Showing posts with label Bob Wharton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bob Wharton. Show all posts

Sunday 1 March 2015

Kenton Tories force Labour to withdraw 'nasty leaflet' 'full of lies'

I met Cllr Reg Colwill while out campaigning in the Kenton by-election earlier today. He claimed that Labour had been forced to apologise for, and withdraw, a leaflet that they had put out attacking the Conservative Candidate Michael Maurice. The Tories alleged the 'nasty' leaflet was 'full of lies' about their candidate.

According to Colwill, Labour are printing an apology that the Tories will distribute.

Since being recognised as the official opposition by Labour the Kenton Conservatives have been quiescent in contrast to their Brondesbury Park Conservative counterparts.

The spat may change this.


The other candidates in the Kenton By-election, where voting takes place on Thursday, are:

Michaela Lichten GREEN
Vincent Lo LABOUR
Bob Wharton LIBERAL DEMOCRAT

Saturday 12 June 2010

ARK the errant angel sings

In what he described as his 'swan song', John Christie outgoing director of Brent Children and Families, warned governors at the Brent Governors Conference to think very carefully about making a decision on their schools becoming academies - despite the government's letter to headteacher of 'oustanding ' schools which enables them to change status by September this year.

Christie said that they should take time to assess the impact on other schools and the services provided centrally by the local authority; to whom schools would be accountable; and how a decision to go for academy status would fit in with provision of the National Curriculum. Although there is no statutory responsibility to do so, he said schools shoudl consult with staff, pupils, parents and the local community. He said there was insufficient information available at present and that issues such as where accountability rests (local authority, national government, Ofsted) need to be thought through. Christie read a letter from Michael Gove extolling the virtues of local authorities and their role in improving schools and contrasted that with his rhetoric of 'freedom from local authority control'. He said press reports on the financial advantages of academy status, with figures quoted of up to 10% extra funding, were only speculation, but such a shift would have a significant impact on central services.

On 'free schools', with the government encouraging new providers, he commented that a Brent survey of local residents had indicated strong support for schools to be provided by the local authority rather than charities, religious groups or businesses. He welcomed the concept of a pupil premium, with extra funds going to disadvantaged pupils, and said Brent should benefit. In the absence of a White Paper on the proposed policies he urged governors to respond to Michael Gove's letter inviting views.

 John Christie was challenged from the floor by  Reg Colwill, Conservative member of the previous Council Executive, on why he had come to the Executive and recommended the Wembley ARK Academy, when he had just listed the disadvantages. He had never advised the Council against academies. When Christie struggled to respond Bob Wharton, Liberal Democrat member of the previous Lib Dem-Conservative adminstration and responsible for Children and Families, jumped in to say it was the only way to get £35m in funding for a new school in Brent. Unfortunately the Conference was closed for lunch at that point and the debate was left in mid-air.

The issue of academies had been in the foreground of earlier discussions with Cllr Mary Arnold, lead member on Children and Families of the new Labour Council, saying at worst the policy was a threat to central services and all the support they provided to schools.  Denise Burke, interim head of Brent Integrated and Extended Services, who gave a keynote speech was asked whether schools should go for academy status, and took her official Brent hat off to say as Chair of Governors of Miles Coverdale Primary in Shepherds Bush that schools 'shouldn't go near it', winning a warm round of applause.

Alan Carter, of the Campaign for the Advancement of State Education, said he was opposed to academies because of their terms of governance which were unacountable and undemocratic. He said that previously academies had one merit, that they were targeted at helping deprived pupils and unsuccessful schools, but this had been transmogrified into academy status for the most successful schools, This would result in a 'grab for cash' which would work entirely against equality. He offered a CASE speaker to governing bodies who would give an objective presentation on the issue.

One significant issue that did not come out during the sessions was that Michael Goves had written to headteachers with the offer of academy status, by-passing governing bodies who are statutorily responsible for the strategic directioon of their schools. If change of status is not a strategic issue what is? This betrayed at best an ignorance of the present democratic arrangements, and at worst a contempt for them. Peter Newsam, ex-leader of the Inner London Authority has recently suggested that academies and free schools should rightly be called 'Goverment Schools'. Because of their funding arrangements they will be directly under the control of the government.

Monday 4 May 2009

WHAT ABOUT THE WIDER CURRICULUM BOB?

Cllr Bob Wharton, Brent's lead member for Children, Families and Schools, laments the neglect of the wider curriculum and the damaging impact of the SATs system which 'only relate to numeracy and English' in his interview with Alex Wellman in the Willesden and Brent Times this week. I hope this means he supports the boycott of the SATs proposed by the NAHT and NUT. The ending of SATs will be a real liberation for pupils and teachers and enable them to concentrate on the real business of learning.

However Cllr Wharton's stance is contradicted by his support for the Wembley ARK Academy which boasts in its brochure that the infant school will have four literacy lessons and three numeracy classes a day - little room for much else I would have thought.

Wednesday 18 March 2009

COALITION UNDER STRAIN


The alliance of Labour, Conservatives and Democratic Conservatives that out-voted the Liberal Democrats recently on the Kingsbury Road issue indicated increased strains in the Lib Dem-Conservative coalition as parties position themselves ahead of the next local election.

The Labour Group have said that they will seek a vote of no confidence in the current Council Executive, which raises the question of whether a new coalition is possible.

The Conservative opposition to the Wembley Academy is hardening and they have involved the GLA and the Mayor's Office in the issue, undermining their Lib Dem allies in the process. Cllr Bob Blackman has reaffirmed his opposition to a school on that site and has stated his personal opinion that schools should be democratically accountable through the local authority. If the Tories pushed their opposition to the limit, threatening withdrawal from the coalition, the Lib Dems would rely on Labour support to get the policy through. This has been the de facto situation for some time but a more open and vigorous debate would make the position more public.

Meanwhile many Labour activists are less than keen on the academies programme and support local authority provision, despite Cllr Ann John's championing of the ARK Academy. Barry Gardiner MP has supported the academies programme in general but consistently opposed one on the Wembley Park site.

Cllr Bob Wharton of the Lib Dems and lead member on the issue, said during the first round of Academy consultation meetings, that he is personally in favour of locally accountable comprehensive education. He reluctantly supported the Academy because government funding would not be forthcoming for a community school - a claim recently denied by the government.

Meanwhile, the planning consultation process for the permanent academy building in Wembley has re-opened with documents revised in the light of GLA and other comments. The traffic report is particularly important (see photograph of traffic in Forty Lane at 8.50am on a recent weekday morning).

The new consultation immediately ran into trouble when documents were not available on the council website and the council was forced to change the deadline for responses to March 25th. The council was also challenged on their timing of the Planning Committee which they fixed for April 7th - during school holidays when many teachers and parents will be away. They denied this scheduling had been deliberate but the pressure to have it changed continues.

Will the Tories blow the coalition apart? Will Labour ride to the Lib Dem's rescue.
Will the Tories and Labour unite against the Lib Dems? Watch this space.