Green Councillor Slams Labour Cynicism over School Closures

After the Labour Group pushed through almost all of the 21 school and nursery closures, Green Councillors objected to the cynical performance of the Labour group in the City Chambers. The Green Councillors called for the school closures to be delayed until the criteria and methodology of the strategy to be reconsidered.

Councillor Kieran Wild said

The Labour Councillors cynically orchestrated themselves to oppose closure of the schools in their own wards but none of the other wards that had equally good cases. For anyone in the Council chamber today, it was clear that the decision to which schools would be saved had been decided behind closed doors andthe process like the so called consultation was really just a boxticking exercise.

Notes

Green Group Amendment

The council has no confidence in the criteria, their application or the quality of the information provided in the decision-making process for the primary and nursery closure programme. Council resolves to re-consider the Education Estate Strategy and all the city’s nurseries and primaries assessed according to the following criteria:

• Educational benefit – provision of good quality education which benefits the social circumstances of each school’s catchment area.

• Building capacity and occupancy - no primary school classes have more than 20 pupils. Where there is less than 50% occupancy, schools with under capacity will be assessed for physical alterations to an appropriate size for the predicted school roll numbers.

• Building condition and suitability - all schools and nurseries to be assessed for energy efficiency, and an energy audit completed. Investment plan for improved energy use, including low cost conversion to renewables will be implemented.
• Transport arrangements and requirements - no one should need to walk more than 0.5m by a safe route to get to their nearest primary or nursery. There will be further development of safe walking and cycling routes to school, school buses and walking buses, and provision of lollipop men and women.

• Maintenance issues – record of maintenance work that has been undertaken in the last 5 years and any backlog to be considered.

• Shared campuses - wherever possible denominational and nondenominational schools will be combined on shared campuses.

• Safety and security
• Access to school playing fields and green spaces.

Council agrees

1. (1)     that the Education, Families and Children Policy Development Committee will examine the development of revised criteria for the strategy and amended proposals.
2. that staff, parents and the wider community are involved in a wide scale consultation for amended proposals and findings will return to the Committee before final consideration by a Full Council to be held after the summer recess”.