27 February 2017

Why won't H&F Conservatives fight to save local schools' funding?

From today's Evening Standard:
"Thousands of parents were today urged to join a revolt against school funding cuts in London. 
"Hammersmith & Fulham [Labour] council leader Stephen Cowan issued the appeal for parents to pile pressure on the Government to reconsider a controversial school financing shake-up.
"A meeting to discuss the reforms at Hammersmith Town Hall [at 7pm] tomorrow evening is expected to be attended by hundreds of parents, governors and teachers."
We don't know if we'll see any Conservative opposition councillors at tomorrow's town hall meeting but on past evidence it's unlikely.

After all, as far back as January last year, the Tories turned their back on local schools by steadfastly refusing to lend their support to this full council motion calling on the government to reverse its plans:
“This Council welcomes the excellent work done by Hammersmith and Fulham’s schools in providing a first class education for our children and young people.
"The Council notes with concern that recent announcements by both the Chancellor, George Osborne, and the Secretary of State for Education, Nicky Morgan, have confirmed the Government’s intention to shift funding away from ‘overfunded’ authorities in London to ‘underfunded’ authorities elsewhere.
"The Council further notes that if the proposed approach were adopted, it could mean a reduction of £10.9m (10.6%) in funding for Hammersmith and Fulham’s Schools and that Hammersmith and Fulham could be one of the worst affected local authorities in the Country.
"This Council therefore calls on the Conservative Government to reverse these plans and ensure that Hammersmith and Fulham’s Schools are fully funded so that they can continue to provide an excellent education for the Borough’s children and young people.”
When will Conservative councillors put local residents above their government and start fighting to save our schools?

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