PARENTS FOR LEGAL ACTION LIMITED
PRESS RELEASE 8 JANUARY 2006

Parents fighting to save Northumberland’s Middle Schools and three-tier education system have been told that their judicial review of the County Council’s decision to go ahead with county wide schools reorganisation will go before a High Court judge on 10 February.

Parents for Legal Action Ltd (PFLA), a sister group of the Northumberland Education Action Group, has been waiting patiently for a court date since August, when a judge gave them permission for a full hearing of their case and took the unusual step of limiting their cost exposure should their case fail. The case is being funded by Northumberland parents who have already submitted ten thousand pounds into court to demonstrate their seriousness.

PFLA’s main case is that the County Council has failed to honour a commitment it made more than a year ago to commission an independent financial and educational evaluation of the case for change before embarking on its programme of Middle and First School closures.

“It has been a very frustrating wait” said Judy Lloyd, a Northumberland parent and education lawyer who is representing PFLA without charging for her time “but we are pleased that the case will be heard before the Council can make any firm decisions about closing schools, particularly the Middle Schools and Kramel First School in Cramlington, where the Council is trying to force through the first wave of its unpopular plans.”

In the summer of 2004, the leader of the County Council said that without the flagship multi-million pound government money that the council had applied for, the schools closure programme would result in a ‘crippling financial legacy’ for the county. A few months later, when it became clear that the council had failed in its bid for government money and that there was strong public opposition to the proposals, councillors resolved to have their plans reviewed by independent experts before making any firm decisions.

Northumberland parent and PFLA Chair, David Hodkinson, said “So far as we are aware from statements made by the council’s senior officers, that review has simply not happened and, despite a further funding setback last October, when the government refused an application for money the council had said was vital for its Cramlington plans, the council still went ahead with its consultation on detailed plans for closures and re-organisation in Cramlington.

“To make matters worse, having caused untold anxiety to Cramlington’s parents, teachers and governors during its rushed consultation exercise in the run up to Christmas, it has now become clear that the plans upon which that consultation was based have had to be scrapped. This is because the council has just found out that the cost of doing a proper job of creating primary schools in Cramlington - with proper buildings instead of temporary classrooms - would be fourteen million pounds, double the figure it had thought. So we now face the prospect of yet another round of rushed consultation on a rushed-together set of plans, all to hide the council’s embarrassment at not being able to manage the financial aspects of its school closure programme.

“It is also becoming clear to the people of Northumberland how the schools closures in Cramlington are going to be paid for, with funds already being cut from front line services such as care homes, the fire service and roads maintenance, and the council frantically selling-off public land and buildings. And Cramlington is but one of fifteen school partnerships in the county.

“PFLA’s decision to pursue court action funded by parents from their own pockets is a last resort and has come after more than two years during which the council, both officers and councillors, have shown sheer contempt for the views of the majority of people in Northumberland, who are happy with the three tier school system and can see no reason why it has to be changed as part of any plans to improve schools in the county. Even now, with their plans in complete disarray, councillors seem happy to be burying their heads in the sand. It is because of this, that parents are having to step in and attempt to get a flawed set of proposals halted before the Council Leader’s predictions of ‘a crippling financial legacy’ bite any further.”

Further details for those interested in supporting the legal action are available through the www.neag.info website.

End

Contacts:
David Hodkinson, 07703 218732
Judy Lloyd, 01434 608790 or 07929838726

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