Imperial did not carry out an Impact Assessment prior to Prince’s Garden lease
A Freedom of Information Request from Felix found that Imperial did not carry out an Equality Impact Assessment prior to its decision to lease 14–15 Prince’s Garden to Brighton College Prep Kensington.
The College also refused to disclose the financial terms of the 40-year lease, which is expected to be signed in the fall of 2026, arguing that “doing so could prejudice both the university’s and lessee’s commercial interests”. Felix has appealed this refusal.
An Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) is a framework designed by Imperial to anticipate the impact of a new policy or project, which the College calls “an integral part of fair decision-making, and considered as part of the normal planning processes alongside risk, budget, health, and safety.”
“I’m surprised that by an absence of an EIA,” said Anson To, ICU’s Deputy President for Welfare. “While relevant teams are actively working to ensure that the new space meets all the user requirements, […] the question of how the decision was made still remains. Students were not pleased with the lack of consultation in the decision-making process. I believe students would like to know what will be put in place to prevent similar issues from happening in the future.”
Student groups said they were blindsighted by the announcement of the lease in January, which entails a relocation of religious spaces and a reduction of the area of student-run gardens currently hosted on the premises.
Imperial notes that, while no formal Equality Impact Assessment document was produced, equality impacts were considered as part of the decision‑making process, including engagement with affected groups and the provision of alternative accommodation, in line with its obligations under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010 as interpreted in R (Brown) v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2008] EWHC 3158 (Admin) and Bracking v Secretary of State for Work and Pensions [2013] EWCA Civ 1345.
