Of the 45,000 children in school in Derby, 3300 have Special Educational Needs (SEN) subject to an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP). On average those children with an EHCP, in a mainstream school in Derby, cost the Council £11,000 pa. If the child has to go to a local authority school out of Derby, this figure increases to £16,000 pa.

If the child’s needs can only be met by an Independent school then the average cost increases to £56k pa, however this is heavily skewed towards one school – Alderwasley Hall School. Around 30 children, from Derby, attend this school with an average cost to Derby City Council of £136k per child.

In the last 2 years there has been a 35% increase in the number of SEN children going to Out of Area Independent Schools ( 190 to 258); the average cost per child has increased by 20% ( £46kpa to £56k pa). In 2 years the total cost to Derby City Council has increased from £8.9m to £14.5m – 63% increase! Without savings elsewhere, this would have required a ~5% increase in Council Tax to pay for it.

~30% of the budget for Out of Area placements at Independent schools goes to Alderwasley Hall School

Alderwasley Hall School is owned and run by SENAD Ltd, a company owned by SENAD Group Ltd, which is registered in the Isle of Man; it is ultimately owned and bank-rolled by the Qatar Investments Authority which is under the full beneficial ownership of the 4th Prime Minister of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani.

Sheikh who secured World Cup for Qatar has UK links going back decades

Who or what is SENAD?

Alderwasley Hall School Ltd was incorporated on 26th June 1974 under local ownership. On 5th August 1991 it changed its name to Honormead Schools Ltd. It grew in business over the next 10 years, profitably, and then became uneconomic and illiquid in 2003. On 10th January 2003 all of the shares were sold to Dolphin Schools Ltd which changed its name to SENAD Ltd; it was then bought by The SENAD Group Ltd which injected £2.8m of cash.

On 5th July 2006 The SENAD Group Ltd was bought by SENAD Investments Ltd which was ultimately owned by Delta Commercial Property LP, an investment vehicle of Three Delta LLP acting on behalf of the Qatar Investment Authority. The purchase price was £114.3m and was funded by a £90m loan from Nomura International plc at an interest of 5.16%.

On 30th June 2008 the company was sold to SENAD Group Ltd, a company registered in the Isle of Man; it was owned by Gabara Ltd which is the Nominee of the Qatar Investment Authority, and Qatar Holding LLC, which also owns Harrods.

In 2008, SENAD Investments Ltd wrote off £41.4m of the original investment; it considered that the schools were overvalued.

In 2009, the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) provided a loan to SENAD of £65m; this, in conjunction with other capital injections paid off the £90m Nomura loan.

By 2022, the loan to QIA, which was charging interest at 3% pa (~£1m pa), was down to £32m; this was mortgaged across all school properties, and other assets within the SENAD group. The sum of the various companies in the group showed a net liability ( negative net worth) of £11.46m.

The group was profitable in the last reported financial year (to 31st August 2022), however this heavily relied on Alderwasley Hall School.

There are currently 4 Directors, Brian Jones (Non-executive Chairman) and Richard Atkinson (Chief Executive Officer) who were appointed in 2007 following the initial takeover, and 2 people from Qatar – Abdul Rahim bin Mohammed Ali and Navid Chamdia.

Brian Jones was awarded Honorary Master of the University of Derby (HonMUniv) in July 2019 at Derby Arena in recognition of his work to promote and ensure equality of education provision for young people and adults.

Comment

According to its 2022 OFSTED report Alderwasley Hall School is “Outstanding” and it clearly provides a great opportunity for 30+ children in Derby with Special Educational Needs.

The Qatar Investment Authority is just that. It has no declared educational, or socially conscious, objective to support children with special needs. It practises “active portfolio management”

“We manage our portfolio actively to create value. We frequently assess the performance of our portfolio against the initial investment thesis.”

The extent of QIA’s initial investment is contained within the offshore accounts of SENAD Group Ltd; it is known that it has invested at least £65m to keep the group afloat for which it receives ~ £1m pa. It’s difficult ot see how the QIA is getting value from its investment.

The only financial value to QIA comes from Alderwasley Hall School, and its high fees, paid for by Derby City Council ( and other local authorities)… and therefore the Council tax payer. Whether the fees represent good value for the Derby City tax payer is a moot point – at the moment it generates some value for the Qatar Investment Authority. How long the QIA will be interested in such poor returns is a key question and whether Derby City Council has identified the risk of QIA disinvesting?