MP steps up opposition to Academy

12.00.00am GMT Wed 31st Oct 2007

Parliamentary opposition to plans to establish a School Academy in Colchester - through the closure of the town's Alderman Blaxill and Thomas Lord Audley Schools - has been stepped up with three Motions critical of the whole concept of such academies.

The three Motions all have Colchester Liberal Democrat MP Bob Russell as one of the six co-sponsors. They have been tabled by Wolverhampton Labour MP Ken Purchase who, along with many other traditional Labour MPs, is a staunch opponent of academies.

The Motions have been supported by Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs, but no Conservative MP has registered opposition to School Academies which are the declared policy of the Labour Government.

Mr Russell said: "We live in strange times where Conservatives support Labour's latest flavour of the month education policies, and it is Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs who oppose the academies.

"They are also opposed by the National Union of Teachers and other educational professionals."

The first of the three Motions refers to the Committee of Public Accounts report on school academies, which it says "makes dismal reading for educationalists and taxpayers" and observes that the long-term running costs of academies was not known.

The second notes that some school academies have been discovered awarding contracts to their sponsors; while the third Motion states that the Committee of Public Accounts had concluded that "academies are a costly means of tackling low attainment".