All children should be able to walk to school, says Ed Balls...

SCHOOLS secretary Ed Balls said yesterday (Wednesday) that parents were “quite right” to expect a school within walking distance of their homes as he gave his support for a new ­primary in Belsize Park.

He said Camden Council should solves its places shortage by “building more schools”.

A family from Belsize Park challenged the ­Cabinet member, one of Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s closest allies, outside the Harmood Children’s Centre in Chalk Farm.

Speaking after inviting the protesters into the centre for coffee and croissants, Mr Balls said: “It is quite right that local parents, in Belsize Park or whatever part of the borough, should have schools for their kids to walk to. It’s not good enough to say we have spare places if they are on the other side of the borough.” He added: “In Camden, there was an immediate short-term demand that exposed the fact there hadn’t been enough long-term planning.

“Money can go in to do things quickly. But that doesn’t alter the local authority’s responsibility to look one, two or three years ahead. They’ve got to be building new schools. They must be planning so that every child being born now has a local school within walking distance.”

A schools crisis last year looked set to leave dozens of children in Belsize Park and neighbouring areas without a place. Many parents were told their nearest available primary school was two miles away in King’s Cross.

Mr Balls took a letter from Linda Grove, who was part of a campaign that lobbied for a temporary school to open in a converted church hall in Courthope Road last summer, and promised to reply promptly.

Parent Rachael Guan, who lives in Lawn Road, said: “He [Mr Balls] was lovely. He was already aware of the issue here in Camden. It was nice of him to invite us in and sit down with us and talk.”

Education chief councillor Andrew Mennear welcomed a £1million boost from Mr Balls, but said it would cost six times that amount to find a “permanent solution”.

He said: “It will either be a new build or permanent expansion of a school site. 

“Figures seem to indicate we need a two-form entry school in what we are calling the wider ­Belsize area, that is stretching over Finchley Road. We could spend the £1million on temporary classrooms but that wouldn’t be solving the problem. 

“It is said that a primary school costs in the region of £6million – but acquiring land can be very expensive.”

He added: “I think it is a bit rich of Mr Balls to blame the council’s planning, when the government had no planning in terms of the recession, which has had a major impact on this situation.”
TOM FOOT

...but Cabinet colleague opts for a longer trip for his child

ED Balls said parents should enjoy primary schools within walking distances yesterday (Wednesday), just as it emerged that one of his Cabinet colleagues has caused irritation by choosing somewhere further afield.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband has ignored the primary school almost on his doorstep – Primrose Hill School in Princess Road – to send his son to a top-performing school elsewhere in Camden.

In fact, there are at least two primary schools closer to his home in Primrose Hill than the primary chosen by Mr Miliband and wife Louise for their son, who began school last term.

Places at the Church of England school he has chosen are highly coveted because of its impeccable record in recent years. Inspectors rate it  as “outstanding”.

Parents who live close to it told the New Journal that they are fuming that the Miliband family are able to find a place, even though they live further away.

“It should be a school for the neighbourhood,” said one. “People were angry because there are plenty of schools close to where Mr Miliband lives, but not for us around here.”

Mr Miliband lives almost within spitting distance of Primrose Hill School, which is also regarded as “outstanding” by Ofsted.

It is understood some connected with Primrose Hill School feel his decision to look elsewhere –  when the school has achieved so much – amounts to a snub.

“We are a great school and just a moment’s walk from his front door. We would have thought they would have come and had a look round,” said one school source.

There is no suggestion that Mr Miliband and his family have broken any rules. 

The Foreign Secretary  has often been reported as being an atheist. But his wife is a member of the congregation of the church attached to the school they have chosen, making their son eligible.

A statement from the school they have chosen said: “In line with all state schools, initial priority is given to all ‘looked-after’ children. As a voluntary-aided school, priority is then given to children who, with their parents, are committed members of and regular worshippers. Mrs Miliband has been a practising member of the congregations in this parish for over a year prior to her application for a place at the school and continues to attend church regularly.”

The New Journal tried to contact Mr Miliband at the Foreign Office. Reporters were put through to his team of special advisers. Details of our request to speak to him were taken but nobody returned our calls.
RICHARD OSLEY