County MP to meet with Secretary of State in bid to recoup £11m spent on Northampton International Academy

The Northampton International Academy is due to open in September for 2,200 students, but the project has been besieged by a host of financial problems.

The £34.7m cost of the scheme has soared to £46.4m, with the cash-strapped county council picking up the tab.

Labour councillor Danielle Stone raised the issue at a full council meeting on Thursday, saying: "It has cost us millions of pounds and I expect to see some sort of progress on recouping that money, because it’s part of the reason why we are in the red and we need to be more lot more transparent and more focused on it.”

But council leader Matt Golby replied that he had exchanged emails with one of the county’s MPs, who was set to raise the issue of getting the money back from the Education Funding Agency.

He said: “The MP told me they are meeting with the Secretary of State to recoup some of our money. We will be doing our best and it’s something we’re not going to let go, because we did everything the government asked us to.”

Later on at the meeting, a motion from Councillor WInston Strachan called on the county council to ‘ensure the safe access to the school, parking and reconfiguration of the road system is in place’ before the school opens in September.

But Councillor Ian Morris, cabinet member for transport and highways, said he would reject the motion as works ‘had already started’.