Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Super School
Public says NO again to "super school"
Please read Paul Myles Kelly's report in the Shields Gazette (link in the title above) before considering my comments.
This issue was one of the prime motivators, at the time, for my decision to publish a regular weblog as part of Curly's Corner Shop. I was so incensed and angered at the proposal to build the proposed school on Temple Memorial Park that I commenced a series of mass emails to our local councillors to voice my opinion, and in turn to influence theirs. I wrote in this blog last year, and as recently as January this year (see the archives), that a decision to build on the Chuter Ede site "would not be welcomed in some quarters", and thus, the chickens have come home to roost.
In my first series of emails to our councillors I suggested that Brinkburn ought to be considered as the best alternative, on the grounds that it was the most central, it already had school buildings on site with potential for more, it had a range of sports facilities with scope for devbelopment, and that it was preferable from a road safety perspective.
It seems that those members of the public, teaching staff, and pupils are in agreement with these principles, and whilst the Council now considers fresh attempts to consult (i.e sell another idea to) the greater part of a year will have gone past since the original proposal was announced. This cannot be good for forward planning or the development of educational establishments.
Perhaps the greatest problem underlying all this is the lack of will and leadership displayed by leading members of the Council. I have stated this before and I will repeat my comments again; Councillors are there to decide policy, elected by the public, they are accountable to their electorate - officers on the other hand are there to administer policy and to make recommendations on how to effect policy, they are accountable to the elected members.
I continue to hold the view that on many issues, officers seem to be taking the lead and recommending policy to elected members, thereby seeking a "rubber stamp" to approve their judgements. In the last year we have witnessed these scenarios when looking at the Temple Memorial Park issue, the Trow Quarry issue, and the Budget overspend. It is perhaps time that elected members started to do what they were elected for, and to do that they need to manage not just the aspirations of their electorate and party, but also those of the officers.
If the Labour Party has policies which it wishes to enact in education (or any other area), then they must ensure that officers give them proposals and recommendations that dovetail into those policies. Politicians must try to ensure that policy is not decided by public servants.
In this particular case, there will be a little difficulty in raising the necessary finance for a new school at Brinkburn or Chuter Ede, whereas the possibilities were a lot easier if the Temple Park option had been agreed upon, but this should not prevent councillors from applying their will if the people decide that Brinkburn is the best option, it just means that more difficult avenues may need to be explored to complete the project within a predefined budget!
_________________________________________________________________
Please read Paul Myles Kelly's report in the Shields Gazette (link in the title above) before considering my comments.
This issue was one of the prime motivators, at the time, for my decision to publish a regular weblog as part of Curly's Corner Shop. I was so incensed and angered at the proposal to build the proposed school on Temple Memorial Park that I commenced a series of mass emails to our local councillors to voice my opinion, and in turn to influence theirs. I wrote in this blog last year, and as recently as January this year (see the archives), that a decision to build on the Chuter Ede site "would not be welcomed in some quarters", and thus, the chickens have come home to roost.
In my first series of emails to our councillors I suggested that Brinkburn ought to be considered as the best alternative, on the grounds that it was the most central, it already had school buildings on site with potential for more, it had a range of sports facilities with scope for devbelopment, and that it was preferable from a road safety perspective.
It seems that those members of the public, teaching staff, and pupils are in agreement with these principles, and whilst the Council now considers fresh attempts to consult (i.e sell another idea to) the greater part of a year will have gone past since the original proposal was announced. This cannot be good for forward planning or the development of educational establishments.
Perhaps the greatest problem underlying all this is the lack of will and leadership displayed by leading members of the Council. I have stated this before and I will repeat my comments again; Councillors are there to decide policy, elected by the public, they are accountable to their electorate - officers on the other hand are there to administer policy and to make recommendations on how to effect policy, they are accountable to the elected members.
I continue to hold the view that on many issues, officers seem to be taking the lead and recommending policy to elected members, thereby seeking a "rubber stamp" to approve their judgements. In the last year we have witnessed these scenarios when looking at the Temple Memorial Park issue, the Trow Quarry issue, and the Budget overspend. It is perhaps time that elected members started to do what they were elected for, and to do that they need to manage not just the aspirations of their electorate and party, but also those of the officers.
If the Labour Party has policies which it wishes to enact in education (or any other area), then they must ensure that officers give them proposals and recommendations that dovetail into those policies. Politicians must try to ensure that policy is not decided by public servants.
In this particular case, there will be a little difficulty in raising the necessary finance for a new school at Brinkburn or Chuter Ede, whereas the possibilities were a lot easier if the Temple Park option had been agreed upon, but this should not prevent councillors from applying their will if the people decide that Brinkburn is the best option, it just means that more difficult avenues may need to be explored to complete the project within a predefined budget!
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