March for the Alternative

Today I marched for the alternative...I made a video and took some photos which you can see below:

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Governance Models for Chains of Academies

I blogged earlier this year on Academy status in a post called Academy Status: The Question that won't go away about how all schools should be considering academy status seriously and why this was an especially pressing issue in Suffolk. For some schools and particular smaller primary schools moving to academy status as part of a "chain of academies" might be a sensible and attractive option.

Academy status gives a huge amount of flexibility in terms of governance models and I have put together a short presentation showing the three main options of chains of academies: Multi-Academy Trust, Umbrella Trust and Informal Collaboration in the hope it will be helpful to Governors. The information has been checked with the DfE at the time of putting this together so if you come across this months down the line please check that things haven't changed too much as this is a fast moving area.

Chains of Academies Governance Models

View more presentations from James Hargrave

Suffolk County Council have £68 million in the bank but are slashing services...

Eric Pickles addressing the Tory Party Conference

Suffolk County Council are going around telling anyone who will listen that they have no money.

So little money that they cannot continue to fund school crossing patrols (which cost only £174 000 a year) and need to slash at least 30% from the £9 million a year library budget.

I think most Suffolk taxpayers would be surprised that in fact Suffolk County Council not only has £68 million of reserves in the bank but these reserves are actually projected to increase this year...

Writing in The Sun earlier this week, Eric Pickles the Communities Secretary responsible for Local Government said:

SENSIBLE financial planning is about putting cash away when the sun is shining so you have some cover during the rainy days. 

These reserves exist to ensure councils can react to unforeseen situations like tackling the country's unprecedented level of debt. 

People will be shocked that councils have £10billion stashed away when they hear stories of service and job cuts.

Earlier this month the Liberal Democrat opposition proposed an amendment to the Tories County Council budget that would have seen school crossing patrols saved, the eXplore card retained, waste sites staying open and libraries saved. Caroline Page blogs about this and their plan included the use of some of the Council's reserves. If this isn't a rainy enough day to use this money when is?

Full Details of the 2nd April March to Save Suffolk's Libraries

The lovely people running the Rosehill campaign in Ipswich have released full details of the march planned for Saturday 2nd April starting at Endeavour House at 11am.

Join us on our family friendly march in protest against the proposed library divestment, and to show our support for the Suffolk Library service. If you can’t manage the whole march, join us outside the library on Northgate Street from 11.30am for a ‘read-in’.

We’ll finish the march with speakers sharing excerpts from their favourite books.

♥ Bring your favourite book to share with others!

♥ Dress up as your favourite character!

♥ Show Suffolk County Council that you love and need your local library

If you wander over to the Rosehill Reader's site you can:

See the full details
Download flyers

Route Map


View Save Suffolk Libraries in a larger map

Roger McMaster, Head of Suffolk Libraries Resigns

Roger McMaster at the Stradbroke Public Meeting
on 21st February

This blog can reveal that Roger McMaster the Head of Suffolk Libraries has resigned.  Well liked and respected by his colleagues, Mr McMaster is taking early retirement after a distinguished career in public libraries dating back over 30 years.

Suffolk's Press Office declined to comment on the circumstances surrounding his departure but there are rumors that he had concerns about the divestment process started by Suffolk County Council and by plans to replace professional library staff by volunteers.

In what has turned out to be a chilling prediction he described his own post as "time limited" during the Public Meeting at Stradbroke on 21st February and told the meeting "he didn't spend 30 years working in public libraries to close them down". A month later he has resigned. Mr McMaster will leave Suffolk County Council in June, a month before Cabinet are due to make their decisions on the future of Suffolk's libraries.

Ann Kerr, Chairman of Stradbroke Parish Council commented:

When he came to Stradbroke, he apologised for earlier misleading information and he seemed genuinely moved by the film of library users talking about what the library meant for them. I thought he really cared about Suffolk Libraries and didn't want them to close.

Roger's departure leaves a big gap at the head of Suffolk libraries and the County Council do not appear to have any plans to replace him further underlining their lack of commitment to run library services in the future.

I hope Roger has a long and happy retirement.

Ixworth and Wickham Market Library Responses, Stowmarket and Debenham protests

Acrostic of "Library" on the wall
at Debenham Library

Over the weekend we heard news of the responses in Ixworth and Wickham Market to the Suffolk library consultation and protests took place in both Stowmarket and Debenham as the pressure on Suffolk County Council continues to increase.

The Bury Free Press details a public meeting in Ixworth at which great lengths seem to have been taken to prevent the expression of what seems the most widely held view in Suffolk - that libraries should be kept open and the County Council should run them.Efforts included laying the room out with tables with "post-it" notes on to try and get "positive ideas".

County Cllr Joanna Spicer began the public meeting in what is sadly becoming the Suffolk CC manner, by telling people what they are allowed to think:

This isn’t an opportunity to object to possible closure or say ‘we support our library’. We want your ideas of how we can keep this library going.

But several people in Ixworth didn't seem to take kindly to being told what to think and asked questions about why the library could not stay how it is and then John Ellison offered to set up a "Save Ixworth Library" group. Good luck to them! 

Meanwhile following a public meeting in Wickham Market the Wickham Market Partnership (just the kind of organisation Suffolk were looking for) have submitted an expression of interest to the County Council. They will probably be pleased to read this until they get to the final paragraph:

Whilst the consultation document has itemised what community libraries are expected to provide, it has failed to recognise that organisations need clear and open information on the financial burden they are expected to take on. This document is not a consultation on what local people feel should happen, but a directive that should communities not take over their libraries, then the service will be discontinued. There is no indication in this document how local communities can reduce the indirect costs at County Council level because there is insufficient information on the breakdown of individual costs. (my emphasis)

Which is exactly what we have all been saying to Suffolk since they started this sham of a consultation.

As I reported at length in my Blog, there was a 28 hour read-in that took place in Debenham over the weekend and over a Stowmarket (a so-called County Library that was previously assumed to be "safe") protesters formed a human chain around the library. The EADT have a report on both protests.