Hi, i am also posting a copy of the letter that Don Wright Lib dem spokesman for Children and Young People, sent to the Cabinet at its meeting on Tuesday. This issue plus the care homes is definately going to make the Budget season (in January) alot more important.

Revised submission to Cabinet re. Melton Schools reorganisation 15 / 12 / 09

The Liberal Democrat Group makes the following submission to the Cabinet with regard to the proposed closure of King Edward VV School, Melton and asks that it be considered:

1.    A three-school plan for secondary school reorganisation in Melton was adopted by the Administration two years ago and came into full operation in September 2009. This occurred despite much uncertainty and doubt about whether forecasted pupil numbers could justify such a scheme.  2.    The phasing of new school building on the John Ferneley site and the major extensions and improvements on the Long Field site, in contrast to no refurbishment on the King Edward site, made a considerable impact on parental choice. Understandably many parents were drawn to the excellent new facilities being provided at John Ferneley and Long Field and these attractions have overshadowed the fact that King Edward VII, without the advantage of extra building, has made major and rapid improvement in performance under its new and strong leadership.

3.    In view of unbalanced pupil numbers the Administration is proposing closure of King Edward VII just 12 weeks after the start of the plan – a proposal that has led to massive public protest. Melton parents have seen how the process has become unfairly distorted and understand fully the unique value of King Edward VII to the town and its huge contribution over a hundred years and now to the education of its children. They demand a fairer deal for this school.

4.    King Edward VII can make a strong case for its retention at KS4 Level as detailed in the information published by its parent support group. King Edward VII has by far the strongest case for leadership and involvement in teaching and learning at the new Post-16 Centre. Putting the needs of learners first is, of course, a key principle but effective learning can only be achieved through using and employing the best and most experienced teachers at the appropriate levels and King Edward VII has them in abundance.

5.    Under the pressure of recent events the Melton Partnership has begun to weaken and schools have openly declared that they see a two-school solution as the way forward. This Darwinian struggle for survival and supremacy is severely damaging the good intentions of the original partnership and is no basis for sound decision-making.

6.    Accordingly the Liberal Democrat Group calls on the Administration to delay any decision on this matter to allow a further period of discussion and negotiation and to enable a satisfactory conclusion to be reached, under which all three Melton secondary schools continue to have a role to play in this reorganisation.

Following on from recent events in Melton, the County Lib Dems have produced an amendment for next Wednesday Full Council. My colleague Cllr Don Wright is leading on this and the press release shows what we are trying to acheive: 

“Cllr Don Wright, Lib Dem Spokesman on CYPS, said: “our amendment proposes a way forward. It highlights key, factual and relevant points that need to be addressed in response to the problems of pupil numbers in Melton’s schools. We believe that people in other areas due for reorganisation such as Loughborough need to be reassured that this doesn’t happen again. But we disagree with Labour on the need for an independent enquiry, which would be costly, drawn out and undermines the efforts of the Director of CYPS” 

Cllr Simon Galton, Leader of the Opposition said “Our amendment allows for a proper mechanism by involving the Council’s Scrutiny Committee so that the necessary lessons can be learnt from the Melton review. I am sorry to say that the Labour proposal is not realistic whilst our amendment will enable the issues to be examined in an open and democratic forum. After all that is what Overview and Scrutiny is for and I’m disappointed that Labour doesn’t seem to have confidence in the system.”  

“There are also more issues to consider than simply launching an enquiry. I recently attended a conference where I heard the Conservative Shadow minister for Local Government, Caroline Spelman talk about the pressures faced by local government. After hearing what she said, I have serious concerns that the ‘Building Schools for the Future’ fund could be abandoned after the general election.  This funding is what the Council is relying on to modernise and improve secondary schools across Leicestershire. Many education authorities have already benefited from millions of pounds of funding but Leicestershire was placed towards the end of the programme and it would be grossly unfair if Leicestershire’s young people lost out because of planned cuts in public spending by who ever wins the election.” 

“At the end of the day, education isn’t about numbers of pupils on an attendance sheet – it’s about individual young people who deserve the best possible education. We must not forget this and simply get stuck in petty political squabbles.” 

Liberal Democrat Councillor Don Wright has commented on the County Council’s Cabinet decision regarding King EdwardVII School. 

He said: “The level of protest from the people of Melton, Opposition councillors and other interested parties was so high that the Conservatives have been forced into playing for time. Even the local Conservative councillor spoke in support of the retention of King Edward

The Conservatives have five weeks to dig themselves out of a big hole and they will need a very large shovel, we remain concerned that despite postponing the decision the Conservative administration will eventually reinstate their original proposal to close King Edward VII.”

Hi all, please see my latest press release on a proposal by the conservatives to close King Edward School in Melton.

“Liberal Democrats on the County Council have voiced their concerns at yet another consultation that could see one of Leicestershire’s schools closed.

Leader of the Opposition Simon Galton (Lib Dem) said: “it has been barely a month since the Conservatives decided to look at closing Holmfield School in Leicester Forest East, now we have a proposal to close a secondary school in Melton. This sort of change costs money and will severely disrupt pupils already in attendance in those schools.

But more importantly is the sudden change in strategy so soon after a full review of schools organisation was carried out in the Melton area. Throughout the review the County Council’s Scrutiny Committee, as well as former Melton Councillor Matthew O’Callaghan, constantly warned that parents would ‘vote with their feet’ and abandon King Edward in favour of the other schools in the area – time and again this issue was raised and each time the Cabinet Leader member Cllr Ivan Ould refused to take the concerns seriously and poured scorn on those of us who dared to challenge it. Now we find that, as predicted, student numbers have plummeted and the Council have to try and salvage the situation with drastic action.

What I want to know is the cost, and anticipated disruption that this will cause. Firstly the cost to the Tax payer who is already being warned of reduced services in the face of planned Tory cuts over the next 3 years and secondly, the disruption to parents with children at the school.

It seems with this proposal and Holmfield primary school that the Conservatives only solution to their failures is to threaten closures and reorganisations. I am sure that parents and teachers in Loughborough will be feeling pretty anxious as their reorganisation looms on the horizon – how many more schools are to be closed there?”

I am pleased to announce that the Liberal Democrat County manifesto for the June 2009 has been released. Thanks for everyone who has contacted us with ideas and contributions.

Below is our ‘Pledges for Leicestershire’ and the full manifesto is availble from the links on the left side of the page.

Simon

Our Pledges for Leicestershire 

• We will devolve many decisions (as appropriate) to Local Forums and allow the local Councillors to engage with their communities to make the decisions that will affect them

• We will continue to campaign against centrally imposed housing targets – with a clear emphasis on protecting

  Greenfield land & regenerating Brownfield sites

• We will start a committed recruitment drive to bring in Youth & Community workers to provide support and guidance to young people.

• We will halt the above inflation increase in charges for Home Care introduced by the Conservative administration over the last few years. (The Home Care hourly charge rose from £6 to £8.40 (40%) from 2005/06 to 2008/09).

• We will work with local businesses to preserve jobs and maintain workforce skills.

• We will re-establish the ‘Community Plus’ budget to support Community Associations in a fair and transparent way

• We will set ambitious recycling targets for household waste of at least 65%. And pursue alternative technologies for waste disposal rather than rely on mass scale incineration.

• We will get tough on anti-social behaviour across Leicestershire.  We will expand the work of the IMPACT teams to combat anti-social behaviour

• We will always focus on getting good quality services – not wasting tax payer’s money on gimmicks and pet projects.