It was always clear who needed to find the money

Published: 16 December, 2010

• IT’S good to see from the New Journal letters (December 9) that Mick Farrant hasn’t lost his innate ability to pick up the wrong end of any stick he comes across. 

Let’s clear up the confusion he sowed:

1) Yes, I contacted Michael Gove’s office on behalf of Camden’s Building Schools for the Future bid. The time and effort I expended on it from 2006 to 2010 really wasn’t just for show! I also went back and tried to persuade them to keep Camden and UCL not to put back the opening of the academy to September 2012. Sadly, neither appeal was successful.

2) Local authorities must ensure sufficient school places. However unfortunately, this trumps the need for school improvement plans. 

Since Gordon Brown never sorted out the UK housing market, when the recession hit a large number of families weren’t able to move out of Camden, as they had planned, once their children approached school age. This created the need for Camden to act promptly to secure Courthope Educational Centre, once it was clear it was impractical for Camden’s primaries to accept bulge classrooms.

3) Even Mr Farrant’s own party here has now accepted Camden is going to need at least 60 new primary places in the north of the borough. 

4) As with many other policy announcements made by Mr Brown, the reality of Labour’s Primary Capital Programme didn’t live up to the spin. Camden’s allocation of £20million was to be spread over 15 years, but with no guarantee that the money would ever arrive. 

All the papers issued by Camden highlighted that the majority of Camden’s primary schemes were unfunded.

5) The five primaries mentioned by Mr Farrant were in a queue and remained there. However, once Camden was presented with evidence of the need for additional school places then, of course, the council was obliged to prioritise new schools over repairs. 

But the new school was also unfunded. 

It was always made clear that Camden still needed to identify additional funding to build the school or to make the repairs happen.

6) The Labour Party also shares a responsibility for clouding Mr Farrant’s mind on this point, as they claimed they could only advance plans for new school places once the coalition government made clear what money was available in the spending review. 

This was cover for delay and buck-passing when it was always clear that Camden had a responsibility and even under a Labour government it was Camden that needed to find the money.

CLLR ANDREW MENNEAR 
Conservative, Frognal & Fitzjohns ward