but they never answered us while trying to avoid any questions about anything.”
A spokeswoman from Croydon Council confirmed to Civil Society News the council made a payment of £750,000 to the trust earlier this year, “on the understanding that this would cover all necessary costs of the closure, including to the staff”.
“It is very disappointing to learn today that this is not the case,” she said. “We hope this can be resolved in the speediest possible manner, and we have our sights firmly set on the future with the redevelopment of the venue.”
A spokeswoman for the charity said: "The funding from the council was not sufficient to cover the balance sheet, redundancy and other costs directly caused by the forced closure.
"The funding provided by the council was used, among other things, to refund advanced ticket sales, pay penalties to promoters who were booked in advance of anyone knowing the closure date, subsidise the programme from April to July, and keep paying suppliers, and therefore allow the venue to keep trading and people employed up to the closure date of July 15.
"The charity had requested increased funding to facilitate closure but this was not to be. All staff will receive their full redundancy payments, albeit via the government redundancy payment service."
