Tag Archives: local authorities

Local Authorities challenge the government

A High Court judge ruled that Michael Gove abused his powers when he axed BSF projects for six local authorities

Picture Michael Gove
Open mouthed at his own effrontery?

“Wasteful and bureaucratic” were the words education secretary Michael Gove MP used when he announced the demise of Building Schools for the Future (BSF). I was working with Accessible Futures Ltd and Northgate at the time of the election, supporting Kent County Council as it sought to modernise a group of special schools.
We were working with several special schools, each of which had its own distinctive problems. There was Foreland, a special school for children with complex and profound difficulties. Because of the nature of their disabilities, some children die before they finish their schooling at Foreland and one of the sensitive organisational challenges facing the BSF team was how to relocate their ashes to the new school grounds. Is this what Gove meant by wasteful and bureaucratic?

 St Anthony’s School caters for students aged 5-16 with a range of behavioural, emotional, social and learning difficulties. They had a good ratio of computers to children but needed robust laptops for the children who have dyspraxia or might misuse computers on a bad day. Laleham Gap School is the county’s specialist provision for high functioning pupils aged 3-16 with autistic spectrum disorders or speech and language disorders and has a residential unit for those children who cannot go home.

These schools were all victims of the BSF cuts and the pupils will lose out.
See the full version of my article and join the debate at Merlin John Online http://www.agent4change.net/policy/bsfpcp/828-bsf-abuse-of-power-ruling-a-chance-to-right-a-wrong.html