TWO Church of England chaplains who serve Winchester College, Britain’s oldest independent school, have been sacked after an investigation by the school into how confidential information about fees was leaked to The Times.
The Rev Robert Ferguson, senior chaplain, and the Rev Nicholas von Malaise, assistant chaplain, were dismissed after a “lengthy and thorough investigation”, parents were told in a letter from the temporary headmaster, Tommy Cookson.
Mr Ferguson, 56, and Mr von Malaise, 42, were both well-liked and popular with students. One parent said yesterday that he was “staggered” to receive the letter from Mr Cookson, appointed to serve as temporary head until the arrival of Ralph Townsend from Oundle School in September 2005.
Mr Ferguson, a graduate of Leeds University, had been senior chaplain at Winchester since 1987. Before that he was chaplain at Cheltenham College for four years. Mr von Malaise, a graduate of University College, Oxford, had been at Winchester since 1992 after serving a curacy in Birmingham.
Winchester is one of about 60 top independent schools under investigation by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) over allegations of price fixing. In September last year, The Times disclosed details of correspondence between bursars which showed that they regularly exchanged details of proposed fee increases as they prepared their recommendations which, in the previous academic, year resulted in a record rise in charges.
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Sir Andrew Large, Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, was among recipients of an e-mail from the bursar of Winchester College showing expected increases at 20 schools. Sir Andrew is Warden, or chairman of governors, at Winchester.
Independent schools have consistently denied that they were guilty of price-fixing, saying that only general exchanges of information about fees took place.
The dismissals of the chaplains threatens to cast a cloud over the school’s 600th anniversary celebrations in October. The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, has been invited to preach at a special service of celebration.
In his letter, sent to parents last Friday, Mr Cookson said: “I have to write to you about a matter which relates to the hacking by boys of the school’s computer system last year. This led to the publication in two newspapers of confidential information obtained from the college’s files.” He said that the investigation uncovered evidence that the two chaplains “had not adhered to the standards expected of senior members of staff in relation to this and certain other management issues”.
He continued: “I, as headmaster, carried out an investigation into all relevant matters. The sub-warden was appointed by the warden (Sir Andrew Large to make a final decision after considering all the relevant material, including submissions by the chaplains. The decision was that the chaplains should be dismissed.”
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The chaplains appealed against the decision. Their appeal was heard by two fellows, as governors at Winchester are known. Alan Ryan, Warden of New College, and Robert Sutton, senior partner of Macfarlanes, a law firm in London, upheld the decision to dismiss them.
The Times disclosed details of extensive correspondence between schools about fee levels. It reported that Winchester and Eton College had sought a “supergrass” deal with the OFT last year for full immunity from potential multimillion-pound fines in return for assisting the inquiry into a possible cartel. The competition regulator offered to reduce any fines by 50 per cent.
The OFT’s inquiry into possible breaches of competition law began at Winchester, Eton, Westminster School and William Hulme’s Grammar School in Manchester. In February it was broadened to include more than 60 schools.
The OFT issued formal section 26 notices to many private schools demanding that they disclose all information relating to the setting of fees and other sensitive price information.
Schools found guilty of price fixing face fines of up to 10 per cent of three years’ turnover, and parents fear having ultimately to foot the bill through raised fees.
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In June, the OFT issued new guidance to independent schools. The OFT said that people who sit on the governing bodies of more than one independent school will be breaking competition law if they discuss fee increases. The OFT inquiry could take two years to complete.
Neither chaplain was available yesterday for comment.